CELL PHONE ORPHANS

 One of the many problems with cellphones and smartphones is that they have become an addiction which no one is trying to treat. Drivers pay more attention to their phones than traffic, resulting in accidents, injury, and even death. Pedestrians who are glued to their phones, walk into traffic or into other pedestrians, again, leading to possible injury or death. However, as well, the use of mobile phones is interfering with face to face human contact. It is so sad to me to see a table of friends eating a meal in a restaurant while fully ignoring each other because of their phone addiction.

This uncontrollable compulsion to check messages, send texts, watch streaming, use social media, etc., has now invaded parenting and has led to a very sad phenomenon:

CELL PHONE ORPHANS

I was recently riding the express train from Pearson International Airport to downtown Toronto. There were two parents absolutely fixated on their phones. Their young son, about 4 years old, sat next to his mother, looking around the train with bewilderment. The ride lasted about 30 minutes and the parents talked to the child finally as we arrived at Union Station. Here was a great example of a Cell Phone Orphans.

Another tragic example was in a playground. The mother sat on a bench enslaved by her cell phone while her children played on the slides and monkey bars. Her young daughter fell off the jungle gym. The little girl was crying while her mother was oblivious to all that had happened. Another woman went over to the children, and they both told the good Samaritan who their mother was. So the helpful lady took the children over to the bench, where the mother was, and had to arouse the mother from her mobile phone stupor. This is a second example of  Cell Phone Orphans.

I observed one of the most disturbing examples of  Cell Phone Orphans on a subway train. A woman was totally engrossed in her phone, and her young son, again about 3 or 4, was trying to get her attention by grabbing her arm. She yelled at him and went back to feed her phone cravings. Her son began to lick a clear plastic/acrylic divider used to separate subway seats from the door. He kept turning to his mother and pointing to where he had licked the partition. She was hypnotized by her phone and took no notice of what he was doing. He continued to lick the clear separator. Needless to say, subways are certainly not antiseptic and the child was exposing himself to a multitude of bacteria and viruses. The mother was enjoying the oblivion afforded by using her smartphone. 

The subway incident is a possibly the most serious of the described examples of  Cell Phone Orphans.

I am personally wondering if parents who relegate their children to the condition of Cell Phone Orphans are really fit to be parents. Certainly, neglect of children is a reason for Child Services organizations to remove children from parents. Does not ignoring your child while on your cell phone qualify as neglect.

Parents should feel that their children are more important than their mobile phones. If they do not, maybe they should not be, or not allowed to be parents.