2 min readOur kids are losing their empathy and technology may be the culprit

Our children are growing up to be far less caring and compassionate compared to children of previous generations. What has technology got to do with it?

Young students today are becoming less empathetic compared to their peers 30 years ago. This comes as a result of a study conducted by the University of Michigan. Moreover, the level of narcissism is also increasing, as evidenced by the increase in bullying in schools and the selfie phenomenon. How does technology offer in all these trends?

Educational psychologist and parenting expert Dr. Michele Borba says,

It’s very hard to be empathetic and feel for another human being if you can’t read another person’s emotions…You don’t learn empathy and face-to-face connection if you’re looking down and texting.

Why It Matters

Why is empathy so important anyway? For one, all human beings are hardwired for empathy. It is the trait that has enabled us to build nations, create universal human rights principles, and respect differences. Empathy has enabled us to nurture children and other humans who are in need of support.

As more and more schools are adapting high tech classrooms, one can only expect for current trends to continue. With the lack of empathy, o more conflict between peoples can be expected to arise, and for well being to decline.

If schools do not decide to unplug in order to give their students real-world experience, and human-to-human interactions, we will be shaping our children to create a society where there will be no difference between humans and animals. That is where the real tragedy is.

When this happens, then there would be no reason for future generations to resist AI or robotization. In the same manner, there would be no reason to preserve the natural world, because humanity as we know it, will change, and not necessarily for the better.

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