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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mama Bear Moxie: Technology gap rears its ugly head

By Kristina Phelan For The Spokesman-Review

I am the first to admit I limit my kid’s technology. We live in the country where technology isn’t really on the forefront of our minds.

This year, I decided our older boys should begin learning how to type. Typing was more of a novelty when I was in school. I remember taking a typing class as a freshman in high school, but I learned most of my typing skills from a CD-ROM game we had at home.

Kids, go ask your parents what a CD-ROM is.

We moved some things around so that our family computer would sit at the small kitchen desk. This way, I could keep an eye on their searches and help them as needed. So far, the typing program has been going well.

My kids also have access to an iPod, Amazon Echo, Xbox and Nintendo as well as television. We don’t have cable, but we do subscribe to providers like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Technology isn’t a free for all in our house but is a privilege that needs to be earned. We set a strict limit because there are better ways we could be using our time.

I tell you all of this to set the scene for my dismay while talking with one of my children. We were talking about my cellphone that I let him borrow while attending a school function. He asked me if you could call your own number, and I told him that you could in the past but you would end up getting a busy signal.

That’s when he uttered the question.

“Mom, what’s a busy signal?”

After gasping in surprise, I tried to recreate the busy signal sound to him, which really just sounds like an annoying alarm.

How can my kids be living in a world where they don’t know what a busy signal is? Where you had to call someone to ask them a question and had to wait a few minutes and call back because the person wasn’t available 24/7? We have become a culture that allows us to not only have access to anyone anytime but also leave them a voicemail.

Because our conversation in the car about busy signals, I have been making mental notes of where payphones are in our community. They are elusive, but there are still a few in my area. I plan on using these pay phones as a lesson for my children soon. And yes, I plan on spending the money so they can hear a busy signal when we dial the number of the pay phone itself.

As a mother, it is my duty to teach my children all that I can about our world. That includes teaching them how to call for help if they are ever in a (gasp) dead cell zone and have to use the archaic pay phone nearby.

Kristina Phelan is a former Spokane-area resident now living in Illinois. Visit her website at www.mamabearmoxie.com.