In my time on the South Side of Chicago, I’ve asked people to look at what we’re losing.
asserted
we → ask → what
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.
asserted
many → point → citizens
I’ve created after-school programs to counter our failing public schools so that kids won’t give up on themselves.
asserted
kids → create → themselves
But lately, I’ve been looking at another problem that may just be equally dangerous: the smartphone.
uncertain
that → look → smartphone
When you look at a smartphone, it doesn’t look like a threat.
asserted
it → look → threat
It looks like a tool for connection and even for opportunity.
asserted
It → look → 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.
asserted
it → make → 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.
asserted
some → want → phone
That’s a genuine way out of poverty, and I have no desire to shut that door.
asserted
I → ’ → door
But I can’t ignore the dark side of the phone.
asserted
I → ignore → phone
What I feel is that far too few of us acknowledge the full power of the phone.
asserted
few → feel → 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.
asserted
power → watch → phones
I don’t know if that’s true, but there is no doubt about the phone’s power.
asserted
that → know → power
It puts the entire world at a kid’s fingertips.
asserted
It → put → fingertips
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.
asserted
church → see → Block
Drill rap means "kill rap."
asserted
rap → mean → rap
Some of it is honest storytelling about a life that most of the country has never seen.
asserted
most → see → country
But some of it has become a weapon.
asserted
some → become → it
A phone cannot love a child.
asserted
phone → love → child
It can only hold their eyes through the trickery of the algorithm.
asserted
It → hold → algorithm
Fights that we used to see on corners have now moved onto livestreams.
asserted
we → use → livestreams
What happens is that a location tag is then dropped.
asserted
tag → happen → ?
Sometimes it’s dropped when a drill rap crew chooses to film in the wrong neighborhood as a dare.
asserted
crew → drop → dare
This dropping of a location is not an accident but a challenge: Come and get us.
asserted
dropping → come → us
So we have kids watching these livestreams, half listening to the rap and half waiting for that burst of gunfire to come.
asserted
burst → have → gunfire
When the latter happens, it is me or one of the nearby pastors who has to host the funeral.
asserted
who → happen → funeral
We then have to send our violence impact teams to the hospitals and homes of families to prevent retaliatory shootings.
asserted
We → have → shootings
So the same phone that can build a young artist up — and, man, some of these kids are so talented — that same phone can bring them down.
asserted
phone → build → them
When there is a shooting, the police and prosecutors comb through all these livestreams, and any comments may be treated as confessions.
uncertain
comments → be → confessions
Whatever you think of this legal strategy, some of these kids get locked up.
asserted
some → think → kids
Parents here struggle with the problem of the phone in their homes.
asserted
Parents → struggle → homes
I see this in good families that are far removed from the life of gangs or drill rap.
asserted
that → see → gangs
Their kids simply cannot put the phone down.
asserted
kids → put → phone
Kids can access pornography even before they’ve had a chance to form healthy relationships.
asserted
they → access → relationships
Our communities don’t teach courtship much anymore, and for the last several decades, we’ve lived in this hookup culture.
asserted
we → teach → culture
So what does a child wired by pornography think when he or she encounters the other sex?
asserted
he → wire → sex
Parents are not always right, but the phone deprives the child and parent of the process of working through that misunderstanding and, in turn, weakens the fabric of their relationship.
asserted
phone → deprive → relationship
Parents often tell me the same thing, and I’m struck by how similar the wording is.
asserted
wording → tell → thing
It goes something like this: "I don’t know how to take the phone away from my child.
asserted
I → go → child
It’s like I’m ending their world.
asserted
I → ’ → world
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
