July 31, 2018: Del Rio News-Herald * OPINION * Letter to the Editor * Streaming and screaming screens
Letter
to the Editor,
Streaming
and screaming screens
All
around us screens are screaming at us. We cannot avoid screaming and screeching
screens, whether a movie-screen, television-screen, computer-screen, smart
phone screen, or tablet-screen; they are rubbing-out our reasoning and robbing-us
of our rationality.
They
deliver all kinds of experiences that quickly suck us in and we are suckers for
allowing them to do that to us. What
might seem harmless is indeed harmful, in a destructive and dangerous way. If
you think this is crazy, then you’ve been brainwashed by the streaming,
screaming screens where artificial sights and sounds have replaced natural
sights and sounds.
We
are swept off into a make-believe world where we escape the people and problems
of the real world. We choose to call it entertainment when in reality it is
escapism.
We
choose to justify our screens of choice because we say we need them. So now the
basic human survival needs are: Oxygen, Water, Food, Shelter, Sleep and
Screens. “I can’t live without my screen!” has become the outcry of those
deprived of their screen streaming and screaming constantly in their
faces.
“Listen.”
“I
don’t hear anything.”
“That’s
called silence.”
“Close
your eyes.”
“Why?”
“That’s
called relaxation.”
Audio-Visual
stimulation has replaced Relaxing-Silence.
Twitter
messages: 140 characters, YouTube videos: usually less than 5 minutes, Text
messages: 160 characters; and
the average length of phone calls 3
minutes. Our attention span is substantially shorter. We spend 5 hours
per day on our devices. We are constantly switching social media platforms:
apps, videos, and gaming.
We
are mesmerized either into a sluggish stupor or an adrenaline rush. We are on a
roller coaster ride of living vicariously through our screens. How much social
or personal interaction do we have in a day? If we assume eight hours of work
or school, eight hours of sleep and five hours on our devices that leaves only
about 3 hours unaccounted. Well some may
say that they interact with people at work and at school and even while they
are on their devices. Really?
Marian
Casillas, Ed.D.
Del Rio, Texas