My Two Cents: the "Pepper Hacker"

By now you have probably seen the above video floating around your Facebook feed. It is a video of the "Pepper Hacker", a pepper grinder turned technology atom bomb from Dolmio (they make pasta sauce). Pretty much everyone who I have seen share this video has said something along the lines of "Yes!" or "Such a great idea!"

Ummm... I think it is a terrible idea. Why? Because to me, this is a loop hole for parents to avoid being the bad guy in a very simple parenting situation.

I was born in 1988. I remember the time before the internet and I remember when it became a big thing. I remember the horrid dial-up tone, "You've got mail!", and AOL disks. I remember when cell phones really took off in technology. When they started to have texting, when you could play games on your phone, and "Can you hear me now?". But, since all the bigger leaps in the digital age came along when I was in high school, my parents never had to compete with having a screen in mine and my sibling's faces.

But I can tell you how they would have handled it if they did have to deal with it. They would say, "Hey, Maureen, it's dinner time. Put the phone away and set the table." And if that didn't work, "Shut it down or I'm taking it away for a week." And the phone would go away, I would set the table, and we would have a tech free meal.

So I'm confused why parents can't do this now. Is it because so many parents want to be their kid's "best friend"? Or is it because they, too, are busy with there own digital device?

I'm totally guilty of overindulging in technology too. I've caught myself with my phone in hand as I sit down to dinner or saying "Just a second" to my daughter as she tries to get my attention. But I consciously make an effort to make those occurrences as rare as possible (with a aim to eliminate it all together).

Maybe the issue is we start technology too young. I had my first cell phone in middle school. It was the old indestructible Nokia with a limited amount of time on it and was only used in an emergency or to let my parents know when to pick me up from school after some activity. Now it is common occurrence to see 2 year olds with their OWN iPads and elementary kids with iPhones!

I'm not saying kids shouldn't be around technology. It does come in handy. When we flew with Arlette a couple of months ago from CT to CO to visit family we had a LOT of issues getting out there and back home (delays and cancelations and everything in-between). The one thing that saved us was having Frozen on my iPad, iPhone, and computer for her to watch.

But technology should NEVER substitute parenting. That's why I find the Pepper Hacker ironic, I guess. You are using technology to shut down technology.

Just my two cents. What are your thoughts on the matter?

From CT to CO and back we watched Frozen at least 25 times.