A little boy was playing at the playground on his own while his parents were occupied with their screens. The boy was seen calling out to his parents on many instances; apparently trying to get some attention or perhaps, re-assuring nods for the fun he had. However, his father continued gaming on the phone while his mother, merely responded with cursory nods; her eyes glued to the social media feed. I could see the kid’s dejected expression when his parents were more interested in their screens than paying attention to him.
On another occasion, a little girl was seen playing badminton with her dad at an open space. Her dad was holding the racket on one hand and his phone on the other. He was watching a football match whilst playing badminton. Most times, he would miss the shuttlecock because he was engrossed in his phone. Instead of having a good badminton game, the poor girl was mostly serving the shuttlecock over to her dad – because her father would miss the shuttlecock. And at one point, I heard the little girl pleaded “dad, can you please stop looking at your phone already…?”
Parents often lament that their children especially the teenagers, are more interested in their “rectangular friends”, than having a good conversation with them. When children are in their formative years, do parents send the wrong signals like the ones mentioned earlier? Think about it…