Every now and then, I get tired of hearing the statement “When I was younger, I played in the streets” or “When I was younger, we didn’t have cell phones or laptop – we biked to each other’s houses and played outside.” These statements imply that kids today don’t do that.

Let’s cut out the blanket generalizations because ultimately, they eventually turn into blatant exaggerations that usually result in your grandfather boasting that he as a boy, walked fifteen miles in the snow, to and from school. Somehow, both the route there and back were unfortunately uphill.

I will concede that with technology, the younger generations know less about the rules of red rover and more about renting a new video game from Red Box; however, that’s not to say that technology and laziness have conditioned children and adolescents to survive only by the blue glow of their laptops and cell phones.  For years my neighborhood rarely saw a child playing on the sidewalk. For a brief moment, I also generalized that kids today just don’t know how to play outdoors.

But recently, my neighborhood has seen over half a dozen kids outside, playing with chalk on the sidewalks, playing basketball, and riding bikes. Without a doubt, there has been a fundamental shift in the way that children play- not all hope is lost. The new kids on the block seem to have a handle on the outdoors in a way that many of us have claimed was long forgotten.

Instead of blaming technology for why kids today seem to gravitate towards their phones and video games, why not focus on ways that social media and technology can make it easier for them to get outside and play.

Social media, when used for its original intended purpose, shouldn’t replace social interaction, but enhance it. Using tools like Facebook can become a fast way to invite friends out for a game of basketball or a trip to the mall. Foursquare and Facebook check-ins allow friends to find out where to meet you and allow parents to make sure their kids are somewhere safe.

On a broader scale, smartphones give kids the opportunity we never had, to call, text, or check in without worrying if there was a publicly accessible phone available to call home. We all had to tell Mom that we weren’t going to be home for dinner once or twice.

Blaming social media and technology for keeping kids on the couch and making them lazy is a glass-half-empty way of viewing the situation. Instead, the younger generations have millions of tools at their fingertips to give them the ability and motivation to put down the X-Box controller, unplug themselves, and experience the world. If anything, they have less of an excuse to stay inside than many of us ever did. If they try to tell you that they can’t do what they want outside of the comfort of home, let them know there’s an app for that and point them to their bike.

Right now, I’m sitting in the service center waiting room of my local car dealership waiting for them to complete the inspection and oil change on my car. I’m also hard at work – blogging, writing, and making sure that by the time I get into the office later – my productivity hasn’t slowed down.

For some people – working from home or, at the very least, outside of the office is a luxury. But for those of us in the fast-paced world of web marketing and social media, being able to work on the go is a necessity. After all, the Internet doesn’t work only during the hours of 9-5 and its users are seemingly never at rest – with constant status updates, needs, and new trending topics.

Those in the business of marketing and social media know that it’s so much more than that and it can be compounded by location. If social media never sleeps and New York is the city that never sleeps – those of us in the greater New York area in this line of work are true insomniacs. Late at night, I find myself bathed in the bluish glow from my laptop screen while I work furiously on fine-tuning all of my work.

Because the work we do is so customizable, so ever-changing, and so important to the way that the entire world does business – it seems that wherever there is Wi-Fi, an outlet for my charger, or service for my phone – I will be hard at work. If only there was a 10,000th status update oil change, I’d surely spend my mornings sitting in that service center as well, only to quickly pack up my laptop afterwards, pull out my phone and continue on-the-go again.

Let me preface this by saying that, year or so ago, I would pride myself on being able to go days without having my phone charged – if people wanted to find me, they could find me in person or wait until I had more time. Then, there was no Facebook search and definitely no Tweeting; Things have changed.

Just the other day, I was driving home from work and reached into my bag to rummage for my phone at a stoplight. I never text or call from behind the wheel, but in the event of an emergency, I do like to keep my phone in my center console. As I was feeling around my bag, I realized that I couldn’t feel my phone for the life of me and I was too close to home to turn back around.

Oh no.

By the time I pulled into my driveway at home I felt a supreme sense of annoyance – but even stronger than that was a sense of something much worse. I had the urge to text my friends to complain to them about the fact that I was physically unable to text them. Suddenly I am in a cold sweat because I am without the ability to blog from my phone.

It’s funny how far I’ve come – or perhaps how many steps I’ve taken back in being so technologically dependent.

I’m not the only one who experiences an exaggerated degree of withdrawal when I find myself without my mobile device. One would think that a single phone was the only think keeping me in contact with the outside world – as if I couldn’t open my laptop if I needed some urgent digital contact, a game of Tetris, or update my Facebook status. I say laptop because, God forbid I actually step outside and try to initiate personal contact.

While I lamented this dilemma – both disappointed that I didn’t have my phone on me, and questioning when this fundamental shift in my priorities had occurred.

I heard it – my very ridiculous ringtone (think New Kids on the Block circa 1988) blaring out of my purse. I scrambled for it, dumping out the content of my bag and finally finding my phone, in that darn tricky pocket in my purse that I always forget about. I clutched it in victory before hanging my head in embarrassment and answering the call.

Hello, my name is Amanda and I am a textaholic