Texting While Walking

It should be obvious by now that __ing while walking, driving, or doing anything else that diverts attention from where you place your body threatens immediate safety in ways similar to taking sedating drugs. What is so interesting is how urgently compelling taking such risks seem to be to otherwise normal people to satisfy the irrational impulse to communicate matters that could probably wait. Immediate gratification via digital technology at the risk of long term safety is yet another self-centered, basically infantile behavior that seems to undermine civility and judgement.

As a child psychiatrist, I am at least as concerned about the long-term effects of texting or other media consumption while supposedly parenting that deprives both kids and parents of the attention they need to connect to each other in ways essential to brain development and good family life.


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