Society continues to chug on, much like the Titanic, slowly but forcefully moving “forward.” The rest of us are on board, apparently simple observers staring off the starboard. Yet, when we notice a giant iceberg ahead, it seems like we are supposed to simply stay quiet as we scrape along it, tearing a hole in the side of the ship. The question we must ask ourselves is at what point are we going to decide to change course?
There are many amazing aspects of modern life, like access to an unlimited supply of books at the click of a button, sewage, running water, heating, you know those kinds of things… But at what point do we say no to their accomplices? When the local public school requires children to ask to go to the bathroom through a device, when do we say enough is enough? Raising the hand works just fine.
Modern society dictates that we must accept any new innovations or fashionable piece of society and swallow it whole as it is shoved down our throats. At what point are we to say “thank you, but I have had enough.” At what point do we say that, perhaps it’s not our device that needs a reboot but ourselves. Per our experience after the storms, perhaps it is not normal or remotely OK for teenagers to be barely visible outside for three years. Maybe it is time for us all to admit we are addicted, and sitting in front of a screen all day while it extracts whatever thought process is left in our brains is the absolute wrong direction. Perhaps we need to change course.
We recently were at our daughters’ last music class, which is basically a bunch of children running around and playing with instruments. The classes were hilarious and a treat to watch. In the last class each child brought in their own homemade instruments and described them to the rest of the children and their parents. The class was in a small room and an intimate setting. One of the child’s grandmothers was in from out of town. She proceeded to record much of the experience on her phone, and sit there playing it back at full volume, as if this was not disruptive. Instead of simply watching her grandchildren in person, in the actual moment, she bizarrely recorded them and then watched the recording, instead of their actual human presence only feet away from her. Shortly after her phone loudly rang, she left to answer it and never returned. Too short an attention span for a 45-minute music class – the duration set in order to capture a child’s attention span! (When thinking of an example for this article, I only had to reach back about 2 hours…).
Distracted, distracting, not present, and tending to another world. This unfortunately describes our current society well, with its lack of ability to concentrate, be in the moment, and no wise elders to help steer the ship. They are too busy on their devices, compulsively clicking away like addicted lab rats. While society is partly to blame for their marginalization, if our elderly leaders are anxious and addicted clicking away on their devices, being pulled from reality while we are headed straight for the iceberg, how can we even begin to blame our teenagers for doing the same? I have a massive garden that attempts to mirror the one I watched my grandfather tend to for his entire life. What do these kids watch in their grandparents? Scrolling through pictures on their phones? Grandparents sitting glued to the news, replete with scrolling banners of devastation and disaster from around the world or surfing the internet passing countless hours of a waning life to buy “stuff” while they could be embracing the moments with their families and establishing their legacy. Nope, spending time on the device seems to be the better option. The same people who watch the news all day and complain about society going to hell in a hand basket do not seem to be doing much about it.
There are many requirements of modern society that can be quite frustrating. Yet, we are not forced to do many of these things, and others we can minimize. At what point do we pause and change course? The iceberg is getting closer, and the time is now.
© 2025 CDR Health and Nutrition, LLC. All Rights Reserved.