In my time on the South Side of Chicago, I’ve asked people to look at what we’re losing.I have pointed out the root causes of gun violence, set up programs to counter it, confronted gangsters and brought them to truces, and helped many enter mainstream society as productive citizens.
I’ve created after-school programs to counter our failing public schools so that kids won’t give up on themselves.But lately, I’ve been looking at another problem that may just be equally dangerous: the smartphone.When you look at a smartphone, it doesn’t look like a threat.
It looks like a tool for connection and even for opportunity.And for a lot of young people in my neighborhood, it has been exactly that — a way to make music, create an online following and learn about worlds outside of this block.
I don’t want to discount what they have done because some have built real careers with nothing but a phone and its many tools.That’s a genuine way out of poverty, and I have no desire to shut that door.But I can’t ignore the dark side of the phone.AMERICA MOCKED THE AMISH AND OTHER GROUPS OVER TECHNOLOGY.
MAYBE THEY WERE RIGHTWhat I feel is that far too few of us acknowledge the full power of the phone.I once watched a documentary that said the power of all the computers needed to put the first man on the moon now existed in our tiny little phones.
I don’t know if that’s true, but there is no doubt about the phone’s power.It puts the entire world at a kid’s fingertips.We have fought many problems in my community, from drugs to gangs.
The phone may be even harder. (iStock)Where I’ve seen the most devastating impact of the smartphone is in the world of drill rap, which began on O-Block, where my church and community center sit.Drill rap means "kill rap." Some of it is honest storytelling about a life that most of the country has never seen.
But some of it has become a weapon. A phone cannot love a child.It can only hold their eyes through the tricker...