Parents becoming too attached to technology

I can agree with this article. They're saying that parents and adults have a bigger addiction to technology than what people may think. The roles have been switched; instead of the parent nagging the teenager about putting away their phones, the children are nagging the parents to get off the smartphone or laptop. I have personally noticed this with my own mom every since she got her fancy droid smartphone and iPod touch. This woman loves scrabble. I mean loves it. After dinner, when we'd be spending family time together in the living room, she'd be on the couch with both devices out, playing two simultaneous games of scrabble and Words With Friends. It gets really annoying. And her most recent discovery, and I blame myself for this one, is the new "Draw Something" game. I showed her, knowing she'd love it being the art major she is, but I didn't think about what it could mean. Now, every single night, when she's not playing Words With Friends, she is constantly asking me, "Bryana, does this look like a postcard?" or "What does this look like?" And when that's not going on, she is constantly asking me if I played my turn with her yet.
Yeah. This is getting a little out of hand. I have brought it up to her several - no, many- times. All she does is laugh it off. So I know exactly what Beth Teitell means when she describes the many people who have trouble with parents getting of their technology devices. She described an instance where a father was so attached to his laptop, his two young children were putting their heads in between him and the screen, and even "fabricated potty-training accidents" (Teitell). She qualifies both sides of the argument with interviews from many people. It seems as though the majority of the interviews make it seem like parents are the bad guys when it comes to technology, though I think this was the author's purpose because she is showing everyone how harmful technology can be to children when parents are using it.


Article: Dad, can you put away the laptop? by Beth Teitell