Good Afternoon – How are my Go-Go Juice buddies done? Well, it’s the hump of the week and I bet many of you are already planning your social events for this up coming weekend. You know, we’re all a bunch of social butterflies – even the guys. I know many guys reading this would nod their head in disbelief that they’re anything like their female counterparts who love to gossip, be nosy and set play-dates with kids and spouses. Yes, we female species do like the attention, whether we’re getting it or giving it, but you guys are just the same. Oh- you may not gawk or yap senselessly for hours on end like us, but you like to “hang” with your buds – even in silence if even to just watch a sports game together, or shoot the breeze over a couple brewskies , or play a cut throat card game…but it’s socializing, nonetheless. We all socialize – young and old. But what if socializing gets to be an addiction? How can that be bad? Well, it seems there’s one form of socializing that has doctor’s raising their eyebrows – its texting!
Well – I’m a parent and I can say with confidence, I saw that one coming! If you’re a parent and you have teenagers, how often do you see your kids’ texting? All the time, I bet! I have one cell phone and my daughter hogs it when she comes home from school. In fact, she sleeps with it. And, if I have to run to the store, I keep my phone on me for obvious reasons, but she insists on joining my errands so she can continue her muse with texting. CNN ran a piece to raise the question to phone addiction. According to their report, experts say that phones are becoming an addiction to a lot more people than we may realize. When a 15 year old quotes that they go to bed with phone, wake up with phone and interrupt their sleep to text, there is no doubt an identifiable problem. According to the article, “Studies have shown that texting and the instant gratification of getting a text back floods the brain’s pleasure center with the mood enhancing dopamine. Neuro-imaging studies have shown that those kids who are texting have the same area of the brain light up as an addict using heroin,” as quoted by Dr Michael Seyffert. Is this limited to kids? Nope. Adults who also spend more time texting their buddies have the same experience. I know when I take the phone away from my daughter; she gets moody, depressed and full of anxiety while waiting for her next “dose” of texting.
I think back to the day before cell phones. We always had to find a “payphone” and always carry change to use it. When was the last time you saw a payphone? Heck, their obsolete now. The cell phone replaced the need and increased our productivity, ability to raise communications, but the addition of the text? What’s the point? To silently send messages to someone who might be in a meeting where the phone can’t ring? Oh – for heaven’s sake. What’s the deal with instant gratification anyway? Why aren’t we happy with just fast? There’s always some example out there that demonstrates we need it faster than fast. Hence texting – in our haste to raise communications by speed and time, we’ve created a monster. Do I dare snip the cord to my daughters’ dependency on the phone and “deal” with her withdrawals? I don’t know – what would you do? Are you a possible text junky? Well, it sounds like a debate we could have over time, but I have to admit, there are worst vices you could have. So, go break a knuckle and text your heart away. And, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to text your buddy to invite them to a get-together that would allow you both to put the phone down, even for a few hours of rest. Have a great evening and drink plenty of Go-Go Juice!
No comments:
Post a Comment