• by ebony , September 30, 2010

One day it occurred to me that relatively everyone under the age of 35 has spent their entire life in front of a screen. Television, Screen. Computer, Screen. Cell Phone, Screen. Just to name a few.

Forgive me if this post gets a little metaphysical or out there, but this concept is one that has crossed my mind on more than one occasion. It fascinates me that almost everywhere we go; there is a screen that we are watching (e.g., tv at the gas pump), using for communication (e.g., Mcdonald’s drive through), being watched through (e.g., ATM machine), or maybe even trying to avoid (traffic light camera). What is even more fascinating is the fact that it seems to not bother us.

Beyond the fact that younger people don’t mind having screens around them, we are more than willing to divulge all of our information onto social media sites so that on screens all over the planet people can see a twitpic of what we had for lunch.

A Pennsylvania University Provost decided to ban social media on his campus for a week this past month. I don’t know how well it did, especially considering the fact that several students found ways to bypass the system.

However, I appreciate the fact that he decided to take some action against what he felt was excessive usage of social media. I wonder often, what it would be like to take away all the screens just for a little while. Would people freak out? How would we share our most random or innermost thoughts without the 140 character limit text box? What would we use to stalk our fellow classmates? Would we now be forced to (GASP) actually speak to someone to get to know them better? I know that I may be exaggerating a bit, but these are serious questions of mine.

Do you feel that a life without screens is impossible? It may be, but I feel that a tiny screen vacation may soon be in order.