As I was reading an article from the New York Post titled "It's 'digital heroin': How screens turn kids into psychotic junkies", I couldn't help to think about my own experience with "digital heroin".

In the world we live in today it's not uncommon to spend more hours inside watching television or on social media than it is for us to go out and socialize, but how did this become such a problem?

First of all, people are busy. It's much easier to send someone a message over Facebook and ask how they are doing than it is to plan to meet up for coffee. I'm not here to say that social media or television is bad, but it is bad when those things lead us to become isolated. We may think that just because we talk to people in class, at work, or on Facebook that we're fine, but those aren't real connections. Real connections aren't being made because too many people are isolating themselves from those connections; they'd rather be spending time on social media. Unfortunately, it has become easier to scroll than it is to strike up a meaningful conversation.

But maybe social media isn't the only cause of our isolationism.

I remember being in fifth or sixth grade and becoming increasingly frustrated with my parents because I was sure I was the only one in my class without a cell phone. Eventually I got one and it became much easier to stay in touch with my classmates, even if the only thing which we were discussing was what brand of lip gloss to buy. When Friday night finally rolled around and we went to sleepovers, no one was glued to their cell phone unless they were talking to their crush, and by talking I mean actually talking. So when did the era of "digital heroin" begin?

It began when it became easier to tell our crushes that we liked them through a text message than it was face to face. It began when parents were too busy doing everything else than taking time to put together a puzzle with their children. It began when I was being bullied and middle school and the only people who didn't bully me were the ones on the internet. Do you see the problem here? We no longer know how to interact with one another.

It irks me to know that my four year old younger sister already knows how to work a cell phone, use Snapchat, and understands that any cartoon she could possibly want to watch is probably on Netflix; and so does the rest of her generation. Instead of plopping our children in front of the television while we cook or handing them our cell phones when we're shopping, we should be teaching them how to wash lettuce and how to pick out the perfect pair of shoes. We should be encouraging them to invite friends over to play board games rather than video games, and telling them to go outside and play instead of asking us to watch television.

While the development of the internet, social media, and television has vastly expanded our knowledge on a variety of subjects and has allowed us to create things we never dreamed were possible, we have to remember than Thomas Edison did, in fact, invent the light bulb without the internet; so it is possible to learn things by exploring and experimenting.

Let's change society by starting with our children and teaching them that while it's nice to have the internet and the things that go along with it, nothing will replace having real relationships and gaining knowleldge through exploring the wonders of the world.