Smart Phones, Dumb Parents.

Parents: Is Facebooking, texting, and Twittering really more important than your kids?

Image Credit: Children On Beach, Limor Zellermeyer, Unsplash.

I was at the beach the other day and watched as two parents sat on a log, tapping away on their smartphones as their three children played at the water’s edge. The waves were not big but one of the toddlers was no more than three and could have been knocked off his feet by an unexpected wave. The parents were oblivious.

What could possibly be more interesting on a smartphone than the joy of playing with your children at the beach? There is so much to explore and teach your children. Little crabs hidden under rocks, tiny little fish darting about in tide pools, making sandcastles, drawing figures in the sand with sticks and finding interesting things that have floated to shore. Kids love this stuff. They also love mom and dad being involved.

Parents Put Down ThatCell Phone. Image Credit: npr.org

When my three kids were growing up, my wife and I spent hours and hours at the beach, exploring, fishing off the rocks, making sandcastles and teaching the kids water safety, how tides work, what to pick up and what not to. Of course, that was back in the ancient days before cell phones. Nowadays, I have grandchildren and I always lock my phone in the car…