聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The other day I received a text message that actually angered me a little bit; I was a little defensive about the subject, but I breathed through it and let it go. Maybe I was just reading into the message and not just reading it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 However, I chose to use it as a teaching moment while at the Summer Games. While there the coaches held onto the girls鈥� phones so they wouldn鈥檛 receive distracting text messages and would be in the moment with their teammates, not just on their phones. They balked a little bit, saying there was a need to keep Snapchat streaks alive. That takes a second and I鈥檓 not completely heartless, so I鈥檇 let them send their Snapchats and message their parents as needed.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But, after I received that text message, I waited until giving them their phones back and explained what happened. I told them that when they鈥檙e at a volleyball tournament that their phones become distractions, especially if they get an upsetting message, which is part of the reason we took their phones.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The other reason was so they could enjoy each other鈥檚 company, and enjoy it they did. The coaches had to chaperone a dance on the Friday night and I watched as kids were walking around taking selfies, while our girls were dancing up a storm actually having fun in the moment and not looking through a camera screen the entire night
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 People always seem a little bit braver behind technology. A 鈥淜eyboard Warrior鈥� as I鈥檝e heard them called. They鈥檙e everywhere in this day and age. If you watch Youtube videos or read news articles there鈥檚 always someone trolling the comments, making outrageous claims or inciting people, and a lot of the time they do this just to do it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I admit it is easier to write things down than it is to actually talk to someone. I enjoy writing this column because I get to address topics sometimes that I otherwise might not have the opportunity to discuss; I have the liberty to say whatever I鈥檇 like for a moment with no interruptions. And because I like to think things through before I say them, writing is a good medium for me. However, in person you鈥檇 just have to give me a little time mulling over a subject and forming the right words.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The other problem with being a 鈥淜eyboard Warrior鈥� is that maybe they鈥檙e not intending their words to cut. In university I took a class that focused on language and behaviour, and as humans we say much more than the words we let tumble out of our mouths. There鈥檚 body language and tone, which make up for the majority of what we say, because people use different inflections and when you write something down the other person is missing nearly 90 percent of what you actually were thinking when you wrote the message.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Someone once told me that they wonder if I was always upset when I texted them because I try to use proper grammar in my text messages. Apparently those tiny dots, a simple period, even though just used grammatically can be interpreted in funny ways that you never imagined it would be. I started using emojis in my conversations a little bit, so people would know my grammar in texts didn鈥檛 mean I was upset, that I just liked to use proper grammar.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, as we continue to embrace technology, I think we need to be aware of how different speaking to someone in person is from writing something out and sending it to them. And we just need to be conscious of that.
