Are Electronic Devices a Holiday Destraction?

Tony Hicks on www.troyrecord.com describes a family evening watching a movie.

His daughter was texting “Before I knew it, a half-dozen kids were digitally piling on my kid. My daughter was responding to a query by offering many of them honest yet probably insulting, point-by-point analyses of what’s wrong with them (that’s my girl). I was texting some little boy to address him calling my daughter a female dog. And another parent (not the boy’s) entered the thread, insulting my kid for being 'mouthy'".

Despite all of the particpants in the online dialog being miles apart, one family’s night was ruined. The story is one many families can relate to in a world of rampant technology addiciton.

On a Facebook poll asking “Do smartphones ruin family time at Christmas?” local LIVE! readers came up with a variety of responses on the topic.

John Elmer said “Not if you don't let them. We all have that choice,” while Rosalinda Campos mentioned, “I have seen families in restaurants not talking because almost all have a cell!”

A couple of answers landed on the comedic side of the spectrum, while still getting their points across.

Tanya Davis said, “Nope, a lack of electronic discipline and respect do. Realizing it's okay to ignore candy crush and Facebook helps a lot!”

But Andrew Killingsworth takes the win on the LIVE! poll with, “I think we are going to have a phone basket. It's not like I'll die if I don't see 1,327 Merry Christmas posts.”

But even with a strong leaning toward putting the elctronic devices down for the holidays, sometimes having a child entertained by a movie on a long car trip is a blessing in a screen.

Drheller.com says “Screen time can keep your children occupied in ways that are not harmful. It can also be another avenue, a contemporary one, for shared experience.”

 The site adds, “Even more important is whether screen time totally replaces quality human time or still allows for meaningful parent-child or child-child interaction.”

That only applies to children however, it doesn’t really help out when 23-year-old cousin Jenny can’t detach herself from Facebook for longer than two minutes.

We here at LIVE! love our readers, but we hope you are not reading this instead of spending time with your family.