I was at the Reds game a week or so ago and I saw something that really disturbed me quite a bit. A father had brought his two sons to the game, they couldn't have been older than 5 or 7. Initially it really brought back memories of the first Reds games that I went to with my Dad and then something hit me that wasn't quite right. For a vast majority of the game the two boys were sitting in their seats playing games on their Dad's iPad. This made me feel so sad and also a bit frustrated. Here this kids were at an event that I remember as one of the best bonding experiences I could have with my Dad and these kids were treating it as just another day where they could be beating high scores on whatever games they were playing. I initially was mad at the kids but then realized that they are so young and immature at this point in their lives that they don't even realize the memories that they were wasting that they would never get back. My blame then shifted to the Dad, who was also on his iPhone a good amount of the game. If your kids are going to play on the iPad all game then why not save some money and watch from the living room. Obviously he should understand the problem with what was going.
I hope that doesn't end up being the norm at sporting events and other activities like that. People don't even understand the memories that they are missing out on, just for a stupid game that can be played whenever. The point here is that there is a time and a place where these tools should be used. On the subway, right before bed, when you need someones phone number, etc. But it needs to be understood that this technology is not meant to be day fillers, rather, day helpers.
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