I was sitting in church, reflecting on the sermon and how it
applied to the week that had passed and the week to come when I noticed the
teenager in front of me clutching her cell phone. At various times I noticed
she flipped through messages and sent a couple of texts. Then it dawned on
me-are our cell phones the “false idols” warned of in the Gospels? A false idol
would lead a person to behaviors that were not good for the rest of the society
in which they lived. A false idol would encourage these behaviors with rewards
like power or fame or wealth. For ages we were led to believe that false idols
included golden statues or even money and the things it can buy, but those
things are not worshiped necessarily. Try taking a cell phone away from a
teenager and be ready for a fight.
It isn’t
that I dislike technology. If my microwave did nothing else but make popcorn
quickly and do a baked potato in under ten minutes it would be worth it. But I
do not find myself staring at the microwave with adoration. I do not feel the
need to upgrade my microwave unless it stops working entirely. I like my
television and I even appreciate being able to get photos of my grandson via my
computer or phone. For all the good that technology can do it is a good
servant, but a bad master. Some things
are acceptable as long as you don’t let them take over your life. What concerns
me, especially as cell phones become more common even in middle and elementary
schools, is children who have become so entranced by their phones that they
have trouble disengaging. This is especially true with young tweens who have no basis for comparison.
I have observed that some of the students with the most academic challenges
have the most electronic gear in school. Coincidence?
I admit
that I am what would be called a late adopter in terms of cell phone use. I
didn’t get a cell phone until my daughter was heading to college which was
almost ten years ago. Now cell phones have become so familiar to me that the
one day I headed off to work without it, I felt uneasy. In previous times I was
quite capable of going to work, to the store or even out of town without the
need to be constantly connected to a cell phone signal. It is as if cell phones
have become our technological security blanket, like a lucky charm that will
protect us from all evil. Many parents who get cell phones for very young
children make the case that it’s for security or safety. Just like pagers back
in the 1990’s, cell phones have become a virtual substitute for knowing what
your kids are doing.
Why do
we need this constant validation of our worth? It’s similar to the number of
friends one has on Facebook or any other social media. In a way it seems to be
more like gaming the system to give the appearance of popularity over real
popularity itself. While I carry my cell phone in my purse, most days it is
turned off when I’m at work. Compare that to my students who are far more engaged
in the latest Tweet than in what is going on in the classroom. Even when asked to put away phones, students
will surreptitiously text at will. Students have been known to stream videos,
play games and do almost anything other than the work at hand.
That distraction gets down to an
even more serious issue. The lure of popularity and the dissolution of civility
have led to more access to outlets to bully and denigrate others. There are
people who make it their business to relay every negative piece of gossip, who
make up lies and who alter photos or take photos with the sole intent being to
pick on peers or teachers in the school in 140 characters or less. Students
have uploaded photos of tests and assignments. When is the last time you
checked your child’s phone or Ipod?
Most parents avoid checking their
teens’ phones under the assumption that as long as they don’t run up the bill
everything is okay. Actually, there are some very serious adult things going on
with teens and cell phones. With internet access students can gamble or even
download inappropriate images, videos and games. Cyberbullying and Sexting have
become a serious issues even in students as young as middle school. Finding
salacious images of a peer or sending such images of one’s self or others could
lead to some daunting consequences because if the other student is young enough
it could be labeled as child pornography. Such images tend to live forever on
the internet. This is also true of images of students partying or engaging in
inappropriate behavior. Those kinds of images can haunt a person for life. It
can result in loss of scholarships, jobs and relationships. Even when these
facts are brought forth, many teens believe their identities are cloaked in
secrecy. All it takes is having a friend ID you on Facebook to make everything
crystal clear to anyone who wants to see the image. This doesn’t even touch on
the far more common occurrence of rampant cheating.
If it seems I am picking on
teenagers, it’s because they are the most accessible demographic for such
activity. That doesn’t exonerate adults. I have heard cell phones go off in
meetings, at weddings and even at funerals. It seems that the veil of civility
has been ripped away by the need to be engaged at all times. I have been sitting
at dinner at a social occasion and watched as one or another person at the
table spent time flipping through texts and emails rather than engaging in
actual person to person conversations. I have heard from twenty-somethings that
phones have become so invasive that when they go out all phones are placed face
down on the table and the first to pick up their phone before leaving has to
pay for everyone. Last, but not least, there are the carpool Moms and Dads who
swear they drive well while texting. Having been behind you as you swerve all
over the road, driving alternately too fast or too slow, I can assure you that
I’ve seen drunks on Dallas North Tollway that are driving better than you.
Probably the saddest thing I have
seen is when I have taken my grandson to the playground and noticed young
mothers gazing fixedly at their phones while their children take risks that
could lead to serious harm. Watching a
toddler trying to get Mommy’s attention away from Angry Birds is simply
pathetic. How many accidents involving young children could be avoided if the
adult in charge would simply put down the phone or disengage from the computer?
This points to a sobering reality that many of us are addicted to our phones
and that addiction is leading to antisocial, unsavory and even dangerous
behaviors. My theory is that unless you are a transplant surgeon or the patient
on the transplant list, you probably are not so important that you can’t set
down the phone for a real person to person conversation. So once again I ask,
is your cell phone a false idol?
