the disconnected

I have been quite concerned about the disconnect of our current teens and young adults for several years. Supposedly they are very media-savvy and have connections to the world, but not all of them are using their connective possibilities as well as I think they should.

This first started to bother me several years ago when I noticed that youth are constantly connected to their ipods or other music devices. No one seems to care about connecting with other human beings they encounter. It seems like no one goes for a walk, run or hike anymore and just listens to their own thoughts or to the birds singing. If you are plugged in with your earbuds do you hear the fall leaves or the newly fallen snow crunch beneath your feet? I would really miss that in my life. I need some solitude and quiet to listen to nature and to my own brain waves. On a secondary note is the safety issue. If you are plugged in can you hear a car approach or an attacker?

Then I started to notice that some of the young adults I know hear very little news. Whether in their apartments or cars they listen to their own music list. When you listen to a radio station, even the most "all music" format will break in with important news or news of a crisis. This problem was evident a few weeks ago, with the death of President Hinckley. Though many kids learned about his death thru text messaging (which I will discuss in another post), some missed important news that they wished they had heard. For example, my daughter-in-law, who lives in SLC, did not hear about the viewing until it was too late to make plans to go. She and my son do not have television, never listen to commercial radio, and do not get a newspaper. I know they use the internet for news and information, but apparently they do not often access local sites. I mentioned to another daughter how much I enjoyed the overwhelming news coverage the week of President Hinckley's death. Because they, too, do not watch television or listen to commercial radio, she did not know what I was talking about. They completely missed the televised funeral.

That same couple got caught in this week's snowstorm on I-15. If they would have listened to the radio before they got on the freeway, they would have been forewarned and could have avoided several hours of standstill traffic.

They have ipods, laptops, DVDs, CDs, and internet access. They are plugged in, but not to the rest of the world.