on October 13, 2014in Blog, Electronics as Addiction-Distraction
Good morning.
The other day I had a patient- a teenager. Once I finished examining her, I spoke with her for a minute about her diagnosis. I then turned to fill out my note, and after about 10 seconds I starting talking again about the medicine she needed. I looked up and she was conveniently on her phone texting.
Really?
This is wrong on so many levels. To name just a few:
- Totally disrespectful to the doctor.
- What if (WHAT IF) the doctor had something valuable to say about her diagnosis or treatment?
- She couldn’t hold her attention for more than 3 minutes without checking her phone?
- I’m sure it was an EMERGENCY. You know, fire, theft, death.
- Mom didn’t say anything! I turned to mom and continued speaking.
- If she did that to me, does she also do it to her friends, parents, brothers/sisters, teachers?
I’ve been watching this problem unfold over the past few years, and I refuse to stay silent about it. I can’t sit with a friend for more than a couple of minutes without our conversation being interrupted by a text or by a facebook update.
It’s time to start talking about this with our kids, with our teachers, with our students, and with our spouses and friends.
I’m building a body of knowledge that will help us to overcome these issues so that we can reclaim our relationships and get our kids concentrating and playing again.
I need your help.
Answer as little or as much as you want. Your answers will be priceless in this journey. We all need to work together to tame this beast; I can NOT do it on my own.
Let’s do this for the kids that we love and adore so much, and for ourselves- our relationships with our spouses, children, and friends.
Thank you for your help.
Love,
Dr. Moses.
