The little kid sits alone

And looks up at the parent

And tries to interact

Tries to make a sound, a gesture

Tries to get them to respond

But the parent just ignores

Keeps making conversation 

Keeps looking away

Keeps telling the little kid to be quiet

Just sticks a phone in front of the kid's face

The little kid is at the park

And stands alone by the stroller holding small toys and a sleeping little sibling 

And tries to interact 

Tries to run, to leap, to jump

Tries to play with the parent

But the parent just ignores

Keeps looking at their phone

Keeps pushing the stroller with the sleeping baby

Keeps telling them to go away and play

Just doesn't see that there are no other kids around

The little kid looks over to me

And looks defeated and walks over to me

And holds up a small ball

Tries to look hopeful

Tries to play with a complete stranger

But I take the ball and toss it up into the air

Keep playing with the little kid

Keep laughing and smiling

Keep running and jumping

Until the ball hits the parent

The parent looks startled

And realizes that their kid has been playing with a stranger

And was not playing with other kids

Tries to take their kid away

Tries to pull the kid from the only person that interacted with them

But I smirk at the parent

Keep ignoring your kid and something way worse will happen

The parent was lucky I was a nice girl

Keep playing with the little kid

That they never did

I wish I could save every little kid that is ignored by their parents

The little kid with a loss of interaction

I wish I could play with them all

But at least I could help that kid for a few minutes

Let them know that there is someone to have fun with

The little kid sits alone

And looks up...

Inspiration: I wrote this spur of the moment very quickly- so sorry if it doesn't flow very easily. This literally happened one day. A kid was at the park and came over to play with me even though I was much older and a stranger.... all because their parent ignored them.

Recently, I have been seeing more and more young kids trying to interact with their young parents who are still engrossed in their technology.  I fear for the future of these kids and how they are being greatly (and I think negatively) impacted by the misuse of technology.  It has a time and it has a place, but it should NEVER replace interacting with real people - especially growing and developing kids who depend on it so much.

The problem is, its not just little kids - this is a worldwide growing cultural PROBLEM that we are just now starting to see the effects of.

Now I'm not saying technology is bad - I'm saying that it needs to be used more wisely.