Affects of Techology

Eriah Moore

Professor Hake

ENGL 5

Essay #3 rough draft

14 April 2017

TITLE

        The impact of new and old technology on our social, mental, physical and environmental health can be devastating if we do not keep ourselves in check. There is no denying the benefits we have gained from all the technology advances, but as with all things in our lives moderation is key. Being aware of the harmful aspects of the overuse of electronics will help you avoid any unnecessary pitfalls in any aspects in your life.

        Growing up it was rare for kids in elementary school to have cells phones, let alone phones that allowed you to do more than just calling your mom, dad, and an emergncy call. But now a kid as young as 7 has smartphones and knows how to work them very well sometimes better than adults. The most popular phone company today is IPhones. The IPhone has dramatically changes how people interact on the world. It made a sweeping debut in 2007 when the smart phone was introduces into the world of technology. This phone had impacted society in both negative and positive ways. For many people of the world this piece of technology has made their lives much simpler with this easy to use phone. The phone is capable of giving instant access to information that can affect finance, people’s outlook, socialization, entertainment, and much more at the touch of your fingertips. For adults, it can be convenient for school, and work purposes. There are millions of applications that allow you connect to the world around us. The IPhone connects the user to places all over the world; this instant sharing of information can impact governments such as the recent bombing, multiple missing girls, and police brutality.

Despite the many positives ways the IPhone has impacted society, there are many negatives ways also. The phone has made it dramatically easier to communicate with others, but that is always a good thing. The phone, along with other smart phones have helped people (mainly teens) send harmful messages and phots to one another. Cyber-bullying is a major problem today in the world and it is only getting worse with all of this new technology making things easier to communicate. Research on cyberbullying sponssered by Opennet has found that teenager who are “heavy cell phone users” are more likey to enage in the practice of bullying online, asa well as becoming bullied themselves. Studies by Opennen has found the more extensively teenagers use their cellphones, the greater their risk of exposure to both expericing and engaging within inappropriate mobile activity. Some conclusions the research suggest are 46 percent of heavy users experience cyberbullying on their cell phones, a much higher rate compared to just 23 percent of teenagers who are within the 'normal usage' bracket, and that 88 percent of cyberbullies indicate they have been bullied themselves across wireless networks.

With the newest technology it has also caused users to have social isolation, which is characterized  by the lack of contact with other people in normal daily living such as the workplace, with friends and in social activites. We isolate ourselves by walking around in our own little world, listening to our iPods or staring at the screen of the latest mobile device even when we are around other people. Walking around campus I see this a lot. People would be so caught up in their devices that they would not look up and walkinto people or not see a care coming near them. This can also lead to someone having a lack of social skills. The use of online social media outlets causes us to meet face-to-face with much less frequency resulting in a lack of much needed social skills. We begin to lose the ability to read body language and social cues in other people.

Technology is a wonderful thing, but it has the power to be one of the biggest enemies when it comes to the health of our children. Childhood obesity is rapidly growing, and IPads, IPhones, video games and tevelsion seems to be going more harm than good. Childhood obesity is caused by many factors. Parents have only so much control over some of these factors, but technology seems to be one symptom of a changed world that can, in fact, be controlled to a certain extent. Many parents use technology as a way to keep their children occupied while they are busy working, shopping, driving, etc. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that children spend an average of 7 hours per day watching TV, playing video games and using the Internet. A YMCA survey concluded that over half of children between the ages of 5 and 10 spend less than four days per week playing outside. The study also showed that almost 75% of parents made the decision to spend family time watching television with their kids instead of doing other activities.

Some critics believe that the world would be much healthier without smartphones. These people argue that they have caused negative impacts on social relationships, education, health and other part of our life. Although they were initially developed to help people stay integrated and connected, they are instead disconnecting people from society and relationships due to their addictive nature. Addiction to smartphone use negatively impacts users' family life and causes problems with human relationships, as addicts tend to pay more attention to their phones than the people around them. According to a 2011 survey by the U.K. communications regulator Ofcom, 51 percent of adults and 65 percent of teenagers said they have used their smartphone while socializing with others. This proves that even when people are having face-to-face communication, they are constantly distracted by their phone. Most of today's oral conversations are asymmetrical; with one person speaking and the other concentrated on their devices. As a result, they are not able to have a good conversation and are prevented from building trust between each other. In addition, people addicted to smartphones usually become attached to the meaningless approval of strangers online and become indifferent to the real world. Furthermore, they tend to avoid oral communication since they find it uncomfortable and difficult to address real people, so they prefer communication through emails or text messages. However, if this situation continues, there is no doubt that every user will have only "fake friends" online and no true relationships with others.

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