(FREE) May Letter from the Editor

by Kelsey Wagner

➡️ This article is one of the FREE preview articles included with our free membership option, we hope you enjoy this free content!

➡️ Do you love reading stories from Ponca City Monthly? Don’t miss a single article, sign up for our email newsletter and get them delivered directly to your inbox. You can subscribe here.

A few months ago, my kids got in trouble. BIG trouble. Bad grades and too much technology is a dangerous combination in today’s world, so I decided it was time for a hard reset. I did what every parent both loves and hates to do and took away every electronic device that my children cherish. Let me also just point out that my kids are not “children.” They are more like man-sized teenagers. I haven’t enforced this severe of a punishment in years, but they crossed the line with me this time. I was just in the right mood to jump to an extreme punishment. Taking away all electronics from teens isn’t just a punishment for the kids; it’s a punishment for the parents. As I packed controllers, iPads, phones, and game consoles into a black bag and loaded it into the back of my car, I couldn’t help but feel like I had a load of illegal contraband in the trunk of my vehicle. 

Kids immediately go into the 7 stages of grief when they are deprived of screens. Through shock, denial, and anger, they protested. But, I was determined to teach my kids a lesson this time, so I gave them no set date of when the technology embargo would be lifted. They whined, they bargained, they yelled, but they slowly began to come to terms with their new reality. 

About seven days into the ban, I picked them up after school and took them to a barber shop for a haircut. My older son looked at me and said, “Um, I can’t get a haircut without my phone.”

Perplexed, I said, “Why on earth do you need a phone for a haircut?”

“Because,” he said matter-of-factly, as he launched into a full-fledged meltdown, “I have to go walk into that room and wait. I might have to wait for 5 minutes, or I might have to wait for 30 minutes, and if I have to wait for 30 minutes, what am I supposed to do? What, just look at people? Look at the walls?”

I sat there for a few seconds, letting the words find their footing in my very confused millennial-mom brain. In that moment I realized that my child didn’t know how to “wait” without the crutch of technology to pass the time. I spent most of my childhood technology-free, and spending hours at a track meet or looking out a bus window with nothing to do was the norm. It is not the norm for children today. 

He went in to get a haircut without his phone. It wasn’t the end of the world. I’m not sure if he found a magazine or stared at the wall, but the entire conversation triggered another even more troublesome thought  - when was the last time I waited for 30 minutes without looking at my phone?

Children aren’t the guilty parties here, they do what they’re taught and what they’re allowed to do by their parents. It’s very easy to point to kids and say how hooked they are on technology, but aren’t we all? The lesson here is simple: the next time you go to a doctor’s office or have a 30-minute wait to see your chiropractor - try it. Sit there without looking at your phone. It’s not just kids who have lost the ability to sit alone with their thoughts - we all have, and that is a scary reality indeed. 

Never miss an article; subscribe to our newsletter! We offer a free version, as well as paid memberships for full access to all our online content, including exclusive articles & videos:

➡️ Opt in or out of different newsletters on your “My Account” page.

➡️ Learn more about Ponca City Monthly+

Ponca City Monthly is a locally owned publication that delivers hyperlocal news in print and online.

Like what we are doing? Feel free to forward this along and tell a friend.

Sponsorship information/customer service: email editor@poncacitymonthly.com