In today’s digital age, seeing someone’s eyes glued to a digital screen is not unusual – especially if they are a preteen or teenager.
Adolescents and smartphones just go hand in hand. Rarely do you see one without the other.
For some people, this is good and bad. One the one hand, technology helps us advance, and the convenience of smartphones helps us check our emails, mark our calendars, and even stay up to date with web browsing and swiping through social media.
On the other, technology could make us more isolated as we find more entertainment on our phones than with human contact. (You may know some people who prefer texting versus phone calls, for example.)
Personally, I think technology is good. Instead of creating barriers, it can create bridges by allowing communication up to international levels, as seen in the story below.
These two boys were captured sitting next to a bus on their phones at the Little League World Series. This sight isn’t unusual, right?
But these boys weren’t just zoning out on their phones.
Instead, these players (from South Dakota and the Dominican Republic respectively) were using Google Translate to have a conversation with each other.
The coolest thing I’ve seen today: players from the DR and South Dakota having a conversation w/ @Google translate. #MLBLittleLeagueClassic pic.twitter.com/qUyVZPgr44
— bob holtzman (@Bob_Holtzman) August 20, 2017
Bob Holtzman, the Infield Chatter of the Major League Baseball Players Association and a former ESPN anchor, noticed the two boys and took the picture above.
The two baseball players were overcoming their language barrier by using Google Translate.
What were they talking about you might ask?
Well, the South Dakota team (representing the Midwest in the U.S. bracket) was eliminated from the tournament with a loss over the weekend. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic team representing the Caribbean in the international bracket had a must-win game on Monday against Venezuela to keep its championship hopes alive.
During a break between games, players go to hang out at the athlete village in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
There, the two boys made friends with each other, and they weren’t going to let language barriers stop them.
So the next time you see kids on their phones, don’t be so quick to judge. You never know – they could be having an international conversation.
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