Television Sick

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I remember the feeling. Mom and dad were gone before the sun was up. My brother and sister were dropped off at the daycare. I was alone. By the light of TV, I pulled the Nintendo out of moving boxes and ran the wires to the back of the TV. Mario Brothers. I was alone in this world. Just me and my 8-bit friends. Nine hours and four worlds later, I prepared for my parents return home. I packed the Nintendo back into its box. The silenced in the room revealed the buzzing in my head. My breathing light, I felt sick throughout my body. I was screensick. 
I see it in my life now. I crawl out of bed and cuddle in front of a TV screen. The little one sneaks downstairs and switches it to Netflix. The older one slumbers down and grabs his Chromebook. In her bed, my wife picks up her phone "to check for messages". Her fingers flick through her daily Facebook scroll and illuminates her face in a darkened room.  We're plugged in. We are connected. We are worlds apart.

 The internet was promised as a world wide web. A way for scientist  and later, all of us, to share information. A place for us to connect and learn. The numbers and our experiences tell us a much different story. According to a study in the journal, Preventive Medicine Reports, "Young people who spend seven hours or more a day on screens are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety than those who use screens for an hour a day." Think about that statement. When I was a kid, my parents would have had a fit to find out I was on the TV for one hour, let alone seven hours. I would have been sick. 
Without a physical connection to others, we become more distant physically and ideologically.
Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to diminish this generation and the benefit of the web. Kids have access to more information than was imagined a generation ago. They can find the answer to any question they form. Many students seem informed, connected. I am seeing a new type student more often, though. A student who is a cynic before they understand. Students that don't know what to believe because they can find any idea on the web. The old adage rings, "A man who doesn't know what to believe will believe anything." Are we truly smarter, are we truly more connected?

 At times, it feels that real connections get caught in the web of online connections, strangled and starved. My kids communicate online, tapping against anonymous players and my street seems empty. My house seems empty. It's enough to make me turn on the TV, turn on Mario Brothers, and tune out.

 http://time.com/5437607/smartphones-teens-mental-health/


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