Social Skills

See this a lot? I recently watched two teens text each other, by the way, they were sitting next to one another on the bench.

At Jude's recent well visit at the pediatrician, she asked be how much time he spends in front of a "screen". This included TV, computer, and Leapster. I told her on average he spends 2 hours max, and sometimes less.

I let them watch on average 4 cartoons a day, or Jude can trade in time for his computer time or Leapster time.

Are there days that he gets more than that? Sure. Sick days, horrible behavior days, and maybe days at the sitter.

What scares me is that my pediatrician said they are seeing kids now with loss of social skills due to screen time. The inability to make eye contact and the inability to recognize facial cues in expression.

The main culprit?

Text messaging.

No wonder, when teens are sitting next to each other and their conversation includes only texting (the fact that texting is a verb now should clue us in)?

I believe that teens need to learn the technology. For it is crucial for the business world they may enter. However, this may come with a price.

Can you imagine a world with loss of social skills because of technology?

It would be a world of IT nerds at best. WOW.

It just makes me have even more anxiety about giving my kids access to cell phones, computers and video gaming.