On the way to work this morning I stopped for a traffic light. A black Volvo sedan pulled up next to me. In the back seat there was a toddler strapped into a car seat, tightly holding a bottle. He was staring straight ahead. Following his gaze my eyes rested on a 3x5 inch monitor strapped to the front seat headrest. A cartoon was flickering on the screen. The child's face was hypnotically focused on the screen.
As a parent I confess that I have used TV programming and video games as an electronic pacifier. Yet I felt uneasy watching this child mindlessly consuming these images as a way to interact with the world.
So much is learned from TV programming and movies. The media teaches us how to check out of life, to want for things we don't need, and to silence the need for quiet reflection.
I wonder if the proverbial childhood plea of "are we there yet" doesn't aid in the development of patience and toleration as the begging goes unheeded and the child is forced to make up traveling games or read. I wonder how our culture would be different if packaged entertainment was more difficult to obtain.
One thing that would happen is that the child would observe a world that is bigger than a 3x5 screen.
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It's sad how much the media and entertainment has impacted this world. Girls who aren't even 10 have eating disorders because they need to be "pretty" or "skinny". Sad. Kids don't go out and play anymore...they sit inside and watch tele or play video games. I remember on a nice day my parents were shoving us out the door. "Why are you sitting inside the house? It's nice out! Get outside!" Do parents say that anymore?
One of my favorite "car games" was the alphabet game...it taught me more than what a TV would!
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