What's the first thing you automatically do each morning? More often than not, we all have a routine that we ritually follow. The very first thing I do in the morning involves pawing wildly for my phone, but that's also because my cellphone also functions as my alarm clock. Besides telling me when to wake up, my cellphone also largely acts as my calendar, my music player, means of reading the daily news, and primary source of communication with the outside world. Recently, a YouTube video has gone viral featuring a man who had been in prison for (40+) years and his experience adapting to the changes the nation has undergone. What seemingly is the most striking difference for the man is the widespread dependence upon these metal boxes of ours and our intimate attachment to them.
Five years ago, my parents could hardly be considered tech-savvy, although in her defense I suppose my mom could even then navigate a Blackberry just as well as I could. But now, now my mom has a tablet, and both my dad and step-mom have iPhones. What's becoming clear is that it's not just Millennials that are increasingly more and more dependent upon technology. Hell, even my grandpa is texting (although he has yet to figure out how to turn off caps lock). As a 21-year-old, I can't claim to have witnessed all that much of these sweeping technological changes, but I can slightly recall a time before cellphones, when we used to have to memorize our friend's house phone numbers etc.
What's arguably most concerning is that kids are being born into this dependency, "monkey see—monkey do" and before long you've got a 5-year-old who can navigate a tablet better than Mom and Dad. There's nothing inherently wrong with being overly familiar with technology, in fact in many job positions it can be received as an added bonus to one's resume. But the question becomes "how much is too much?" And the answer more often than not, is (much like in "Mean Girls") "The limit does not exist." Without being "that guy," let me just say that this technological dependence indefinitely does and has had an impact on my imagination, creative abilities, and even my capacity for socializing.
However, not all Millennials are completely absorbed by their phones. One Central Connecticut State University student, also had the following to say about the growing dependence towards these bits of metal:
"I get so frustrated when my friends are on their phones when we are trying to hanging out... Some of my friends have even developed phone anxiety and will not pick up phone calls, they only text. Talking on the phone and having a conversation with a group of people is a skill that is essential for a young person looking for a successful career."Well everyone, the first step towards recovery involves admitting that we have a problem, if only for a few hours a day. Let's all at least try to disconnect from our phones, tablets, and consoles some of the time; as being a pseudo-cyborg isn't all it's cracked up to be.
