Spoiled By Technology

I'm again inspired by things i can't say, but this time it's a rant. The post was originally about Christmas gifts and judging other people's choices..etc. It started out with someone asking for ideas of what to get a 4 year old for Christmas on facebook. Someone left a comment talking about their 11 year old nephew and allllll of the bazillion things this 11 year old had. Some of these things included various game consoles, a 50 inch TV, an iPad and a Blackberry, amongst other things. This is where the judgement came in. Some people thought it was great, while others thought it was awful. Where am I at in my opinion? Well, I don't like to judge other people because I don't like to be judged myself, and it is their choice of what to give their child, but shouldn't there be a line? I mean, seriously, why in the Hell does an 11 year old need a 50 inch TV or a freakin' Blackberry?? Are you kidding me? This is where my rant comes in. Of course, we all like to "spoil" our children, but where do you draw that line? My opinion is that if you give your child every single thing he wants, they will not appreciate hard work, or their possessions. They will also grow up being snobs to people who don't have everything and will expect to have everything handed to them. Even if I won the lottery and could afford all of those things, I still wouldn't buy all of that for my kids. They don't need them. They need to be outside playing like kids, or doing something important instead of sitting on their ass staring at a TV or computer screen. If they want some of those bigger things, they should earn them, such as with doing chores or getting a job (another reason why an 11 yr old doesn't need a Blackberry, if he's not even old enough to work!). Teach them responsibility and what it's like to work for the things that they want.

Last Christmas, my son cut out pictures in an advertisement and glued everything he wanted onto a piece of paper to send to Santa. I explained to him that he most likely wouldn't get every single thing! Even if I could have afforded it, I still would not have bought him every single thing on his list, I don't think that is teaching him anything good. No one likes those people who think they deserve to get everything they want, so why would I want to make my child like that? Does anyone else feel the same way? 

The second part of my rant: Technology is making people lazy and stupid. Ok, so I'm not a complete technology snob. I love my cell phone and my laptop. But guess what? I could survive without them. I may be disappointed but I would survive. People depend on electronics too much these days to do everything for them. A lot of teenagers don't even know how to do simple math because they've always had technology to do it for them. Kids aren't learning to use their brains, they are learning how to push buttons and have the answers given to them. Kids don't even know how to verbally communicate properly because they only know text messaging or instant messages. One day, my husband and I were waiting at a doctor's office. These two teenagers were next to each other, probably siblings, both of them had an iPad or something. They whole entire time I was there waiting, all they did was stare at their screens. They didn't once talk to each other or one another. It was like they were off in their own little electronic world. Technology is great for a lot of things and helps a lot of people, especially those with disabilities, but it's making the rest of the country stupid.