Our Parent Partnership focus for the year is a close examination of the place of technology in our lives. We are asking each staff member and parent to read Childhood Unplugged by Katherine Martinko. At our recent Donuts with Dad/VIP event, one of our board members, Austin Hakes, shared the impact the book has had on him. If you did not hear his brief reflection, we encourage you to read it below.
One of my favorite stories from the Bible is the parable of the Good Samaritan. It’s a tale packed with layers of lessons. One lesson that I try to remind myself of whenever I revisit the story has to do with the priest and the Levite who walked by the man on the side of the road. It’s easy to judge those two as being wicked for ignoring the bleeding stranger. But, as Jesus tells it, it doesn’t sound as if these men were especially cruel or selfish people. They just seem busy. Maybe they were even being dutiful—perhaps they kept walking because they had important responsibilities in the Temple, and they didn’t want to disappoint the other worshippers who were depending on them. This workaday business was all it took to distract them from an opportunity to love someone.
Childhood Unplugged helped me notice love opportunities within my own home that I had been “walking by.” Screens are impatient and hungry, but they’re also cloaked in the garb of “productivity.” This is a sneaky ploy. Too often, some mundane responsibility prompts me to reach for a phone, and then the phone coaxes me along a mental road paved with hyperlinks and notifications, until I’ve missed chances to connect with my family members and do the joyful work of loving. This book invited me back to that work and challenged me to do it well. I’m hopeful that by becoming more vigilant and limited in our use of screens, all the members of my household can become better Good Samaritans to each other.