Features

To the point: Plugged in, tuned out

'Please use your liberty to promote ours', wrote the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi over a decade ago, urging people to take a stand against companies doing business with Burma's military dictatorship.

Part of what is great about the courageous Aung San Suu Kyi is that she makes us ponder not only the injustice of life in Burma, but other injustices closer at hand.

Many of us are enjoying numerous freedoms which are at the direct or indirect expense of young children. The liberation brought by mobiles, smart phones and music players is paid for, in part, by the babies who are being pushed around the pavements, parks and shops by adults whose ears are plugged with earphones. Strapped into place, stuck in a forward-facing position, these children have no hope of gaining anyone's attention. They must live in a state of isolation while the adults enjoy the connectedness of their mobile and social networking on the go.

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