Kids are simultaneously really smart and really dumb. I blame technology and the constant need to have the phone in the hand.
Case in point: my oldest is a freshman in college. By all accounts, she is a smart kid, gets good grades, and is doing well socially and emotionally.
Last week, I dropped her off at the train station to head down the tracks a few towns to school. Since I had a meeting, I dropped her off early with the plans to get to school early and hang out on campus.
Instead, she got on the wrong train and ended up in Harlem.
The conductor took pity on her, gave her a new ticket, and sent her north towards school.
She got on another wrong train and ended up at Fordham. Good school, but not the right school.
Finally, she made it to class – on time as luck would have it – and settled in for the day.
On the one hand, I was incredible proud of her for keeping it together, managing one train after another, and getting to school. A lesser child would have given up, called for a ride, and skipped the class.
Technology puts the world in our hands. It also distracts us from the world around us. Headphones shut out the noise, but also the voice of mom or dad or really anyone else who is trying to get your attention. We rely on technology to tell us where to go, but surrender our own sense of direction in the process. I can see where I am going, but I still defer to the voice in the computer that tells me to turn left. I know it’s wrong. I see it’s wrong. I do it anyway.
I suppose I am a little dumb too.
This week, I will invite my children to put the phone down, listen to one another, and enjoy the world around. I guess I will have to take my own advice as well.
Hmmmm… Let’s think about this.