sundaymorningstaple wrote:
You might have a point, but the TFR would definitely go up without the damn things. It's no wonder why the new generation are shying away from both marriage and if it do, from having children. Until they find a way to graduate from verbal/texting intercourse to the real thing, it's only going to get worse. But ignoring your date/mate all the time for smartphones is a sure damper on taking any kind of relationship to the next step.
One could make a contrary point, that the prevalence of mobiles makes contact and communication an awful lot easier. I mean for example do you recall back in the day, the terror of calling a potential girlfriend for the first time and being faced with the probability of her parents answering the call, and giving you a mini-quiz?
I agree there is a line that can get crossed when you're say out with friends, and they're 'chatting' with other friends on their phones. But I suspect if that's becoming a problem that's just bad manners.
But what is considered ill-mannered for one generation is not so for another. Chubby Checker, Elvis (aka 'Elvis the Pelvis' lol), Black Sabbath (etc), and The Sex Pistols (etc) were all considered extremely louche (vulgar, bad-mannered, socially negative), by the older generation of their times. Yet we tend to look back fondly on all of them now, or at least recognise their cultural significance. You are going to have a hard time keeping youngsters away from what is currently fashionable.
I was recently and most uncharacteristically approached via Facebook by a young-adult relative of mine asking for opinions on drugs. It's probably the first time he's ever directly contacted me beyond an annual Thank-you card for a gift. I pondered this for a day or so (Why me!?) before replying, but concluded that it was a positive thing. So, I gave him the straightest A-Z that I could. I was also very clear on the concerns and dangers as well, and what to just outright avoid. I thought it better to be honest and leave him some-way genuinely and impartially better informed. After all Prohibition and 'Just say no' were proven outright failures, and arguably just made things worse. It's left with him knowing I'll try and be straight-down-the-line with him, won't tell anyone, and the door is open if he wants to discuss it any further.
So, yes, texting whilst together rather than speaking is just bad manners. So are many things young people do, like wearing hats indoors, please don't get me started, hehe...
I feel that the TFR issue here is most strongly correlated with the difficulty young people have getting some personal space to nurture relationships. Never mind a room and some privacy, most have no hope of having a car and driving to the woods or a country lane for a 'snog and fumble'. At which point if it were late in the evening in some bar, we could veer off into immigration, the cost of land, and the politics of needing a constant fresh supply of grateful voters. But it's a bit too early for all of that
