Technology Taking Over People’s Lives
Technology was made to make our lives easier, so that we can be in control, but over the past few years it seems as though technology now controls our lives, social skills, and decisions. It has taken over the world and left us as zombies. Society needs to take a step back and realize that, as a whole, technology is starting to dictate how we function..
Society is lacking socialization. Instead of going outside, enjoying nice weather, or hanging out with friends, we are stuck worrying about what is going on with social media. There are things that the internet can not teach you. For example, the internet cannot teach you the importance of spending time with friends and family, or how to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment of your life.
Professor John Elia, who teaches ethics, stated, “We associate the dings and buzzes and icons on our phones with the pleasures of getting a text from a friend, or receiving approval from our social networks. The association becomes habitual. Now, even when we realize that our phones control us rather than the other way around, even when we don’t get good news or our social networks hate us, we can’t easily break the habit.”
Most people often spend hours each day on their cell phone or computer. However, the time spent on these devices could be spent more productively. Instead of wasting time on social media, that time could be spent working on school, work, or personal productivity. When we spend hours on social media and lying in bed watching Netflix, we are not spending time being productive. We are wasting time and energy.
Lisa Woolley, Professor of English, commented, “In some situations, technology saves money, but it also speeds up our lives and leaves us with less time. Because we have less time to interact with others, we try to compensate by being linked to them through technology.”
With technology being such a big part of our lives now, no one is spared, not even kids. Kids are now getting cell phones and IPads instead of toys and coloring books. Instead of going outside to the playground, kids are watching YouTube videos for hours or playing video games. Each generation is becoming more and more dependent on technology.
Shannon McKenzie ’18 said, “I think technology is really good in some ways, but in other ways it can really hurt our society, especially our social skills. I think every generation is bad with phones at this point. I remember growing up and wanting a cell phone, but before that I used to play outside with my friends all the time, now you hardly ever see that.”
Communicating seems easier through text or social media. We are use to speaking with people behind a screen that we forget what it was like to have an in person conversation. People have lost their social skills, manners, and expect everything to be delivered to them as fast as the Internet does.