Family Interaction

Family Interaction

Technology is advancing greatly in our society. Between video games, Mp3 players, phones, and television people are barely interacting face-to-face.

I believe that human interaction is a very important aspect of happiness in life. It is especially vital in the most basic unit of our society, the family.

Early last year, my aunt died. She was only 32 at the time. We all loved her very much and we were crushed by her death. But it taught me something. You don’t have forever with your family. I had known this, obviously, but we thought she would be around longer. It just goes to show that you never know how long you will have with someone.

Having thought that we would be able to visit her for a long time to come, we didn’t try to see her oft. We barely went down south to see her, and she hardly came up.

If we spend all of our time playing video games, listening to our Mp3 players, talking on the phone or watching television, we will miss out on the beauty of nature. We will not see our family much and before you realize, it’s too late.

This extremely painful experience has taught me this lesson. Even before this happened, I would say, “I love you,” whenever I departed from my family. I never really knew why, it was just a force of habit. However, I know now. We say that to tell our family how we feel about them because we never know when we are going to talk to them again, if ever. That night before my aunt’s passing, I said goodnight and, “I love you,” expecting to get up the next morning and say good morning to her. But I never did. When I woke up, the ambulance was taking her away. I never saw her alive again.

This is what I believe in. The cherish and enjoyment of our families. I am not saying that we should shun technology completely; I am only saying that we should not replace love and human interaction with Mp3’s and TV. I myself enjoy technology, but I still play games and have fun with my family.

Human interaction maybe most important in the home, but it is important in communities too. When we sacrifice love and friendship for music and video games, then we lose what separates us from machines. Besides our greater knowledge capacity, without human interaction, we ourselves are little more than machines.

Not to mention, without talking to people face to face, or enjoying the company of others, life would be really boring. It is this very basic skill, interacting that keeps us who we are. This is my belief.

– Hunter Scott Searle Johnstown, CO