Monday, June 14, 2010

WWJD--WHSP?


“WHILE waiting for an elevator at the Fair Oaks Mall near her home in Virginia recently, Janice Im, who works in early-childhood development, witnessed a troubling incident between a young boy and his mother.

“The boy, who Ms. Im estimates was about 2 1/2 years old, made repeated attempts to talk to his mother, but she wouldn’t look up from her BlackBerry. ‘He’s like: ‘Mama? Mama? Mama?’’Ms. Im recalled. ‘And then he starts tapping her leg. And she goes: ‘Just wait a second. Just wait a second.’ ’
Finally, he was so frustrated, Ms. Im said, that ‘he goes, ‘Ahhh!’ and tries to bite her leg.’”
Julie Scelfo penned these words for an article last week in the NEW YORK TIMES. The article raises some interesting concerns for me.
You’ve probably heard of WWJD-What Would Jesus Do?
Maybe it’s time to ask a more specific question: WWJD—WHSP? What would Jesus do with His smart phone?
Last November, our family purchased our first cell phone family plan. Judy, our two oldest children, and I all purchased cell phones.
My motives for purchasing were multiple including family communication and ministry to our church. My inspiration came from research I did last year, which revealed to me the plethora of uses a good smart phone could offer. Moreover, the research fully convinced me that younger generations prefer communication by texts instead of email or phone.
Sometimes, your research is off. In this case, the only poor spot in my research’s performance was, it completely undersold the extent to which I would grow to use and depend upon my iPhone. I have made my iPhone my laptop computer. (My laptop computer has become my office computer.)
I use my phone for social networking, texting, personal finance, Bible reading, devotional reading, newspaper reading, magazine reading, pleasure reading (I have both the Barnes and Noble and the Kindle Apps), emailing, dictation, listening to songs, listening to digital books, and, oh, yeah, an occasional phone call.
Evidently, I am not alone. Recent research divulged the startling statistic that people now use their smart phones less for phone calls than for other reasons.
It is for these reasons this article entitled “The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In” has grabbed my attention. I know how easy it is to grab your phone in a spare moment and become totally absorbed by what you are doing.
Recently, MIT completed a five-year study investigating how parental use of technology affects children and young adults. The report found that many children felt hurt, jealous of their parent’s cell phone, and in competition with it for their parents’ attention.
Don’t laugh. Here is one example. Scelfo writes about Laura Scott Wade, who is the director of ethics for a national medical organization in Chicago. Recently, her son, who is three, Lincoln, lost patience with his mother’s repeated promises to get off the computer or cell phone. He now sets the timer on the microwave. Ms. Wade affirms, “… when it dings he’ll say, ‘Come on,’ and he’ll say, ‘Don’t bring your phone.’”
Our society began, a few years ago, the serious discussion of “should people use their cell phones while they drive.” Part of the debate was pondering the question, “What will our kids do with their driving after observing our example?”
Now it is time we put another antenna in the air. After growing up watching us, what will our children do with their smart phones outside of the motor vehicle?
Technology, like any gift, must be used well. It must be utilized; it is an instrument.
Technology, like any gift, can be squandered by little use. However, it can also become an idol through too much use.
Ultimately, the decision is ours.
Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. Now, in light of what I just wrote, here is the antithesis. Seth Godin is a good observer of popular business culture. This is from his blog last week: “I saw a two-year old kid (in diapers, in a stroller), using an iPod Touch today. Not just looking at it, but browsing menus and interacting. This is a revolution, guys.”

2. This suggestion comes from friend Adrian Woods: Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A & M join the Southeastern Conference, which promptly secedes from the BCS. They are all the best teams; they can decide the National Championship amongst themselves. Brilliant!

3. My World Cup pick? Brazil.

4. Just bought and started reading the book OPEN LEADERSHIP. It deals with the subject of leadership as impacted by social networking. It’s been really good so far; I look forward to reading more.

5. My blog is going out a little late today because I had the honor of officiating the funeral of Helen Donaldson—the mother of a childhood/high school friend named David Donaldson. She was a remarkable example of how to face life’s tragedies. Cancer and complications from surgery finally ended her life early Friday morning. Blessings on her family.

4 comments:

Tim Archer said...

Brazil?

I'm sorry, I had to cut you out of all of our old Argentina pictures. I'm sure you understand. The two concepts just don't go together.

Grace and peace,
Tim

P.S.—I think it was Chris Flanders who told me about talking to a Brazilian about why they like Argentine tango: "In a tango, an Argentine always suffers and/or dies."

Dr. William Mark Edge said...

Please Enjoy this--I am actually going to show humility. I have no clue who is going to win the World Cup. I just figure Brazil seems to always have a chance.

I would love for the U. S. to win, but I would also love to have my old hair back.

I know Argentina probably has the best player in the world. I would be thrilled to see them win. It is their coach that concerns me....

Thank you though for your timely rebuke.

ME

Kyle said...

My world cup pick is Uruguay. Underdogs for sure but they've looked sharp....Seeing as all SA teams are advancing to the next round we should have plenty to cheer for down here in Peru.

Oh and Shaye has been able to navigate and use an iPod touch for about a year now, so 2.5 years old was when she started. I didn't not intend for her to learn...she just figured it out on her own by observing us.

Dr. William Mark Edge said...

South America is definitely on a roll. I don't recall seeing anything like this.

Thanks for passing along the vision of Shaye. It reminds me I need to be less fearful of my kids messing up my stuff. Indeed, perhaps they can teach me how to use it!

ME