Toddlers and Technology

As I walked in to babysit a four year old tonight I noticed that her focus was completely off. She was glued to her mom's Kindle fire watching Barney episodes one after another. She didn't greet me as I came into the room and she kept her eyes fixed on the screen as her dad was saying goodbye. I don't know what it is with children/people and technology, but it is as if that is all they are focused on nowadays. When I was a kid I spent most of my time playing outside with hula hoops and sidewalk chalk. I grew up alongside the growth of technology. So as I lay in my bed typing on my phone, I realize how consumed the world is with pieces of glass and metal called technology. If you really think about it, humans today would not be able to function without their I Phones and Kindles. With everyone stuck taping away on their screens, face to face confrontation has gone down the drain. People rely on speaking to each other via social networking where conversation flows more quickly and easily. I don't like this downward slope society is headed towards and witnessing a four year old glued to a screen doesn't give me much hope. I don't want the aspect of face to face communication to disappear completely just because of how convenient talking on phones is becoming.