Technology can be a wonderful thing. I remember the times during my teenage years when I was able to spend some time away from home. We lived in the West, so my times away were spent at Centrifuge Camp at Glorieta, NM. I always loved it! Yeah, there was all the spiritual stuff…. But I was a teenage boy. And there were teenage girls there. And I was far away from Mom and Dad! Woo-hoo!
Times are different. Teenage boys and teenage girls are still flirting with each other when they’re away from home. But technology means that Mom and Dad are just a text or a click away.
My teenage daughter was honored to be selected to attend the West Virginia Governor’s School of the Arts this summer. Statewide, only 100 students are selected across five artistic disciplines—dance, theatre, vocal music, instrumental music and visual art. My daughter is an excellent dancer and her selection confirms that’s not just my biased opinion.
The problem is that this privilege means that she will be staying in the dormitory at West Liberty University, 5 ½ hours away from Mom and Dad, for three weeks. That’s where technology comes into play. Every day, the University posts a video of the day’s activities, including student interviews. We get to see the daily schedule and hundreds of pictures of what’s going on.
When we talked to my daughter on the phone one night, she was “creeped out” that we knew what was going on even before she told us. I love it. And at the same time, I am so thankful that Glorieta didn’t have that technology years ago. Of course if they had, I might have gotten more out of all that spiritual stuff.
Times are different. Teenage boys and teenage girls are still flirting with each other when they’re away from home. But technology means that Mom and Dad are just a text or a click away.
My teenage daughter was honored to be selected to attend the West Virginia Governor’s School of the Arts this summer. Statewide, only 100 students are selected across five artistic disciplines—dance, theatre, vocal music, instrumental music and visual art. My daughter is an excellent dancer and her selection confirms that’s not just my biased opinion.
The problem is that this privilege means that she will be staying in the dormitory at West Liberty University, 5 ½ hours away from Mom and Dad, for three weeks. That’s where technology comes into play. Every day, the University posts a video of the day’s activities, including student interviews. We get to see the daily schedule and hundreds of pictures of what’s going on.
When we talked to my daughter on the phone one night, she was “creeped out” that we knew what was going on even before she told us. I love it. And at the same time, I am so thankful that Glorieta didn’t have that technology years ago. Of course if they had, I might have gotten more out of all that spiritual stuff.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment