Has Technology Ruined Our Children?

Everyday you hear of another cyber-stalker luring a child into his web of lies or about a computer being seized for child pornography. 

Reportedly the levels of cyber-bullying are rising to an astronomical level and there are papers sent home from schools about the dangers of the Internet for children!

It seems our kids are being ruined by the instant gratification of the Internet and thumb texting at a rate that will make your head spin.

They've learned how to SEXT and become cyber-bullies. They have forgotten how to spell and they no longer talk to each other but text or post comments on each others Facebook pages in cryptic shorthand.

When confronted with actual face to face conversation, they are lost and actually will say, “OMG! LOL!”   

OMG! WTH? 

I have witnessed teenagers sitting NEXT to each other texting instead of talking!

In some parts of the country, schools no longer teach the art of cursive writing in favor of computer and typing skills. We're raising a generation of printers and "X" signers? I thought that was only for Third World countries that couldn't afford to educate their children.

Our children today don’t know the difference between THERE, THEY’RE and THEIR or TWO, TOO and TO!

I'm not sure this advancement is good for the kids. They're learning bad habits that are hard to break! They're getting carpel tunnel and eye strain and don't go outside to get daily exercise.

On the other hand, the Internet is a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips!  Kids are leaning about things they wouldn't otherwise have access to in school.

However, this also means they can learn how to build a bomb and maybe find out what that creepy dude across the country wants to do them in positions that their parents don't even know about.

My 70-year-old father calls it "The Tool of the Devil." In certain aspects, I have to agree. But does the good outweigh the bad? If parents can't even parent their children on daily points of behavior, what makes anyone think they will parent their children online?

I’ve actually had a couple of parents say their children’s Facebook page is their “private” area, much like a diary. This philosophy astounds me. Not only are children younger than the mandated age of 13 accessing and creating profiles on Facebook, but the parents are not policing the activity on their pages.

I wish more parents would take an active interest in their children’s online activities. But sadly, they don't. I'd lay odds that most parents do not know what their children do online or on their phones.

It's come down to the simple fact that the TV babysitter has been replaced by the computer babysitter.

What are your thoughts and opinions?