Comments on: Please Listen to Me, a Teenager With a Broken Heart

By: Advice taken!

Advice taken! — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 02:47:17 +0000

I agree with everything said.
I took your advice and powered off my phone for about 1.5 hours and went to run some errands. Thank you, I wouldn’t have done it on my own.

By: Onlooker

Onlooker — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 05:26:23 +0000

Three cheers for you!!! Thanks so much for speaking out! Every word you said is 100% correct. I’m a grandmother but your vision is that of an adult.
How about writing a book, putting together a website, a blog, take on being a speaker, create an organization. One article is not enough. Our world is in need of a Refuah Shlaima. Hatzlacha rabbah!!

By: So true

So true — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 04:39:50 +0000

I grew up seeing my father holding a Sefer in hand, my son grows up seeing me holding a phone. So sad.
In my opinion, we Chabad made a huge mistake in the early days of the smartphone by not joining the other frum communities and by not making the Smartphone an abomination just as we felt about the TV when we grew up.

I woud love to see one day, one of these huge Eastern parkway rallies specifically for that purpose, how we regret our past and how we condemn the normalization of the smart phone in our community.
This will probably never happen, you know why? Because most of our affluent leaders are themselves addicted to their phones and thus “not convinced” of the dangers of the smartphone in our homes.
Not speaking about Shmutz, simply the Tziyur of parents glued to their phone and consequently the lack of time to study (let alone the social media influence…)
Maybe I am wrong with the solution, but the problem is real. Killing our Chinuch from within, a silent Shmad.
Most sichos lessons and Farbrengens should be about this topic, this is the Nisayon and the struggle of our generation.
Make no mistake, you can’t function normally if you have an attraction to your phone, obviously you can’t raise a genuine Chasidishe family.
I am really planning to get back to a dumb phone for so many years. May Hashem give me the strength to do it asap.

By: AGREED

AGREED — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 02:11:19 +0000

I grew up in a secular home where tv was on CONSTANTLY. I’m still healing from the message I absorbed that tv is more important than me. Fast forward 30 years. I became frum, got married, and did not want internet in my home ( before smartphones were born) because it felt like moving backwards after cutting tv out of my life. One of the things I was attracted to when trying to decide if i want to be frum is the tv- free lifestyle I saw. Parents interacting with children with strong connections.
Enter the smartphone era. Now I really had strong feelings. If internet at home takes away from wholesome living, why would i want to walk around with it contantly? So I was probably one of the last people to get one.
I really agree with this article, and I’m so happy you wrote it. I really wish our community would have stood up against smartphones when they first came out.