I Want my Children to Notice: People

I thought to myself; why does lowered screen time matter to me for my kids in addition to brain development, mental, and emotional effects at their ripe age? Finding Shalom is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. It's notonlybecause I don't want their brain to rot in dopamine addiction hits and 'when can I watch something' as they always ask. It becomes an addiction. It turns into self-centered affection. It is dangerous. You miss people this way. Youmissthem. To notice what's around them, who's around them. Notice who's hurting, who looks nervous, who seems tired and weary. Who looks hungry and sick. Who needs help. Who looks like they need a hand. Or a listening ear. Who needs a hug. Who needs a friend. Who needs to be noticed. I hope this becomes a question they often ask. Children are naturally good at paying attention to detail, to the unseen and things we've become used to like a pink sky and a tree or a bird in the sky we've seen several times over again. They notice the annoying squirrel and are delighted about their sighting. Things that seem boring to us often aren't boring to them. My 6 and 3-year-old are still new to life. They haven't gotten tired of seeing ladybugs and butterflies and growing flowers in the garden. They are blessed by these things, daily. I don't want them to get tired of seeing and noticing people either. Over time our senses become dulled. Screens do that to us. I don't want this to happen to my kids. It is hard to notice people when your eyeballs are stuck to a screen all day. It's hard to build emotional intelligence, wonder and compassion for those around you if you aren't looking. If your attention is taken away for hours. If you don't have a moment to look. To sit. To be bored. To feel the air, to look at the trees, the birds, the light. The people. The humans walking by. The one sitting down in scorching heat. The one by the freeway wall with the sign up. They will not notice the person to our left upon the freeway ramp if I always have the phone talking to them in the car. They are currently noticing. They ask me 'mama why is he there? What is he holding? Does he have a home? Does he have food?' 'Mama that's the same guy we saw last time. That's the one we said hi to last time'. Yes baby, yes. 'That's our friend. I remember him,' I say. 'The one you gave your quarter to.' The one who smiled a snagga-tooth smile. The one that waved with joy on his face because it seemed as though he was shocked we waved, that we payed attention to him. I want you both to notice. I want you to pay attention, to the weak in strength and status. To the 'weird' ones. To the not-so-cool lookin ones. To the ones with visible dirt on their clothes and hands and cheeks. To the ones with sweat beaming above the brow. To the person at check-out while you look into their eyes instead of your phone in hand. No amount of information will give you compassion. No amount of intelligence will give you love for people. For your people. For our people. For your neighbor. You must not burry your little head into screens and magic light up things. You must live. You must see. YouMUSTpay attention orsomeonemaymisslove that day. You cannot see people if you do not stop and look around you. Leave a comment Finding Shalom is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.