I went ice skatng with my child today and was stunned at how many people were on their phones while ice skating!!
Groups of teenagers were standing on the edges and middle of the rink staring at their phones. Normally in a cafe or on the street it’s just annoying- but it really changed the way the rink felt- it took away from the pleasure of the social
experience- Not only was this a safety hazard- but the cheerful buzz of skaters was blunted with peoples attention on something other than skating.
This is the second time in the past week I could feel the blanket of technology affect a public community social gathering.
There has to be a name for people who change the culture of a public gathering by being on their phones. This is definitely a public health risk- people go to ice rinks to meet people and get out of the house- a socially healthy activity. But now people are not assured the same experience.
Will once public community gatherings become places where people stand around and do nothing but look at phones? Well…, if we don’t do something soon- there will be a generation that will change the face of public community events forever.
It was a bizarre scene- you would never see a person reading a book in the middle of an ice rink- why phones???
