Pro: Technology Stunts Social Development

By Sade Mehdizadeh

Now that I have been taking school more seriously I have noticed that all of my time is usually in front of the computer checking my hotmail to see if I received any important emails, or writing one of my many essays for school. I have recently realized that all of my time is spent in front of the computer. While I am on the computer I start to notice that I slowly slip into a computer coma where I don’t talk to anyone and kind of lose my sense of reality. I overheard my mother talking about me a couple of months ago, explaining to her friend that when I’m on the computer there’s no way that anyone can have a conversation with me because I am in my own little computer world. After I heard this I really started noticing that when I finally do pry myself off the computer that I have been sitting in front of all day, I almost forget how to function within society. Talking to people is strange; driving is very overwhelming because after you have been on the computer for an hour or more your brain is on that slow pace thinking. Or even just talking to people is something that seems so foreign. When I’m on the computer I get into a zone and if anyone tries to have a conversation with me its as if you are talking to a brick wall. Being on the computer is something that makes you so dazed and you start to lose track of time. Every time I sit at the computer to do homework it feels like time just flies by in the matter of seconds. By the time I know it, I have been sitting at the computer for a couple hours and the sun has been long gone. Every year it seems like school is starting to become an institution within our society that will become computer based, where all classes will be taught online. We will come to an era when everyone who attends college can stay at home and log onto a central website where they can see all of their classmates in front of their computers while the teacher lectures. Hybrid classes now -a-days seem to be very popular among the lazy tired or highly stressed college kids.
Even with adolescents you can see the way in which technology plays a big role in their chaotic lives. Look at Myspace and Facebook. These are two very popular social networks that almost ever adolescent has now a day. It seems that if you don’t have a profile for either of them you aren’t considered “cool”. When walking around I cant count how many times I hear teenagers talking about how “its official now because he changed his status to ‘ in a relationship’.” So…For something to be official you must post it on Facebook or MySpace? Recently I have been noticing several of my friends coming over to hang out, but instead they make a mad dash to my computer where I will then catch them clicking away at pictures of people that they haven’t seen since middle school.
Another issue to bring up is that disabled kids can have the ability and feel comfortable socializing with others by going onto the computer or video games like Halo. But it really doesn’t help them in the end. Kids who have disabilities won’t always have the computer to hide behind while they socialize. Socializing on the internet is something that I feel like these children become dependent on and eventually makes them lose the skills to socialize in face-to-face interactions. They need to practice socializing face to face because that gives them simple tools or skills when it comes to getting a job. We live in a scary and tough world and just hiding behind a computer or an interactive video game doesn’t give them self-confidence or tough backbone that they need in our society today. Kids with disabilities are very self-conscious and embarrassed of their disabilities, so when they try to get a job they wont know the do’s and don’ts of self-representation in their interview. Getting a job is nerve racking already and for someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with social interactions with others, getting a job is going to be something that is damn near impossible.

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