Monday, January 15, 2018

I love my phone; I hate my phone

I am in my car, halfway backed out of my driveway. I realized that I had forgotten my phone and I am having a internal debate over whether I am going to go back inside the house and get it. On the one hand, I am only doing a few errands on my day off; on the other hand, it is my phone.

In the end (proud moment) I drove away from the house without retrieving it. And, when I had returned and checked it, no one had needed me. It was a reminder that I can live without my phone.

I struggle with my smartphone use: Its little chirrup that I have a text message can be heard from several rooms away; although I've turned off most of my game notifications from the lock screen, there is always something to do on it; and I find myself reading the news on it more often, which kind of puts me in a bad mood.

So, understandably, when my son asks about when he will be old enough to get a smartphone, I tell him that our phones are useful, but they make us miserable. He doesn't believe me, because to him, phones are wonderful magic boxes that let us explore the world and instantly communicate with anyone at anytime. He doesn't know that they are also magic boxes designed to capture our attention away from family and friends.

Children don't understand the addiction that the phones present, which is why Apple has announced that it is beefing up parental controls. But I want to know if they can get parental controls in place for parents' overuse as well. 

So, maybe my experiment for the year is to leave my phone at home more often. This is easier said than done, since I also have to be a responsible adult. But, it can be done, right?

Right?

Do you ever leave your phone home on purpose? What events do you not bring it to? Share with me in the comments.

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