I was at the farmer’s market enjoying the beautiful view of the Baltimore harbor when I heard an enthusiastic scream.

“A CRAB!”

A small child was pointing at the water. Another child scurried over, followed by more curious feet. They all scrambled down the perilous rocky shoreline for a closer inspection.

A louder squeal this time, “ANOTHER CRAB!”

I watched the children explore, jumping up and down excitedly and sharing the joy of their fantastic discovery. I smiled. Then, my attention drifted towards a different child who was sitting on a bench in front of me. This child had not joined the fun. He was sitting still, like a mannequin.

A few minutes passed by and one of the crab children, buzzing with excitement, ran back to the child on the bench, yelling,

“Tommy!”

“Tommy!”

“Tommy!”

“Come look at what we found!”

The child on the bench half-glanced at his brother, who was now tugging on his arm to follow. The child did not budge, and his brother ran back into the fray.

The children who were still on the rocky shoreline happily screamed more discoveries,

“A FISH!”

“A DEAD FISH!”

“TWO DEAD FISH!”

But the child on the bench sat motionless.

“What is he doing that is more important than just being a kid?” I thought to myself.

I glanced over his shoulder. An iPhone game, likely something from the Roblox world.

His little brother had wanted to show him something cool. Something real. Something alive. But the child on the bench just sat there, immobile and immersed, next to his mother who also sat there snared on her own all-consuming-device.

Just as I was about to leave the Farmers Market, the child on the bench got up stiffly and, device still in hand, jogged over in the direction of the kids. But the group members were now bonded and had moved on to playing tag without him.

What troubles me most about this is the scale of the technologist’s nightmare. Every day, millions of children around the globe are no longer socializing with their peers or connecting with the beauty of the natural world right in front of their eyes because they are looking down. When a crab, when a brother, when children playing cannot win a child’s attention, that is a momentous loss.