Why Is Our Society Raising Children Like Pavlovian Dogs?
By: Victor Camon
Tags: Technology, Addiction, Life Lessons, Education, Children

Our world today is irrational. It is a digital world. A world where people communicate and base their positive or negative emotions on the opinions of others. They base their worth on meaningless communication. This is the communication they have with fictitious, so-called friends.

Today, I came across three children. They couldn’t have been more than ten years of age, and they were having fun. They were taking photos. They climbed on a bench, and off they jumped. Perfectly timed, at the exact moment when they reached the sky, they would take a photo. But for what reason?

As I sat watching, I realised it was not for the experience. To feel the thrill of the jump and the children travelled through the air. No, it was to upload it to the internet and publicly receive social acceptance. The purpose was to give themselves that personal feel-good for the ‘likes’ they acquire because that’s, sadly, how we now live.

Instead of realising the joy of the jump, we enjoy the virtual ‘likes’ that friends are giving us. We can be in the physical presence of friends yet regard the virtual opinion of those as more critical. Even though friends are real on some occasions, however virtual on others, the balance of opinion falls to those not present.

So, if this is the case, are digital networks in our world? After all, much of our life is there. However, our sense lies beyond just the screen. But our experience has other senses, and only one of them is the view. And seeing the likes you’ve received is cool, right?

The other senses are smell, touch hearing, and taste. But we disconnect from these sensations through a mobile phone. They are rendered unnecessary. As humans, we need to discover or be in contact, with these other senses.

It’s important. Otherwise, the only thing you’re living is an imaginary reality. A much-filtered experience discovers the sensation of the wind on your face. In the same way, as it is blowing over me at this moment while I’m sitting, writing these lines. Every sense is stimulated, and when I close my eyes, my senses become heightened.

As I sit with the sea in front of me, I think about how much I enjoy the sensation of the wind on my face. I watch how a tree blows in the wind, as the breeze touches my lips again. And I live for these sensations, and you too can live for experiences to liven your world. It’s up to you to decide what it is for you.

If you want to live off other people’s virtual ‘likes’, do it. But you’re going to be empty, and unfulfilled. The travel and adventures, you have in this life, take the time to enjoy them, directly with all your senses.

You don’t have to share them. These sensations are yours, no one else. You’ve lived them first-hand. You created them. You’ve discovered them, experienced them, and touched them.

If this is real, share them because the world is better when you share things. But before sharing any experience, it’s better to live the sensation. Enjoy it and feel it.

Tobacco companies no longer dominate the world’s addictions, and in a few years, they will have very little power. Soon talk will be about mobile addiction rather than tobacco.

And worryingly, this addiction starts at such a young age. Parents are desensitising their children through the mindless use of mobile technology. Without thought, parents give a dose of hyperactivity and sensory overload in the form of screen-time. And in exchange for what? A few minutes of peace?

I think back to when it wasn’t so easy to watch TV at home when technology wasn’t to hand. Our parents had no choice but to develop real-life experiences for my brothers and me. I enjoyed the outdoors, with brothers and friends, using our creativity, imagination and discovering.

When I talk to my friends, who have children, and they justify screen-time by saying all children have a mobile today. I find it difficult to understand the concept, “everyone has” or the “they are used to it”, as an acceptable reason.

These are excuses and convenient justifications that give parents a great opportunity for space. They can exile their children, and thanks to a mobile or tablet, they can breathe a little, taking time for themselves.

Am I wrong? For me, knowing how a child develops is the basis for education, learning, and development. So, I don’t understand why parents must give children a mobile phone to eat in peace.

Yes. I’m not a father. But my parents taught me that when I had to eat, I ate. It was a social experience and based on a shared understanding. If I had to make a choice, I would prefer my son didn’t eat and behave, rather than give him a cell phone for entertainment.

Where’s the father-son connection when trying to get him to eat if not playing with him, or showing him how to socialise at mealtimes? Now it’s easier to pass over the mobile, and not have to address any behaviour. Does your child know why he or she is eating? Do they understand this is a time for relaxing, talking and sharing experiences?

Pavlov’s dogs, an experiment conducted by Ivan Pavlov, conditioned the behaviour of dogs with the encouragement of the sound of a bell.

Pavlov would ring a bell and feed the dogs. After ringing the bell, a multitude of times and not giving food to the dogs, they would begin to salivate. The stimulus, therefore, was not the food but the bell.

This same process is happening in so many homes where a child happens to be a Pavlov dog. The stimulus is the motive and the food the benefit.

It’s fine. Keep repeating it to condition your child’s eating and their behaviour, where the benefit is a mobile addiction. If there’s no food, there’s no cell phone! Put on the plate, unwanted food. It makes no difference. It is not important; it is the stimulus that counts.

After all, it is normal, and you can justify your children’s addiction. Parents and grandparents are also on the phone regularly.

In the end, this addictive behaviour becomes normalised, especially when it becomes routine and commonplace within the household, and the wider population.

I’m probably an eccentric. Sometimes I leave my cell phone at home and take a book instead!

Help Your Kid to Live a Real Life. Not an Epic Life.