The Last Word...or Two.
It is an honor to write for our student magazine, the Tuskan Times. My editor, Jasmine Anouna, however, has asked me to cut down on the verbiage, so I will. Accosted in the 3rd floor corridor by three seniors for my erudite commentary on soccer in my last column, I will also refrain from making controversial remarks this time. Instead, I have decided to use my allotted space to present the student body with a challenge. Today's youth are often criticized for being out of touch with the world, a result of being in touch, literally, physically, with their mobile devices, more often than they are with the people around them. Teens are attached to their mobiles more now than ever before. The proof is in the numbers. Forbes magazine recently reported that a survey of 30 countries by Researchers at GlobalWebIndex revealed that Facebook use was down an average of 20 percent in the third quarter of 2013, but only because the social platforms of preference for teens is now WeChat, Vine, and Flickr. That means that kids spend more time staring into their phones than into the faces around them. So, here's the challenge: Turn it off. Go offline. Unglue your face from your phone and turn it off for one week. Your phone, not your face. Turn it on to call mom or dad because you need a ride from school or a party. Better, make plans for the ride in advance. Turn it on if you have a long walk home in case you are attacked by a stray Jack Russell terrier and you need to call an ambulance. Turn it off and keep it off for one week. No chatting. No photo-sharing. No Face-time. No Snapchat. No WhatsAp. No Tumblr. No Tweeting. No Facebook Messenging. No IMing. No SMSing. I know. You have a lot to say to your friends. During class, during lunch, after school. You part ways with your friends a little after 3 o'clock. A few minutes later your phone dings: “Miss ya.” “CYA 2moro.” “LYLAS.” “TTYL, XOXO.” So much to say. Before dinner. During dinner. After dinner. Before bed. As soon as you get up on the morning. “What U Wearin?” Okay, so it's all small talk, and everyone does it. Like everything else, communication has evolved. Agreed. So why should you take the challenge? Because of what you may discover about the world around you with the time you gain not staring into a computer screen or the screen of a mobile device. I am interested in what thoughts play through your minds. I am interested in how you feel throughout the week when you no longer have messages and photos incoming and outgoing. Write it down somewhere. What you see. What you think. How it feels. Who has the courage to accept the challenge?
LOL
Mr. P.