Today it seems impossible that, for the first eight years of our marriage, we did not have a television.
Yes, we watched television at other people’s houses, but there wasn’t one in our home.
In year eight of our marriage, our first daughter was born, and we purchased a 12-inch black-and-white TV that lived in the hallway closet most of the time. It came out for movies on the weekends or for important sporting events.
It’s also hard to remember that there were only four channels—and no remote control.
Who would have guessed back in 1980 that most homes in the U.S. today would have 65-inch big screens or larger? And more than one? In color? With streaming?
Nope, didn’t see it coming.
The Nintendo Game Boy was introduced in 1989 at $89.95 (about $235 in today’s dollars).
In 2024, consumer spending on video games in the U.S. reached $58.7 billion.
Again, quite a surprise.
During my college years in the 1970s, I spent many weekends at a keypunch machine, helping my husband input data for his computer science classes.
Now, here I sit with the latest technology at my fingertips, able to do work in a few hours that would have taken days just 20 years ago. Those clunky, noisy keypunch machines fade like a bad dream. The me of 1976 had no idea of the convenience technology would offer in 2026.
What I also didn’t foresee were the alarming trends this technology would spawn.
In today’s world, information moves at incredible speed, and there are few filters protecting our children from excessive screen time, harmful content, and the negative effects of social media.
So how do we balance the benefits of technology with its risks?
As the adults in charge, we need to sit down and take an honest look at both the good and the bad in our own situations.
As the old song says, “Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch onto the affirmative. Don’t mess with Mister In-Between.”
For many of us, smartphones and smart-home devices have become addictions.
There used to be a state of mind called “bored.”
When was the last time you heard someone say they were bored? At the first hint of boredom, it’s far too easy to reach for a phone or ask Alexa to do something.
For me, one of the greatest risks of our technology use is that we never allow ourselves to experience deep, restless boredom.
But boredom is the doorway to curiosity and creativity.
And creativity is what we—and our children—are most at risk of losing.
Information without a meaningful story—the reason it matters—is just data.
Put away your phones, unplug your devices, and reconnect with your curiosity and creativity. Others will join you.
Start telling stories.
- Tell stories about when you were young.
- Read stories out loud.
- Listen to others tell stories.
- Sing. Songs are stories, too.
Stories are what make us human, and technology can never fully tell our story for us.
The benefits of technology will continue to grow, just as they have over the past 50 years. It will be amazing.
But the risks can be reduced through our conscious efforts to strengthen our humanity by building a culture rooted in the humanities—literature, history, art, music, and philosophy.
Tonight, turn off your phone, allow yourself to be bored, get curious, get creative, and tell a story.
As we approach summertime, here is a simple refrigerator handout to use as a reminder of what to do instead of reaching for a phone.
Join me for a complimentary Kids Talk Workshop…
