On the first day of classes, Andrew told us that he thinks that cellphones are very useful, but dangerous. He went onto say that the second you go to check a text, you miss out on what could be a very important fact or concept that Andrew is explaining. Last week, Apple released its new iPhone 7 that caused an uproar all over both adults and kids. Apple has gotten rid of the head phone jack all together, increased battery life, and has made the new iPhone water resistant. Seeing the new iPhone reminded me of what it was like when the first iPhone released in 2007. I begged my dad for it, knowing that I was never realistically going to get one. Today, kids everywhere are walking around with an iPhone, and iPad, or anything in between. For example, when my ten year old cousin is bored at Thanksgiving dinner, she runs into her moms bag and slyly slips out her Amazon tablet and plays Candy Crush. Do not get me wrong, I think technology has a ton of perks, but a part of me does worry. Can these new amazing technologies be a detriment to our lives?
At the beginning and end of every class, I look around me and see people on their phones. I for one am completely guilty of this. People are locked in on their phones, scrolling through Instagram and Twitter, or answering texts continuously throughout the day. So much information is at our fingertips. Not just information about what our friends are doing, but information that has to do with the world. I am sure that everyone can agree that the temptation that comes after your phone buzzes in your pocket is unreal. In short, we are all addicted to the little rectangular device in our pockets.
According to British psychologist Dr. Richard House, teenagers ceck their phones an average of 85 times a day, and majority of those times are for 30 seconds or less of activity. I am personally not worried for our generation, but for the up and coming generations. One thing that must be addressed is making sure kids go outside.
Over the summer, I would see tons of kids walking around, fixed on their phones pointing it wildly around. It turned out to be the app Pokemon Go. This app may have gotten kids to go outside and walk around, but it is sad that an app had to get kids to move outside. Technology can be a detriment to exercise. People could be completely okay with sitting in their house playing a game on their phone or scrolling through social media to pass time. Kids become obsessed with an app or game and don’t go outside and play or use their imagination. Technology clearly has many positives, but I believe that the negatives cannot go unseen.
Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/smartphone-usage-estimates_us_5637687de4b063179912dc96