Left to Their Own Devices

Nathan Ahearne discusses the ways digital devices have changed the way our children grow up.

As a child, I remember being left to my own devices and thinking that was a good thing. I enjoyed pottering around the back shed, building forts, digging holes and riding my bike to the shops. Sure, I fashioned a homemade bow and arrow and almost shot the neighbour, but I was also outside, enjoying the sunshine, developing technical skills, and challenging my ingenuity. 

Today, leaving children to their own devices has taken on a whole new meaning with the proliferation of handheld technology. Digital devices have changed the way we communicate, shop, socialise, and in the case of children, the way they play, learn, and discover the world around them. 

Instead of defeating an imagined enemy with their pretend army guns made from scraps of wood, kids run around the neighbourhood chasing virtual Pokémon through augmented reality on their devices. When Pokémon Go! took off, I remember secretly being happy that my son was at least getting out and about!

Back in 2016, Pope Francis warned young people in Poland of the dangers of becoming couch potatoes, encouraging them to lace up their boots and get off the bench, to be fully alive and to stand up to the injustice around them, rather than slip comfortably into indifference. He wisely explained that “some situations seem distant until, in some way, we touch them,” that “we don’t appreciate certain things because we only see them on the screen of a cellphone or a computer.”

This proximity referred to by Pope Francis, is a critical dimension of family life and relationships. We need touch, sound and yes, smell (for those with teenagers) to feel connected, to remain aware of our surroundings and to keep a foot in the world of reality. Another old saying is that "children should be seen and not heard." Sadly, in many houses, children are neither seen or heard, as they slip into the digital darkness with their earphones on and devices plugged into bedroom wall sockets. 

Some simple boundaries have helped my family foster greater connectedness with each other, such as a limit to screen time (mum and dad too), a broader range of alternative activities, no devices in bedrooms, and more time outdoors. The recent experiences of covid-19 lockdowns have stretched my family, but there have also been significant opportunities to cook together, play in the garden, walk the dog ,and even tune up our karaoke vocals. 

There is no doubt that children can learn a whole new set of skills, both personal and interpersonal, through access to electronic devices and the internet. The most educational game I played in 1984, was Gertrude’s Puzzles, a simple first person/goose strategy game. Perhaps this is why I spent more time outside having fun! Children are drawn to stimulating experiences and when you take a look at modern computer games, video streamers, and social media, the world away from devices can initially appear simple, understimulating and as my kids say, BORING!

Of course, we need to teach our children the gift of simplicity and the joy of being carefree, untethered to their devices. Sunday Mass offers my family more than a reprieve from technology, but it is one of the few times in the week when I personally leave my phone at home. We enjoy the quiet, the stillness, the people, the candles, the kneeling and standing, the singing and proximity of others. It stimulates something entirely different from the sportsground, shopping mall, work or school. We encounter God in a real and present form, not through a screen, not in the metaverse and not on YouTube stream. God is revealed in the Word, in the congregation, in the bread and wine and each are transformed.

Click to tweet:
How blessed are we that God doesn’t leave us to our own devices? #catholicmom

How blessed are we that God doesn’t leave us to our own devices? Like a good parent, God knows that we need to be brought into the proximity of relationships, drawn into the mystery of silence, and encounter His mercy through the loving actions of others. 

As stewards of Creation, we must also realise that our planet and people of all nations, cannot be left to their own devices either. May we foster the “openness to interdependence and sharing, the dynamism of love and a call to respect” that Pope Francis says “can shed light on our efforts to care for our common home.” 

Let’s consider how people are being left to their own devices in our homes.

Copyright 2022 Nathan Ahearne
Images: Canva