Last week I attempted to go a day without my phone. Unlike most people of my generation, I am here to say while it is not impossible, it definitely makes things difficult.
When I say it made things difficult, I don't mean my day was awful because I was unable to see myself in the genuinely adorable puppy filter on SnapChat, or that the StarBucks app only works on your phone so I actually had to take my wallet into the store with me for once. What I mean is that in a generation that is reliant on the ability to do more than the first spaceship could do, with a device so small that it fits in our back pocket, my day was hard.
A little about the day, it was a Monday so I had classes starting at 8am and work until 10pm. Although I had my phone with me incase of emergency, I left my computer, also known as my magic note taker, in my dorm room. My phone was left in my bag all day with the sound off-- per usual. I took my notes with pen and paper (so old school, I know!) By doing this I figured out why I never had good notes in high school, I cannot write quickly and still be able to read it! I was faced with two choices, to either listen and not write half the notes I should have, or to not be able to read anything I wrote down. Definitely a hard decision.
When I arrived at work I had so much homework to do. Certainly a good thing right? Here's the catch, my teachers find it much easier to upload homework to Leo, our version of Blackboard, or to email it to us. There is two ways I could have accessed my homework, my phone or my computer. Not only is my generation relying on technology, the generation teaching me is relying on it! So instead of wasting 6 hours doing nothing, I did look on my email to retrieve my homework assignments. After I finished I actually read a book instead of watching Netflix.
After the day was over my phone still had 75% battery, I had 5 missed calls and too many texts from group messages that I probably would have opened but ignored, but here's the kicker. I had 3 emails regarding work, 4 from teachers, and two really awesome sales going on. If I only had access to my email on my computer I could have missed some pretty major things during the day, luckily they weren't too major though!
The technology and smart phones we have today are about so much more than social media. They make work and education easier. For all of our elders complaining about how we are always on our phones, It's not always for the reason you may think. Our generation is not meant to be living in the stone ages. To be honest, most of our elders are still alive because of our technological advances. Doctors are able to answer a page to save your life because of our advances. I for one, am not addicted to my phone, but I do need it for work and school. I do believe that generations younger than me should not be "born with a phone in their hands." But technology is so much more than checking a Facebook page or scrolling through Twitter. That being said, I do agree that it is rude to be texting when you are supposed to be socializing. There is definitely a line but it becomes more of a grey area the older you get. As for younger generations not yet in the work force, they have no excuse to have a phone in front of their face when they should be spending time with friends and loved ones.
Technology is going to run the world so either jump on the train or be stuck extinct with the dodo birds and dinosaurs.
