Sitting at the airport lounge watching people and their interactive modes was a very instructive experience and one that struck a new fear into me. For instance there was this family of five right in front of me. They were all equipped with the latest communication gadgets you can think about; dad's two ears were padded with two earpieces that clearly separated him from the real world into who knows where.  Two of the boys were similarly decked but from time to time will interchange their earpiece to hear something their mum or dad was saying or to respond to something on the TV.

The last of them was busy on his iPad playing a game. He was so engrossed with whatever game he was playing that when he was asked to join the others to go to a nearby food stand to have a snack he just was not interested. Our flight was due in two hours and within that time nobody spoke to the other. Of course Mum was the only one without a gadget but who I am sure common sense and experience have taught to be " on her own" and do the good job of watching everybody’s backs.

Yet another young family. The only reason an outsider will know that the woman is in anyway connected to the man is because of the two year old safely strapped on the lap of the man. With occasional sounds made by the baby to signal the need for water or for attention, only then would the father utter something to the woman seated beside him. She would then respond as required and as necessary and continued with whatever she was doing on her phone.  If I should hazard a guess, she is either on Facebook, Instagram or what'sapp or any other social media platform that engaged her enough to wait out the long hours before her flight.

How Did We Arrive Here?

This is the result of Innovations. Welcome to the digital world. A world that is creating great barriers and causing great divides between families without them even knowing it. To silence a kid and give mum some "peace" mothers are now known to surrender their mobile "weapons" to them as a form of distraction . They do this without as much as try to find out what exactly the kid is in need of. Worse still and most times they do not bother to monitor what the child is watching. Little wonder that the rise of children who watch pornography on their systems are on the increase. From virtual dating to virtual lovemaking these kids graduate to doing it real life. Teenage pregnancies are the most common sights these days as a result of children trying to match their virtual world with their real world.

The couples find solace in the digital cocoon as their escape from the real world. The men answer calls unending and of course some of them have converted their phones into their mini offices. The average male phone user is highly "techy" and so with the unlimited apps and softwares on almost every thing you can think of, these men create a false world where" no woman can oppress them" or be privy to. That is why men would almost kill if you tamper with their phone. It's a "highly militarized zone". BEWARE. 

Technology is indeed creating a great divide; in fact a big gulf in families. According to a study reported by Jim Taylor, this divide has grown due to the increased use of technology among children in several ways. First, children’s absorption in technology, from texting to playing video games, by their very nature  limit their availability to communicate with their parents. One study found that when the working parent arrived home after work, his or her children were so immersed in technology that the parent was greeted only 30 percent of the time and was totally ignored 50 percent of the time. Another study reported that family time was not affected when technology was used for school, but did hurt family communications when used for social reasons. Interestingly, children who spent considerable time on a popular social networking site indicated that they felt less supported by their parents.

To be continued….