Helen Bach Column: Smartphones instead of dummies?
I've seen a few things lately which have caused me to do a double-take.
The first was a man putting his bins out, dressed only in flesh-coloured shorts, so it looked like he was completely stark naked. Thankfully I realised he was wearing something before clutching my pearls and reaching for the smelling salts!
Then I was walking along at a car show in Stamford. The Meadows was packed with people of all ages, there was a wide variety of vehicles on display, everything from E-Type Jaguars and classic Ford Mustangs, to Ford Granada’s and a rusty old Toyota Corolla estate which I thought was stretching the definition of 'classic' slightly, but each to their own!
Walking towards me - or rather being pushed in a buggy - was a little boy, a baby really, can't have been any more than a year old if he was that. With dummy in mouth, he was clutching what looked like the latest iPhone in his little hands, and was just staring at it.
With everything else that was going on - the people, lots of dogs, the cars, the candy-floss and food stalls, the rides for the kids etc - his sole focus was on whatever was on the screen of what I'm guessing was a parent's iPhone.
And it made me feel really sad. Now, I'm sure some of you are reading this and thinking I'm a judgemental old bat, but I'm not (OK, sometimes I am I suppose, but I'm working on it). Maybe he'd been screaming and kicking off moments earlier, and this was the parental solution to achieve some harmony, obviously I don't know the full story.
But I don't think handing a baby a screen for them to transfix their little eyes on is the solution to anything - to be honest, I think that's just going to create more problems in the future, like concentration and attention issues and smartphone addiction?
Funnily enough, it was the same day that EE stated that it felt smartphones were unsuitable for under 11s, and I thought to myself thank goodness someone other than me is thinking this and saying it!