UnPlugging Generation "Plugged In"

Friday was my daughter's 12th birthday.  It's hard to know what to buy a pre-teen girl these days.  I mean, she's too old for Barbies and too young for a car.  What's in between?  So I go to her and ask, point blank, what she wants for her birthday.  Her response:  an iPhone.  

Really?  You want me to buy YOU, a 12-year-old, a $300 phone that is smarter than you and me put together?  Why exactly?  Her response:  because all my friends have one.

(This is where I have to resist the urge to say, "If all your friends jumped off a cliff....."  You get the idea.)

I scoff at the notion that all of her friends have these phones.  I roll my eyes and say, Surely you are exaggerating.  Surely not ALL 12-year-olds are carrying expensive phones.  

And surely I was wrong.

So here we are, having a sleepover for her birthday, and what do all five girls show up to our house with?  Phones.  And what do they start doing the very minute they get together?  Texting.  Boys.  And taking pictures.  To text to boys.  And checking Facebook.  To see if there are any messages from--you guessed it--boys.

May I make a suggestion, parents?  

STOP BUYING THESE EXPENSIVE ELECTRONIC "TOYS" FOR YOUR NOT-OLD-ENOUGH-TO HANDLE-THEM KIDS.

Yes, I put that in all caps because I'm yelling it.  I'm shouting it from the rooftops.  Our children are too plugged in.  They do not know how to relate to one another because all they do is text and surf the web and play games on their phones and iPads and iPods and every other Apple product that is manufactured today.  And here's another thing--they are out of shape and overweight and unhealthy.  Why?  Because they'd rather bury their heads in video games and television than go outside and play.  Or participate in a sport.  Or hang out with friends and.....TALK (gasp!).  The proof's in the pudding, folks (bad pun, I know).  Just last week my daughter (the same one who's mad at me for not buying her a phone) had to take a physical fitness test.  One of the things she had to do was run a mile in 12 minutes.  TWELVE minutes.  I can walk a mile in 12 minutes, right?  That's 4 laps around the track.  I was shocked at the number of kids who couldn't even last one lap without stopping to walk.  Why?  Because the only exercise they get involves their fingers--texting, video games, and working the remote. 

So here's my plea to parents everywhere:  Stop with the expensive gadgets.  Stop with the electronics.  Buy your kid a bike.  Enroll your child in gymnastics.  Teach your children to have REAL conversations with other kids.  You know, that whole "relating" to other people thing.  It's so yesterday, isn't it?

#EndOfRant