Ask anyone what they think of YouTube, Facebook, the X-Box 360 and Grey’s Anatomy, and they’re likely to have one of two reactions. Either they’ll enthusiastically support a favorite pastime you’ve just listed, or they’ll sheepishly and guiltily admit to an addiction worse than their morning caffeine fix.

According to a 2005 study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids aged eight to 18 spend an average of six hours everyday parked in front of a screen. Homework can often be done entirely online, and many kids are spending more time talking to their friends with instant messages than with their voices. One Facebook group is titled “Who needs Real Life, I’ve Got Facebook.”

A recent article in the Seattle P-I cited what some are now calling “nature-deficit disorder.” Scientific studies have found that exposure to nature is beneficial to the mental and physical development of children. With so many video game consoles and sitcoms being released one after the other, nature is gradually being relegated to “that place on the Discovery Channel.”

While some parents worry about the legitimacy of having recess in grade school, preferring their kids to stay inside in a learning environment (increasingly dominated by screens), they should keep in street smarts aren’t learned in a classroom.

The interaction kids have during that game of kickball or tag teaches them social skills that will always be essential to playing a role in society. These are not skills the 2.7 TVs in the average household in America has are capable of teaching.

It’s not just kids, either.

As broadband Internet continues its transition from cutting-edge to commonplace, working from home has never been easier. (It does, however, usually require a screen to be nearby.) What once demanded trips to a grocery store, a library and a shopping mall can now all be accomplished without getting out of your chair.

Technology isn’t going to slow down, but we all need to realize we have the option of not keeping up. By living more and more of our lives away from that increasingly intimidating place called “outside,” we’re preventing ourselves from taking necessary breaks from our efficiency-oriented lives, and it’s rubbing off on the kids.