Step back

     It is kind of sad to think of how much of our lives we put in and depend on technology.  Today I looked around my school and saw how many kids were texting and listening to their iPods.  They hardly ever look up.  Some kids even bring iPads to school.  What is this, Best Buy?  I don't think so.  I am the only one in my English class that doesn't have a phone.  I see everyone texting and playing games during church too.  Seriously?  Angry Birds during Sacrament meeting?  Come on.  My family was talking about this subject tonight, and it made me think of how dependent people are on their precious little devices.  Nobody knows how to spell without using texting lingo or whatever.  Most teenagers don't even know how to look people in the eye and have a conversation anymore.  That is really sad.  Sometimes I wish I had a phone, but then I wonder if I would turn into "one of them".  I don't want to be.  It isn't only teenagers, I've seen plenty of adults doing it too. 
      Video games have become a huge problem too.  Personally, I don't want to marry a kid who was a major gamer for over half of his life.  That is gross.  In video games, you learn that killing is a good thing that gets you points.  What good is knowing how to kill someone with the C button or the D button?  Go and plant a garden, or learn how to play an instrument, or learn how to write a letter on paper, or something else that doesn't use a screen.  Actually, indexing would be a great thing to do with a screen.  I know that some gamers get really into it.  Getting a new batch of names to do is like getting to the next level of a game.  It is really cool!
      I know I might sound like a hypocrite with this post, since I am posting on a computer, but I'm really not on all that much.  I love to do other things too. 
     Sorry to rant about this, but I think it is important to learn to live in the world created for us, the one without wires and batteries that need to be charged, etc.  Here is a list of some great alternatives to consider replacing some screen time with. (these are mostly just things that I really like)

• Go on a walk
• Learn a new skill
• Learn how to play an instrument
• Go fishing
• Make something awesome with your own two hands (not just your thumbs)
• Sing
• Draw
• Sculpt
• Crochet
• Learn a new song
• Write a song
• Read a good book
• Do your homework (not something I particularly enjoy, but it has to get done some time)
• Weed
• Get to know someone in your family
• Make a cardboard arcade! 
• Start a journal (In a notebook, not on your electronic device.  Try to decorate it in a cool way)
• Enjoy nature
• Write a letter...Snail mail style

My brother Nate did a cool thing.  He got off of Facebook for the whole month of February.  I thought that was a really great thing to do.  I don't have a Facebook, or else I would have done it too.  I think that once you step away from one of your "connections to the whole world", you realize that you don't need it, and that it was something that you waste a lot of time with.  I have decided that I am going to do a challenge.  I am going to get off the computer, aside from indexing and homework, for all of May.  So, I won't be talking to you guys until June first.   I'll tell you about the things I did instead!  I hope you will challenge yourselves to get away from the electronics for a while too.  If you do, I would love to hear about what you did.  Comment or email me.  I'll read all about it in June.  Have a great month!  See ya!

-Katherine Jan