This is why I detest modern technology....

[gtaus]

I have no personal bad experiences either. However our local police shot a mentally ill young man through a closed door, then wouldn’t let his parents check on him so he bled to death. Unfortunately our lack of mental health care leaves the police to deal with problems for which they aren’t equipped. There is no mental health support in a crisis here other than the police. You’re rolling the dice if you need some help! Most here are pretty darn good though. Oh and this is an affluent mostly white community, and the young man was white.

I have a good friend in Australia who told me when her bi polar mother starts acting out they call “psych” and some lovely women come out and talk her into happily getting into the van where they take her to a clinic or somewhere to get her meds straightened out. Not that this would always happen this way but at least there is professional infrastructure to deal with it.

I would expect that most police forces are not trained to handle mentally ill people. I was an RN in a mental health hospital for 5 years, and we were trained to handle mentally ill people in many ways. If hands on force was needed, that was always the most serious intervention and people could get hurt. In our case, most often the nurses were injured because every precaution is taken to avoid injuring the patient.

I don't think police are trained on non-lethal interventions that are designed to protect the suspect and maybe not the police officer. And I have mixed feelings about that situation, too, as I don't want someone with a gun wrestling with a psychotic mentally ill person. I can understand how easily it would be for someone to get shot. Our police just are not trained to handle a mentally ill person who is having a psychotic episode. As mental health care nurses, we spend years on that training and still have some very bad outcomes if it comes down to hands on interventions. But we don't carry guns so that issue does not come in to play.

When I left my mental health care nursing, I know there was talk about training our local police force in better interventions with mentally ill people in our community. That would be a step forward, but we can't expect police to be trained on everything. If some communities have mental health professionals to respond to a call with the police, I think that would be a better option for everybody. Not that people don't get hurt if they have to go hands on, but maybe at least nobody gets shot.

No modern tech to hate, or not, in that scenario. But I wanted to respond anyway. Thanks.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I had a bandmate that was black. He was coming to practice one day on his 4-wheeler and got pulled over by a cop. I have never seen a cop pull anyone over while they are riding a 4-wheeler in the ditch on the trials. Anyway, I guess "Driving While Black" was enough reason to stop and identify my bandmate. Obviously he must have stolen the 4-wheeler?

I live in northern Minnesota and our closest town has a population of about 15,000 people. Of that, I bet you might only find about 10 black people in the community. You might find a few more young black men on campus that play basketball or football for the local college, but not many there either. So if you are not white in our community, you already stick out.

Dear Wife is from the Philippines, and there are only a handful of us former military guys that married Filipinas. Anyway, my wife works at a local assembly plant and she said that her and another Filipina friend are stationed right up front because if anyone comes to visit or inspect the plant, they can see that the workforce has diversity. So, maybe that works to her advantage? At any rate, she says everyone is treated the same so there has been nothing to complain about in that regard. And we have had no problems in the larger community either, so that is good.

Glad to hear your Dear Wife hasn't experienced poor treatment for being Filipina. I'm white, but hubby is Mexican. He's been treated poorly by the police when we lived in the Bay Area (California). My older son is Korean. He's experienced some terrible treatment from peers. People can be ugly toward each other, that's for sure...

I worry most about my younger son who is on the Autism Spectrum. He is very high-functioning, but very impaired as far as his social skills. He doesn't drive but wants to learn as his goal is to live independently. I worry about any interactions he might have with police if he ever does learn to drive. He's a big guy who is quick to panic in some stressful situations. I see no good outcome if he were to get pulled over.

 

[gtaus]

You can’t fix stupid- technology just makes it more apparent.

When I was substitute teaching mathematics in very low income community middle school, I discovered that many, many or our students did not have a good concept of basic math. They needed a calculator just to do basic functions of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. I personally don't think a child should have access to a computer or calculator for math until they have demonstrated the ability to do basic mathematics without those tools. But my viewpoint was not held by our Math teachers. There were other concerns that they had to teach to, and they did not have the time to go back and teach basic math. So many students would fail and/or get left behind.

I think calculators and computers can be great tools for advanced students, but giving a child a calculator to do math when they cannot do basic functions, is just crippling them for life.

 

[gtaus]

Glad to hear your Dear Wife hasn't experienced poor treatment for being Filipina. I'm white, but hubby is Mexican. He's been treated poorly by the police when we lived in the Bay Area (California). My older son is Korean. He's experienced some terrible treatment from peers. People can be ugly toward each other, that's for sure...

I worry most about my younger son who is on the Autism Spectrum. He is very high-functioning, but very impaired as far as his social skills. He doesn't drive but wants to learn as his goal is to live independently. I worry about any interactions he might have with police if he ever does learn to drive. He's a big guy who is quick to panic in some stressful situations. I see no good outcome if he were to get pulled over.

Unfortunately, people can be ugly towards each other. I am fortunate that our small community is mainly good people.

Size definitely matters when you deal with people. As a mental health care nurse, I was always more worried about the 6'5" 230 pound young man than the 50+ year old little lady weighing in at maybe 110 pounds. One of them is capable of hurting your staff a lot more than the other.

But, speaking of modern tech, would it not be nice to have some way to identify a person's potential medical needs with a simple scan of a device? Not that I want people to be chipped, but maybe if a special needs person, or a person with specific health concerns, could wear a bracelet that would identify their needs up front, and law enforcement might take a different approach to that individual. I am thinking about stories I used to hear that a "drunk" gets thrown off the train, only to die in the cold, and later find out he was suffering from a diabetic high blood sugar episode. If someone has known health issues, then maybe a medical alert bracelet with bluetooth capability could automatically alert law enforcement they may be dealing with a health care issue and not a law enforcement concern? Just a thought....

And, while on that subject, let me say that when I lived in France in the early 1980's, every French citizen had a health care card, about the size of a credit card, and that allowed any hospital to access their medical records. So a doctor at one hospital could see the medical care that patient was getting at any other hospital in France.

Here in the USA, because of our privacy laws, the hospital in town has no idea of what health condition the clinic treated the same person for maybe only hours before. I know that sometimes we would be treating a patient for weeks only to discover lost time in treatment because when the records from a previous hospital were finally transferred to our hospital, we might discover something unexpected in the records that would change our course of treatment for the patient. In that case, we already have the technology to improve the situation, but our privacy concerns override our information sharing.

Having said that, I would probably be head of the line complaining about the government tracking our every move on the cell phone locator and prying into our personal medical records if it suited their purpose. I could easily see someone, maybe in political life, trying to expose their opponent for a health concern if it became public.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Unfortunately, people can be ugly towards each other. I am fortunate that our small community is mainly good people.

Size definitely matters when you deal with people. As a mental health care nurse, I was always more worried about the 6'5" 230 pound young man than the 50+ year old little lady weighing in at maybe 110 pounds. One of them is capable of hurting your staff a lot more than the other.

But, speaking of modern tech, would it not be nice to have some way to identify a person's potential medical needs with a simple scan of a device? Not that I want people to be chipped, but maybe if a special needs person, or a person with specific health concerns, could wear a bracelet that would identify their needs up front, and law enforcement might take a different approach to that individual. I am thinking about stories I used to hear that a "drunk" gets thrown off the train, only to die in the cold, and later find out he was suffering from a diabetic high blood sugar episode. If someone has known health issues, then maybe a medical alert bracelet with bluetooth capability could automatically alert law enforcement they may be dealing with a health care issue and not a law enforcement concern? Just a thought....

And, while on that subject, let me say that when I lived in France in the early 1980's, every French citizen had a health care card, about the size of a credit card, and that allowed any hospital to access their medical records. So a doctor at one hospital could see the medical care that patient was getting at any other hospital in France.

Here in the USA, because of our privacy laws, the hospital in town has no idea of what health condition the clinic treated the same person for maybe only hours before. I know that sometimes we would be treating a patient for weeks only to discover lost time in treatment because when the records from a previous hospital were finally transferred to our hospital, we might discover something unexpected in the records that would change our course of treatment for the patient. In that case, we already have the technology to improve the situation, but our privacy concerns override our information sharing.

Having said that, I would probably be head of the line complaining about the government tracking our every move on the cell phone locator and prying into our personal medical records if it suited their purpose. I could easily see someone, maybe in political life, trying to expose their opponent for a health concern if it became public.

I've often thought about how we might make my son's needs known, but everything I can think of would single him out (I'm unfortunately reminded of the leashes used for reactive dogs - smh). That way if he were to be stopped, responders would know that he's not violent, just VERY socially impaired. But that would single him out. And any system would be abused by ne'er-do-wells or something.

If the wearable tech were optional, people might be more receptive. It's when govt forces folks to comply that things get dicey. Idk. Nothing we do will ever satisfy the needs or the wants of everyone. However, I think it's clear that better training by responders and awareness of everyone = a good thing. And compassion. That = a good thing, too.

 

[Isadora]

Glad to hear your Dear Wife hasn't experienced poor treatment for being Filipina. I'm white, but hubby is Mexican. He's been treated poorly by the police when we lived in the Bay Area (California). My older son is Korean. He's experienced some terrible treatment from peers. People can be ugly toward each other, that's for sure...

I worry most about my younger son who is on the Autism Spectrum. He is very high-functioning, but very impaired as far as his social skills. He doesn't drive but wants to learn as his goal is to live independently. I worry about any interactions he might have with police if he ever does learn to drive. He's a big guy who is quick to panic in some stressful situations. I see no good outcome if he were to get pulled over.

He should have some kind of sticker on his car and a medical bracelet to wear.I have two brothers on the autism spectrum. One is super high functioning so you would probably think just think he was geeky and not actually on the spectrum, and the other is so severe that he got put in a home a couple years ago because he was too physically violent for my parents to handle.

 

[Aunt Angus]

He should have some kind of sticker on his car and a medical bracelet to wear.I have to brothers on the autism spectrum. One is super high functioning so you would probably think just think he was geeky and not actually on the spectrum, and the other is so severe that he got put in a home a couple years ago because he was too physically violent for my parents to handle.

Thank you for your perspective. I appreciate it from someone who understands.

I've thought about the bracelet. I'd be ok with it. Folks would have to know to look for it. But it would work if they did

 

[Isadora]

Thank you for your perspective. I appreciate it from someone who understands.

It can be very hard. My younger brother who is more severe is stressful to live with. Puts holes in the walls, punches people, etc. I know my parents were very stressed when he lived at home They still are, to a point, but my mom goes and visits him every single day to make sure he's being properly taken care of and he comes home on the weekends.

I've thought about the bracelet. I'd be ok with it. Folks would have to know to look for it. But it would work if they did

Or maybe dog tags, though likely not as effective since they wouldn't be as visible as a bracelet. I'm not sure how open your son would be to wearing stuff like that, but it's a potential option.

 

[Canina]

Technology should give more people

Maybe it comes off that way, and I would hope that people see that as only one observation of the many being pointed out. I am no longer a young person, but I am affected by the forced use of modern tech as well. I mentioned that my non-local bank now only accepts bank deposits by using their mobile app and scanning in the checks on a smartphone. Or, you can take your chances and send the deposit in via the mail. So I finally had to break down and get a smartphone to do my banking deposits.

We have also been talking about AAA service and how that has changed. When I called the AAA rep to complain about my 3 hour wait for a tow truck to come from 10 miles away, he apologized and told me specifically that AAA has decided that most of their customers live in metro areas, are younger than me, and all have smartphones. So they have a mobile app to get AAA towing service when needed. But there are still people like me, living in rural areas, with no internet service on the road and maybe even no cell service in dead spots, and AAA no longer has the proper "people" support to answer the 1-800 phone calls.

I hope I didn't mean to come off as accusing you of just being ageist; I am in my late 20s myself and often ide eye how people only 10 years my junior 9sometimesless) utilise their tech or form their entire identity around what is popular in internet culture, but again it's the people. Technology should also serve to give people more convenience and freedom of choice; forcing people to use newer and different technologies when they do not have the hardware and/or that hardware requires drastic change in existing infrastructure is misguided and serves to needlessly alienate, disrupt and deprive many such as yourself. I'm even annoyed that my secondhand iPhone 6 i just beginning to run into compatibility issues with some applications. I refuse to get a new one just because developers don't want to support my current device which has no major intrinsic flaws with it.

 

[-Flash-]

Kids are always on their phones. Even though I'm a teenager, I don't have a phone. Kids don't NEED technology when they're ten, or even 13, or 15.