People don’t realize how much technology is affecting us and our social lives. Technology is affecting our social lives because the devices stop people from having interactions with the people around them. When you are looking down on a screen you are not able to pay attention to what people are talking about or if they are talking to you. When you are on your device a lot you begin to isolate yourself and that can cause you to not want to talk to people. It may even be difficult for you to talk to people because you aren’t used to talking to strangers which can lead to anxiety and loneliness. 

Technology affects everyone, but it can affect children more.  For children, being on the internet/device can affect their social skills, physical health, and confidence. For kids being at such a young age it might be very difficult for them when they grow up to confidently talk to a person and it can cause mental illnesses. 

 When asked how technology is affecting this generation my 23 year old sister, Alycia Martin, believes that, “Technology is affecting people being social because it seems like people communicate on their phone and not in person. Also, it is addicting, I’ve noticed that I can spend hours on my phone, tv, and compute and not even know it.” Other problems technology can cause are eye strain which can lead to headaches, pain in neck and shoulders, poor posture, sleep problems, reduced physical activity and difficulty focusing on important talk. 

Technology is very dangerous as well because it allows young kids to access the dangerous and inappropriate sides to the internet. Not only can they explore dangerous things, but they can put themselves in danger as well, such as cyberbullying, identity theft, etc… which would not be good, so that is why you should put devices on restricted mode to keep your child/children safe.

Yes, there are a lot of negative sides to technology but there are some good sides of it, too. Such as kids/people have the access to information in order to inform and educate themselves, play interactive games with friends and learning games as well.  Finally, they are able to contact someone in case of an emergency and able to research certain topics.

Martin also stated that she thinks that “Technology has helped people learn things. For example, I am struggling with a chapter in class, YouTube has multiple videos of how to solve a problem.  Also, cell phones can be helpful for feeling close to family that are far away.”

Even though technology is very distracting and can cause many problems, it can still be very useful. If you have technology make sure to look up every once in a while and meet new people, talk to the people that you care about and take good care of yourself.