As a teenager in today's society, it is in the norm to have a cellphone that has access to basically everything: games; social media; photos; and even online shopping. But when does this access become too much? Is it when teenagers are constantly posting their latest selfies? Or is it when we no longer see teenagers leave the comfort of their bedroom and all human communication is lost?
To be a teenager today without a smartphone calls for harassment and bullying from their peers, which is every teenager's worst nightmare. Teenagers are so obsessed with who they can talk to digitally, they completely miss out on the people they can talk to in person. As a victim of this abandonment, it has hit home just how obsessed today's teenagers are with their technology.
On a recent trip, there was a group a teenagers staying at a lake house. The trip was expected to be fun but the harsh reality of it really blew my mind. With their attachment to their phones, the outdoor activity was limited and even complained about, so the majority of time was spent inside on their cellphones indoors. With all the time spent inside, there was a whole world passing them by outside that they missed out on.
So this is when the question "When does technology become too much?" comes into mind.
When out in the world, walking down the aisles in the grocery store, there is usually a child or two in a cart whose eyes are glued to their parents' smartphone playing games or watching their favorite TV show. Is this the pure laziness of the parents to avoid a whiny child? Or is this the lack of ability of the parent to tend to the child due to their increased technology use? It used to be that kids would play outside and only be able to watch TV when it was too dark outside to play. Today, kids do not even know what the light of day looks like. It was believed that the new and improved technology was supposed to make life easier for people, but is it doing quite the opposite? Or is the human race just abusing the power they now have in their hands?
Students today do not even know what it is like to take notes with a notebook and pen due to all the school systems switching their curriculum to pure technology. Papers are submitted electronically and notes are taken on computers in class. With technology being forced upon students in schools, and their constant cellphone use, do teenagers brains actually ever get relief of the constant stimulation a computer screen gives them? Does the increase of technology assist in the increase of mental illnesses and attention deficits we see today? All of these questions need to be asked by parents, school administrators and the creators of this technology before deciding to buy or create the next big thing. Who knows, maybe the next big thing will be the thing that throws the human race completely out of the norm.
So before looking into buying that new phone or laptop, think about the consequences it has on the human brain and social ability.
