Opinion|Reader’s opinion
Social media is not a substitute for a face-to-face meeting, where you can sense the emotional states and thoughts of your loved one.
Worry about children’s and young people’s restlessness, learning difficulties and deteriorating physical condition made me, a physiotherapist grandmother of six grandchildren, active.
I myself belong to the generation whose childhood included yard games and two channels on television. Basic fitness was built while running in the yard and social relationships while playing with children of different ages.
When I watch children and teenagers with their eyes fixed on a smartphone, I wonder what happens to the other senses. The sense of sight is very stressed, the muscles that move the eyes do a lot of work and the neck is often tense. Headphones that feed the sense of hearing. How little use is left of smell, taste, touch and the “sixth sense”, i.e. the brain?
Smartphones offer quick entertainment. A smartphone gives you time where you don’t have to get bored, think about or enjoy various environmental stimuli – birdsong, the sound of the wind, a flurry of snow, fellow human beings.
It is possible to keep in touch with a wide circle of friends through Some, but it does not replace a face-to-face meeting, where you can sense the emotional states and thoughts of those closest to you.
It’s good that parents think about their children’s screen time and tolerate children getting bored. It’s great to see school children play and play outside during recess and thus ventilate their brains.
A smartphone is very useful and I use it a lot myself. For example, I often listen to an audiobook while sitting on the train. When I look around, everyone has a phone in their hand and buttons in their ears. I fondly remember the good old days, when you could start chatting with someone and enjoy different encounters.
Anu Koskinen
physiotherapist, Hyvinkää
The reader’s opinions are speeches written by HS readers, selected and edited by the HS editorial board. You can leave an opinion piece or familiarize yourself with the principles of writing at the address www.hs.fi/kiryotamielipidekeisuis/.
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