Modern day society has grown with technology, it is apparent that we have become overly dependent on it. Let’s face it, our need and demand for technology keeps rising with every day. We rely on technology to allow us to travel, communicate, learn and to basically live. Although, with technology comes a great risk. Technology has negatively impacted social skills, education, physical health, privacy and security, mental health and several other life areas. Technology in the workplace means that meetings can be held over skype, we can facetime loved ones at long distance, we can text our friends after school and we have instant communication with anyone at anytime, anywhere. This means slowly we lose our face-to-face communication skills, we lose the ability to read basic social cues like tone of someone's voice, facial expressions, body language, and direct wording. On top of that, violent games and videos kill empathy and bring destruction into one’s life. These are just a few of the negative impact on our social life. The use of technology also has dramatic effects on our environment. The release of harmful chemicals and gasses have polluted our environment and has resulted in climate change (global warming). So, the more technology we enjoy, the more we harm our environment. Experts have tried to implement ways of reducing this impact by encouraging factories to go green, to a small extent, this has been achieved through the development of green technologies like; green cars, green computers, but a great effort is still needed to reduce the pollution of the air and the earth. Yet, there are numerous ways you can start being more ecofriendly. Technology and online sources are great tools for education and learning. You can ‘google’ and search any topic with large varieties or sources instantaneously. Yet, tech involvement doesn’t always ensure a higher quality of education. Children sometimes overuse technology there in the classroom which obviously affects the learning process in a negative way. Plagiarism and cheating have increased while the use of analysis and critical thinking have declined. This puts younger generations thinking abilities in jeopardy. Numerous studies and sources claim that the more students that use entertainment technologies like games or social media, the less they ‘perform academically’. Instead of reading and doing homework, modern kids distract themselves with entertainment. Distractions caused by games, messages, and videos... let’s face it…we all get distracted by our phones. Young people have a hard time focusing attention at the lessons and resisting impulsive behaviour. |
Among some of the most dangerous effects of technology is obesity. Being absorbed by the use of a laptop or a tablet, people tend to snack and eat a lot, keep late hours and exercise less. The more time you sit around watching the latest episode of Riverdale, the amount of blood circulation in your body is reduced, not to speak of the neck and head pain. Moreover, sedentary life is the reason why many people have bad posture. Constant staring at the screen might be the reason for headaches and poor eyesight. And although dancing around your room with earphones and blasting music may seem fun, it may be harmful to your ears. Loud music in headphones is likely to cause hearing loss and ringing in the ears. Gadgets can also provoke the tendonitis in the thumb which is caused by repeated use of thumbs to push buttons on devices.
If being misused, technology could expose you to several risks. Especially very vulnerable teens and kids. One in three teenagers are reported being victims of cyberbullying. These offenders use text messages, social media or other social platforms to reach out their target. 39% of teens admitted to sending messages containing nudity, and almost half of the teenagers received texts containing nudity. With a huge population using the Internet, it gives increased risk to cybercrime. Today it’s easier than ever before to find someone’s personal information. With a few clicks, you can now discover Facebook pages with all the contact information, pictures, whereabouts and many more. The information obtained can be used by cheaters for hacking and viruses. One of the most dramatic impacts of technology is the decline of the quality and amount of sleep. The sleep chemical melatonin is influenced by the constant light from screens, so keeping technology is likely to intervene with your sleeping patterns. What is even more serious is that people become addicted to technology. This has a very detrimental effect on a person’s health and social life, and destroys social and family bonds. Among some other mental problems caused by computers is a new type of stress called the chronic Smartphone Stress. This is caused by notifications, constant anticipation of a message or e-mail. If a person doesn’t get enough attention, this can make you feel stressed or in some cases even depressed. So basically, what I want you to take away from this article is to find balance. Know when it’s time to turn off your phone or pause Gossip Girl for a while. Life is to short to sit behind a screen…go enjoy life while you can! |