Did You know????

Last night I was sitting at work and it was a bit slow, so to kill some time I thought I would checked out this magazine from my work about the company.  Normally it is too busy for me to have time to look at it and really when I get home it is the last thing I want to do is read about my work on my free time.

This article was talking about the importance of Big Brothers and Big Sisters mentoring program and what difference this is making for our younger generation.  "A recent study found that students enrolled in a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programs showed increased attendance, improved grades, higher self-worth, and better overall relationships with family and friends after an average of just 18 months participating in the program."  I do not know about you, but the way I see it, if even one child is helped then the program is fabulous.  That one child can in turn help another and I see it as a domino effect!!

So that was the positive point of the article....the rest of this I find not so much...

"Despite the past year's increase in popularity of social media, a recent study reveals we now have one-third fewer friends and confidants than we did two decades ago.  And Americans'  approximate 19 percent jump in leisure time over the past 35 years notwithstanding, the amount of time we spend in face-to-face socializing has fallen from 32 percent in 1965 to a mere 13 percent in 2009.  Why all this self-imposed aloneness? Even a resent movie, The Social Network, depicted our shared loneliness as a glum portrait of isolation in this age of global connection"

I do not know about you, but I do know why this shocked me.  I have not seen The Social Network, but do know that when Facebook came out Canadians were one of the first to go Facebook Crazy and in turn help make the owners super wealthy!! Sure I know I do not talk on the phone to friends or family as much as I use to and sometimes I find it is easier to just send a text message then a call.  Though it seems we as a society are taking everything that helps you have a better quality of life and replacing it with just stuff.

I know I should not have been surprised driving home the other day from work I happened to have Dr. Laura on and she was going over some statistics.  Pretty much the basic details from what she was going over is that our society is become more self absorbed and we care more about our own personal gains and material possessions then we do about the others around us.  So as a society we have more than anyone has had in history, yet we are more depressed now then we have been in the past.

I find that this is sad...is this the legacy we are leaving and teaching our children? 

It takes a village to raise a child, but who is going to raise the child since we are too busy tapped into the Internet, TV, cell phones, focusing on our personal gains and our looks.