Technology ranges from computers/tablets/phones to the content laced within these devices. Everyone is constantly distracted by their chosen device and even get flustered when asked to put it away. A person spends up to 20 hours on Facebook per week and many of them let other people’s comments affect them – negatively and positively. While simultaneously making our lives easier, technology is rapidly isolating people from the real world.
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In a sense, technology has ruined family life. Before technology, families would sit around the dinner table to eat or even play games together which is a huge contrast from what they do nowadays. It is a rare occurrence for families to be in the same room while eating and families playing games together is virtually unheard of. Technology does however create a feeling of security as you know where your family is due to phone calls and texts. But what if the family member you’re trying to contact doesn’t answer? You start imagining the worst case scenarios. You panic. You panic so much that you continually bombard them with texts and calls. In reality, they’re busy and can’t answer or just don’t want to.
Are children so engrossed in technology that they are missing out on childhood adventures? A number of parents have to coerce their children to go out and play. When I was a kid, I would barely ever be in the house. My parents had to force me to stay in the house to spend time with my family. Technology has a negative affect on children in many different aspects. Children who watch excessive amounts of TV and play too many video games are allegedly more likely to do poorly at school. Reputedly, technology increases the chances of behavioural problems. Many kids are losing sleep due to their minds being overactive and unable to rapidly shut down once they have stopped playing games.
Believe it or not, technology is extremely dangerous. The number of people who text while driving is alarmingly high and the number of fatalities this has cause is atrocious. Texting while driving causes 1,600,000 accidents per year and 330,000 injuries per year. Even texting while walking is a danger - some people actually think that it is worse than texting while driving. People are so distracted that they may walk into walls, fall down the stairs or step into traffic. A study says the number of people who were killed rose from 4,109 to 4,432 in 2011 as a result of texting while walking. Consequently, people who get distracted by their phone end up walking past where they were meant to be going or step into traffic and end up visiting A&E.
The content on the internet actually has the capability to ruin people’s lives. Many people are naïve to the dangers of the internet and believe that they are perfectly safe when signing up for sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. People record their lives rather than actually living them. All the photos posted and status updates mean that pretty much everyone knows what is going on in your life. Who needs privacy? Sites like this are also making child grooming more and more common. Many children are oblivious to the fact they are being groomed in the first place, they only realise once it has gone too far. Numerous amounts of people put their personal details on these sites without a second thought then become hysteric when someone they don’t know contacts them. The worst of them all are dating sites. They’re impersonal and a nightmare. How do you know who you’re really talking to? Do you honestly believe that everything you read is the truth? Dating sites create an air of apprehension and uncertainty as you don’t actually know who you’re going to meet, it could be anyone.
Technology has completely changed morning routines. People are checking their phone before they even move from their beds. Once they actually make it out of their beds, they get ready for the day but they’ve always got their phone in eyesight. Many teens end up being late for school or work because they’re too distracted by their devices which results in them having less time to get ready. The majority of them have to post a ‘selfie’ before they leave the house which takes them at least 10 minutes due to the fact that they take multiple pictures then skim through them picking and choosing which ones they like and which ones they don’t. Many older people post a status complaining about work before they leave and then worry that someone from their work will actually see it so they delete it or they waste time going through their friends to make sure no one from their work is on the list. What’s the point in wasting their time doing that when they could just not post anything in the first place?
Technology makes us ungrateful and competitive. The majority of people purchase a new device but never think that it is that great. If a page doesn’t load we snap and whinge about how horrific the device is. As new devices come out, we expect them to be more extravagant and pleasing. We want them to exceed expectations and when they don’t, we are outraged. We post pictures of our lives on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to update people on what we’re doing but get envious when we see that people are engaging in activities more fascinating than ours. Technology can ruin our relationships with friends and even family. Even though it is easier to connect with loved ones who are in a different country, our jealousy overpowers any other feeling when we see how great their life is in the sun while we’re stuck in the rain.
Technology has made our lives easier but as a consequence it has made us lazy. Who needs to get out of bed and get dressed when you can lie there all day and watch Netflix? Many people are missing out on social occasions because they spend all day watching the latest TV series or films. With all the gaming gadgets that are available nowadays, many people are barely ever stepping out of their houses unless it’s unavoidable. Likewise people are googling everything. “How to tie a tie” gets over 500,000 searches per month and more than 1,000 people even search “how to boil water.”
To conclude, technology has changed many aspects of our lives both negatively and positively but the negatives definitely outweigh the positives. We have all become isolated, lazy and oblivious to the dangers we face when using these devices. Everywhere we go, technology surrounds us. We can’t escape it, but should we embrace it all the time? I think not.
Bibliography
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/19/tim-too-much-technology
http://www.thewire.com/technology/2012/08/technology-doesn’t-ruin-our-lives-we-do/55300/
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