Technology in my family.

We had an interesting discussion today in Press in America stemming from a video we watched from the New York Times about media consumption in this one high school. The video made me...emotionless.

Somewhere along the conversation, we talked about technology and kids and how the age is decreasing for when children are allotted a cell phone, iPod, etc. That made me think of my sister and how she's the exception to the rule. In fact, it got me thinking about how my family uses technology as a whole. Overall, out of all four of us (me, sister, mom, stepdad) I am the sole mass user of technology. Let me explain.

My sister's ten, even though I tell her all the time that she isn't. This summer, I watched in horror as my mom bought her a cell phone (I didn't get mine until I was a sophomore in high school!) but then I watched as my sister didn't really proceed to use it all that much. It turned out that my mom bought her some sort of pay-as-you-go plan where she's given a number of minutes and all that jazz. She only uses the phone when she's out playing at a friend's house and my mom wants to get in contact with her. I suppose, on that level, she's okay in terms of technology use. She wasn't subjected to Baby Einstein or learning to use the computer by the time she was five. When she was five, she was on her second year of playing for a soccer team, which she still plays for now, 5+ years later. Instead of watching TV with me, she goes outside and swings (alone, sometimes) on her swingset or colors pictures and the like.

Where Miranda is an outdoors girl, I am the opposite. As a child, I was the one who was parked on the couch (watching The Weather Channel of all things) and avoiding nature like it was the plague. Now, I am typing this blog on my MacBook, listening to music plugged into my iPod, and I have a cell phone, but I don't know where it is at the moment.

We are different, very different. And I hope it stays that way because I wouldn't want my sister to lose her natural instincts to avoid technology, avoid being plugged in, and go play outside.

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My mother, on the other hand, just got a Facebook. I made it for her. She hardly uses it, but when she does, it's to primarily chat with my sister's friends' parents. One of Miranda's friends moved away at the beginning of the summer, her best friend, and it was sad for her. Thanks to Facebook, her mom found our mom, and Miranda can still keep in touch with her friend regardless of her living in Georgia now. I guess my mom is the exception to the rule that if people get a Facebook, they'll turn into status-updating notification-hoarding mindless people. My mom isn't there yet, she hardly knows how to use the thing and just avoids it. I guess it's better that way.

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My birthday was on November 7th. On that day, I received tons of Facebook wishes, texts, and of course, calls from various family members. The most shocking, however, was when I hadn't heard from my stepdad all day. I thought for sure he'd remember to call me or something. At the very least, send a text. (He's new to technology even more than my sister...he doesn't get why there are letters associated with the number keys on a phone.) But, I got nothing. Two days later, I told my mom that I never heard from him, and she said that he sent an email. I checked my email and lo and behold, there was a message in my inbox wishing me a happy birthday. He said in the email that he didn't want to call or text in case he interrupted me had I been busy.

That saddened me. What he thought was that he was saving me the trouble of talking to him if I were busy. On my birthday, however, all I wanted was to actually hear his voice. That's such a strange concept in today's society--actually talking on the phone--so the fact that my stepdad didn't call was a little upsetting.

This is just a few things that went through my mind in class after that movie.