Technology has many benefits and is on the fast track as far as innovation. If we are able to take a step away from it, though, we might notice the harm it is causing our generation.
According to the Chief Marketing Officer Council’s website, 87 percent of young adults always have their smartphone by their side day and night. This shows how much of an addiction technology is becoming. If we don’t have our phone, we feel lost and anxious. When we do have our phones, we are disrespectful because we’re constantly on it. That is rude to the people physically around us.
We want what we don’t have. This is a basic human quality and plays a key role into the communication issue of the matter. We’re constantly being in touch with someone that is not around us. For instance, if I’m with my boyfriend, I’m texting my best friend. But if I’m with my best friend, I’m texting my boyfriend, instead of truly soaking in the time I have with each individual person.
It is causing problems with communication. There is a barrier with you and the people sitting around you when you’re on your phone. It is also becoming more accepted in relationships to not have as much face-to-face interaction but to just text all the time. There are issues with texting in itself that I won’t fully go into, but we can realize that with texting a lot of times the other person can get confused since they can’t hear your tone of voice. That can then create unnecessary arguments.
We have a thirst for knowledge, which doesn’t necessarily sound like a bad thing. But when the thirst is for unnecessary knowledge, that’s when it’s a problem. This could be the latest celebrity gossip or what your ex-best friend posted on Facebook. If we weren’t able to have the latest gossip or drama at our fingertips, we wouldn’t concern ourselves with it as much. Yet, since we have such easy access to it, we begin to overuse it and become addicted to it.
It’s all starting at a young age now with parents buying their children the newest and latest technology. Eighty-four percent of 13-17 year olds own a mobile phone, and 83 percent of 6-9 year olds use a tablet according to a study in March 2015 on CMO Council’s website. This shows that it is the parents providing the technology that then becomes the issue. Parents are allowing their children to grow up attached to their phone or tablet.
History shows that technology is an evolving process that’s never going to stop. Our task to help balance the benefits and harm in this process is to teach proper etiquette. One suggestion is to start by not allowing cellphones at the dinner table.
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