Imagine
this scenario: You’re with a group of friends, talking, having a good time, and
then someone pulls out their phone. All of a sudden two other people are on
their phone, then the rest, and you are the only one not on your phone. You
didn’t receive a text. There’s no one in particular you want to text or call.
You don’t need to check facebook or any other social media, but you take out your
phone too.
I’m sure
this scenario is easy to imagine, because you’ve most likely been in an eerily
similar situation. What happened? Weren’t you having fun talking to your
friends? Did conversation die out? Did you all get tired of each other? I doubt
it was any of these things, but instead the phenomena is attributed to the
effect technology has had on socialization and communication.
Technology
has brought many gifts to this world. Advances in technology help people in
almost every field including science, medicine, and communication. People
report feeling more connected to the world because you can communicate with
almost anyone from almost any part of the world. Done some traveling? You can
still stay connected to them in a very easy and convenient way. Want to stay
updated with high school friends/acquaintances? You can do that too. Technology
is so great. But, like every good thing that isn’t done in moderation, it has
its negative effects.
I remember
as a kid, my dad would complain about how much T.V. I watched. “Go outside and
play with other kids,” he would say. At a recent family gathering at a family
restaurant, my 7 year old nephew was playing with his tablet. My 6 year old
cousin was listening to his MP3 player. They were both being quiet and good
little boys, not disturbing the adults or acting up. At some point, the younger
boy took off his head phones to briefly talk to me and then scooted his way to
my nephew to also play with the tablet.
When I was
a kid in the same restaurant, me and my cousin would be talking to each other
and invent games we could play quietly together. I see less and less of this
happening. Life behind the screen has taken over beginning as small as infants
and infecting the older generations.
We see it
often. In classrooms, at malls, walking on the street. So many people have
their eyes glued to a screen. They are less aware of their surroundings. Life
is happening, but they’re looking at a screen.
Apple has
reported selling “85 million iPhones in the U.S. since 2007 launch and 34
million iPads since 2010” and “between June 2010 and June 2012, Samsung sold
21.25 million phones and 1.4 million Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets.”
Apple’s worldwide marketing head Phil Schiller said, “each new model of the
iPhone sold approximately the same amount of phones as all previous generations
combined.” This is a rapid increase of handheld screens every year.
Common
Sense Media surveyed 1,384 parents for a study about parenting and apps. James
Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, commented that, “parents
increasingly are handing their iPhones to their 1 ½-year-old kid as a shut-up
toy.” Parents are on their mobile devices checking different networks, and
children are modeling this behavior. Children are growing up in a society where
it is normal to look at a screen instead of people. It’s normal to communicate
through a screen, whether handheld or not, than face to face.
Is all this
screen time so bad?
The
Editorial Staff at the Northern Iowan claims that technology can harm our
ability to deal with conflict, and can damage our personal relationships. Many
people are taking the “easy way out” when there is a problem, because instead
of personally confronting someone, they send a text or facebook message. They
also say, “When we spend so much time on our computers and phones, we lose real
connection with others.”
The article
“Negative Effects of Technology on Communication” says that with the reduction
of face to face communication, we lose important verbal cues and facial
expressions that are important to conversation. There are also conflicting finds
of people feeling more isolated. Reports say that someone who is introverted is
likely to feel even more isolated with extensive use of social media. Someone
who is extroverted feels less isolated through social networking.
Since the
T.V. became popular, getting people away from a screen has been a problem.
Families lost communication and activity because they were sitting in front of
a T.V. Now, the screen can go with us anywhere. We can walk with it, talk on
it, and became continually distracted by it.
A few years
ago I attended the California Leadership Academy camp. We were taught how to
communicate, which suggests that we didn’t already know how. It was in fact
true. The director pointed out that people can talk through texting, but they
cannot communicate. Communication requires active and concentrated listening
and responding. We did an activity in which we partnered up and one person
spoke, while the other sat straight, hands on laps, and was quiet. It made the
speaker feel like they were really being listened to, and thus they were more
comfortable opening up and speaking more.
I challenge
people to try this now. I think we make each other feel less important and
significant when we stop looking at them to check our phones. This action
socially signifies that we don’t care what they’re saying. We don’t care about
the time we’re spending with them. If you are spending time with someone, then
spend time with them.
Why would you rather talk to someone who didn’t make the
time to physically be there with you?
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/screen-time-higher-than-ever-for-children-study-finds.html?_r=0
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-08-10/business/35492808_1_galaxy-s-ii-samsung-galaxy-tab-phil-schiller
http://www.northern-iowan.org/is-technology-harming-our-communication-skills-1.2216499#.Uj3wKz-0zms
http://www.ehow.com/list_7223067_negative-effects-technology-communication.html
http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/cs181/projects/personal-lives/conclusions.html
http://www.helium.com/items/1958968-how-does-social-networking-affect-socialization
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