King's Daughter's Kitchen

Turn it off. Leave it off. Spend time with your people. I could live forever without seeing another tv, show, movie, or screen on any device. Shows are written deliberately on a ninth grade reading and comprehension level to appeal to the largest number of people. The lower the age the screenwriters expect viewers to be, the lower the levels. Reading books is a much better way to learn a vast variety of vocabulary words. Books also give a reader a better picture of how grammar and writing work in the world.

Constant, unchecked, availability of screens has led to a generation of non- communicators who know too much, too soon, and couldn’t survive in the real world if their lives depended on it. I wonder, if all screens shut down at once, what could they really do with another person or group? How long would it take before a roomful of young people worked together and communicated effectively without help to solve a crisis? Scary thought, and these screen zombies are supposed to be caregivers to our generation? Their parents don’t forage, grow plants, harvest, and cook from scratch like we do. They live in a generation in which the tv and microwave always existed. Many are brilliant, but what would happen if all screens and electronic helpers disappeared, and young ones had to be self-sufficient to survive?

We grew up working and went to work. We pulled food from the ground, washed it and ate it. If we were curious, we went to the library and checked out books to get answers, or we kept asking people until we found out what we needed to know. We learned survival skills.

All of that is lost now. Many in this generation eat nothing live from the ground or even know the source or contents of their food. Teachers don’t take their classes to libraries. Students read on tablets. Thousands of books donated to schools end up, still brand new, redonated to places who sell them for profit. If this generation needs help, needs anything, they call or text somebody who does it for them. 

Imagine the time to do the things you love and see the people you love if you could get back the time spent watching movies you don’t remember, or regain now all the time wasted on commercials. Turn it off. Leave it off. Spend time with your people.