Beware of the Screens!

Do we allow ourselves to be formed by the screens or do we choose to be formed by the Eternal Oneness?

One day I woke up and realized how my life had been changed by screen time. It was a slow, but progressive change.

Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

When I was young, I listened to books on records and the sound of my parents’ voices as they read to me. When I was seven, we got a television. The television was on in the mornings before school. I watched Roger Ramjet and Captain Kangaroo. After school it was nonstop sitcoms, like The Patty Duke Show, and adventures like Lost In Space, until bed. We even began to eat with the television on. Gone were our discussions over the meal. My parent’s marriage broke down. I think back and perhaps one small influence was the lack of interaction around our meals.

In the early days we ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. My dad came home from work each lunch hour to share the meal as a family. Later, he stopped returning home for lunch, and by the time I was in Junior High, we had stopped breakfast as well.

We had no computer or electronic games. Even with all the television watching, I still read voraciously. In high school, I became more involved in extra-curricular activities. Television watching was minimized. I was active in dance lessons, in church, and spent lots of time hanging out with friends. In college, my activity continued with not much time at all for the television. I went my entire college life without logging onto a computer. Everything was handwritten or typed.

It wasn’t until I met my husband-to-be that I experienced an at-home personal computer. He was already addicted to spending long hours in front of a screen. This addiction carried into our home life and was passed on to our children, multiplied by the growing number of ways to be in front of a screen. We had PlayStation, Game Boy, and 24/7 cable TV, including Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. I battled the screen, but to no avail, caving under its strength.

My work also began to be in front of screens. One of my first office jobs included eight hours a day in front of a computer, and this was now an expected tool of most jobs. So, eight hours a day in front of a screen, home to 24/7 television with the screen in nearly every room, encroaching our lives.

I fought against technology, losing each battle. The world wide web permeated. At first, it was a fantastic informational, learning tool. Quickly, it became a marketing device. Cellular phones came out. I resisted until they seemingly became a necessity. I resisted texting until my business required it. I resisted having data, but it was so useful, especially in business. So, I became connected 24/7 through the Internet. Social Media exploded upon the scene. It was deemed necessary to have a Face Book page to market one’s small, local business. I entered the arena of Face Book and Twitter. I built my own website and a blog, attempting to market through the online audience of millions. It’s a noisy world online.

One day I awoke to acknowledge just how much of my life was spent connected, and it was nearly every waking second. I had begun to use the Internet as a prayer and scripture resource daily. My breakfast was enjoyed scrolling through Face Book and YouTube videos. I used it to study a language. I used it to participate in a YouTube yoga class, and my Kindle became my reading resource. I texted friends more than I called. I was online my entire workday. I came home and scrolled Social Media while You Tube chattered away in the background. I easily spent five hours every evening in front of a screen. I even exercised my mind with online puzzles.

Screen technology had sucked me into its grasp, like that frog who relaxed in every growing hotter water until it reached boiling. After, it dawned on me how much time I spent in front of a screen, I stepped back. I dusted off my bible and began to read from the book. I got back out my prayer book. I am still writing, using Word and a screen, as well as being online at work as it’s part of my job. However, I tried to find ways to spend my time away from in front of a screen. I am doing yoga without a screen and daily walks out in the fresh air to be in nature. I am back to reading books instead of using kindle. I have turned off the television for a few hours a day. It’s a start and filling that time with other activities. Surprisingly, after only a few days, I have much more energy and more creativity.

Our screen technology draws us in, training us to be more and more addicted and more and more dependent. It changes our behaviors and our social relationships. I ask the question. Do we control our screens, or do they control us? How is screen time changing us? For example, our attention spans? Our increasingly collective anxieties?

Are we allowing ourselves to be formed by our screens or can we choose to prioritize something else, like connecting with nature or pursuing activities that open us to an Eternal perspective? It’s a continuing battle as the screens have become all invasive and entangled with every aspect of our lives. And, yes, ironic that I am using a screen to propagate the post about screens.

Screen time can be good, a tool of communication, learning and information sharing. I only fear that this tool has transformed from a tool we use, to something that is using us and forming us, our behaviors, our interactions, and even our health. Beware of the screens!