Is the inability to communicate inside the family a consequence of the rise of technology?
A common scene depicted on postcards sold in our day shows a regular family out to dinner at a pub or restaurant, with each member engrossed in their electronic device and seemingly as disconnected from one another as they could be living on other worlds. While everyone in the family is at home, it is not uncommon for each person to be “plugged in” to their screen, with no communication between the family members.
Because of this and other occurrences that occur regularly, we are led to question whether or not technology is to blame for the breakdown in communication that has taken place inside the family. But before we start criticizing it, let’s investigate it a little bit further because everything relies on how it is used:
When parents and children are connected through the cell phone, play a game together on the “Play” or “Wii,” or chat with adults at work, we need to consider that technology can sometimes promote communication. For example, when parents and children are connected through the cell phone.
Conversely, when there are communication problems in a family, the connection to a technical gadget might be the excuse, the outcome of a family problem that is hidden, rather than the source of the problem itself. We have to ask ourselves if this family would still have anything to say even if there were no “techno” things in the house…
Nowadays, people believe that cell phones are the culprits behind the disconnection of families. Yet, in previous decades, television was more likely on at mealtimes, or adults read the newspaper while ignoring their children’s cries for attention. As a result, we need to keep in mind that none of these technologies are inherently harmful; rather, their impact is entirely contingent on the context in which they are employed, the rules that are established by adults regarding when and where these technologies can and cannot be used, and the measures that are taken to ensure that there are still opportunities for face-to-face interaction, interpersonal connection, and verbal exchange within the family.
However, if children are put in front of the television for several hours a day from a very young age to entertain them – because it is much easier than putting their bodies in line with the children’s demands – the child risks isolating himself in this world of screens. This lack of communication with others will be more than an occasional occurrence.
Therefore, there is no need to be concerned as long as there are other opportunities for family members to bond and connect, even if individuals choose to disconnect from one another to pursue their interests, whether or not they do so using electronic devices. But if members of a family spend the majority of the time they have to spend together absorbed in their electronic devices, if when they go out to do an activity together, they pay more attention to social networks than to the pleasure of walking together, and then blame technology for generating this lack of communication, then we should ask ourselves if the problem and the responsibility are not placed outside.
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