Skubick: Is social media destroying your teen's social skills?

Can we get an Amen from somebody out there on the notion that our children are texting themselves so much that eventually the gene for personal conversation will be extinguished leaving a generation of folks unable to communicate in person.

Now. Altogether, Amen!

O. K. Those who did not join in the chorus, and you know who you are, you want proof.

Fair enough.

The number of teen drivers in Michigan is down 15 percent.

So?

A University of Michigan researcher contends, "The ability to connect with friends through social media has reduced the importance of being able to drive to see them."

Take that.

And for good measure the Transportation Research Institute asserts, "the percentage of young drivers was inversely related to the availability of the Internet."  Put in plain English without out all that "inversely" mumbo-jumbo, kids with Internet don't drive as much.

While that could help to reduce the teenage driver carnage on our highways, what does it say about the desire to talk face-to-face?  It's not a priority.

The state's First Family is clued into this challenge.  The governor and First Lady have banned cell phones and text-messaging during dinner.

Obviously that will not alter the post-dinner behavior of their offspring but at least it underscores that mom and dad are concerned and are willing to do something to keep the dinner chit chat from going viral.

On the rubber chicken circuit, the question is asked, Do kids text too much and will it damage their ability to hold a conversation in person?

If you are old enough to remember the old applause meter, the red needle is buried on that question.  If you aren't old enough, you're thinking the clown writing this piece of garbage must be a technological dinosaur.

Time for another Amen.