"Put your hands behind your head! Step away from the phone!" ~~Gary Turk

So, I hope many of you have heard about the poem called "Look Up," by Gary Turk. If you haven't, you have to see it. I was so moving. If you haven't seen it you can see it here: http://garyturk.com/portfolio-item/lookup/

If you saw the video, great. If not, then you should probably check it out after this monologue.

This is not going to be in WIP very long. In communications class we are doing a persuasive speech, and this is my topic, so this monologue's purpose is to basically get me into thinking what I should put in my outline. Aren't monologues great?

So, I should probably start with my introduction, the part that I do have.

"When I was a child, I would never be home. I'd be out with my friends, on our bikes we would roam. We'd ware holes in our trainers, or graze up our knees; we'd build our own clubhouse, high up in the trees. Now the parks are so quiet, it gives me a chill to see no children outside and the swings hanging still." This was written by a man named Gary Turk, who makes a lot of poems like these to try to get teenagers and adults to believe in a good cause. This one is particular is a poem called "Look Up."

Hi. My name is [Stealthheartocarina_z], and today, I'm going to talk to you about how websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram substitute social interaction. This is a very important topic, one of which I have spent many hours researching, both inside and outside of school.

So, why is this a problem in the first place? According to The Washington Post, teens in the 21st century spend over 70% percent of their day in front of some sort of screen. More than 75% of all teens carry a cell phone or smartphone, as apposed to the 45% in 2004.

So how's that so far? BTW, if you're reading this, you're helping me with my speech. Thank you so much for reading this I appreciate it. :)

I can't think. I seriously cannot think right now. Heh heh heh. I'm just saying exactly what's on my mind right now. Please stand by.

*bangs head on desk trying to think*

This isn't helping.

Ok, I think I'm just going to go read some more articles...

Oh, no duuuhhhh. Ok, here we go. *takes deep breath*

Oh, no!! Don't close the page!! I'm not ranting!!! Sorry. Just thinking of Brave right there. Anyway...

Lucky for us, there are still those few people who understand the need to live outside of this world of isolation. "All this technology we have, it's just an illusion," as the author of "Look Up," says.

Now, don't get me wrong, Gary isn't saying that we should sell our electronics because they're bad. No, these are great, innovative inventions that allow us to do these things we never could before. Say you move away and want to keep in touch with friends. Say you leave on a mission and want to video chat with your family on Mothers' Day or Christmas. No, don't give them up. What he was really trying to say with this video was, stop being on it so often. Yes, you miss your friends when you or they are away, but sometimes, you need to open up your eyes and see that there are people right in front of you who need you. People who need you to talk to them. Don't just whip out your phone and start texting in the middle of a family event. "Don't give in to a life where you follow the hype, give people your love, don't give them your like. Disconnect from the need to be heard and defined. Go out into the world, leave distractions behind."

Ok, I think what I really need to do right now is get into the monologue.

I don't know if any of you remember a time without Internet. I know I don't. I don't remember a time before these lovely cells or giant gray boxes that fizz when you flip to the wrong channel. But one thing that I can be proud of is that I did grow up with old electronics. Ah, yes. My family is "old school" if you'd like to put it that way. Ok, first where did the term "old school" come from? Why are they old school there's no such thing-!!!

*clicks "skip rant" button on remote*

I may not remember a time without electronics, but still, they were golden when I was younger. I remember my first console; the VSmile. By now, most of you are probably like wha-? The V.Smile was an educational gaming console made for ages 3-9. We got rid of it after I turned 10, but I still remember the games I played: Dora, Zayzoo, this one toy store game that was super hard, Aladdin... So many memories! I can't even remember which came first, the Nintendo GameBoy Advance SP or the V.Smile, but lucky for me, I have an older brother who lived longer than I did, but even he barely remembers which came first. It's funny how much Wyatt has changed, and yet, being the youngest sibling, I haven't really noticed it as much. His voice used to be so squeaky! I remember when Dad took video, and when we asked him why, and he said, "Someday you'll thank me." Well, thank you, Dad!

Sorry. Getting off topic. Anyway, we had a V.Smile, the GameBoy, which, by the way, was my first real step into gaming. Nintendo is so special to me. My mom wouldn't let me have a DS until I was ten, so you can only guess how happy I was when I got my first used red DSLite. Heh heh. Good times.

Wow, Stealthheart. Stay on topic!

We had a V.Smile, an IMac Snow, later an IMac like the ones we have now in school, where we played Webkinz, Build-a-Bear, Facebook apps (yes, I had a Facebook at seven. Hey, I moved ten times, don't judge!), Animal Jam (wait, no...that wasn't until I was eight...), Poptropica (my brother's personal favorite) and an old TV complete with a DVD and a VCR set. But even with so many electronics, we only really used them for about 2-3 hours a day by ourselves. Other than that, we always played with someone else.

The rest of our day, we were outside, just like Gary said in his poem. I remember how we would have friends or neighbors to play with, and we'd ride bikes (oh, please don't make me talk about that. waaaay to many "accidents" on that bike...*shudders*), play tag, or play Cops and Robbers. Ah, that was fun. Wyatt and I would always be cops and Laney would always be a robber. I don't know when we stopped. I remember when Laney and I continued the game in Tueson, but other than that...

That was when we all got along.

I mean, a lot of people say they bonded with their siblings playing with dolls, video games, or at parties. Me? Oh, no. Mine was playing outside. Helping each other finish the next level. Choosing a movie to watch together. What did it look like when we played together? My brother and sister got out the Legos or figure set that Wyatt had, I would ask them to play, they said ok, told me to set them up, I would, they wouldn't include me, I'd come out crying. I've always wanted to forget that. Back then I cried because I couldn't play something, now I cry because someone swore at me.

Now? I have a Wii, with at least 12 games, not including virtual consoles, a purple 3DS, a teal DS, and a blue GameBoy Advance with at least 50 games combined including the virtual consoles, an N64 with at least 9 games, a Retro Bit with 4 games, a broken NES, an LG computer with a Mac system connected to it, two Chromebooks, a Toshiba laptop, a Samsung TV with a Roku 3 and a Blueray player, Chromecast, and a 12" TV in my brother's room. And that's not including the phones. Everyone in the family has a smartphone except me; two IPhones, an Android, and a Samsung Galaxy. On top of that, we get a new phone at least every three months. In Georgia, we only had a Blackberry, one of those plug-in phones, and a landline! Mainly because I was taught that a smartphone was the dumbest idea that anyone had ever thought of. If any of my friends could see me now, they'd just take one look at my schedule and think, "Whoa, what happened to you?"

A lot happened to me.

Today, all my brother ever wants to do is play video games, or the occasional board game. Video games is usually not the way to go - if you are a gamer and know what I mean - knowing me as a fan of games like Kirby, Zelda, Mario, and Yoshi.

Don't you see? The devices back then weren't the same as today. Sure, they're newer and more innovative, but they're also more competitive. These new inventions destroyed my life.

Now, I'm not going to lie. They have influenced so many wonderful new ideas in my life. But then again, I miss it when I had so many other things to do outside that I would be outside for about 50-80% of my day, depending on my mood and what the outcomes were.

If you were me, you may blame the weather. You may blame everyone being gone. You may blame my situation in my neighborhood or school. You just may even blame my lack of things to do outside. And I would totally agree with you. But even so, I wish things could be like they were in the past. It goes right back to what I said in one of my first monologues: "Change is Power because of its force. Take it from anyone. The world is afraid of what it cannot control. Change tears people apart." (quote from #CHANGE) The evolution of all these new, innovative electronics is so addicting, and it changes you. Don't lie to yourself that you've never been doing something on your phone when your mom asks you to clean and you reply with a groan.

And with that, I'd like to end this of with one last quote from Gary's poem.

"Look up from your phone, shut down that display, stop watching this video, and live life the real way."