How Our Dependence On Technology Is Killing Us
As a society I believe that our dependence on technology is killing us, our reliance on technology has disconnected us from the real world. We are relying on technology to do our jobs for us, many tasks are automated, cars are now driving themselves, mail is now sent electronically and soon technology may mean we do not have to work at all. The reason this is a bad thing is that the less work we do the more dependent on technology we become to the point we cannot function without resorting to technology in most of our activities. This reliance on technology also has a bad effect on our health.
Technology is becoming an issue for younger children growing up with a screen in their face, according to Ben Halpert who is an author trying to educate people of the consequences of technology he mentions, “They're addicted before they even know what's happening”. In fact, if you were to visit a family restaurant today, you are most likely to see kids fighting over who gets to use their parents’ phone, or they may already own one themselves. The result is, families are socialising online rather than talking face to face at the dinner table. I believe that Society is telling children that technology can be incorporated into every single part of their lives. This is becoming a problem since this can increase the chances of a child having low self-esteem, problems finding relationships and trouble interacting with people. This addiction doesn’t just affect children, adults addicted to technology also have increased chances of getting insomnia, memory loss and spinal damage, not to mention increasingly poor social skills.
Technology may have the ability to improve someone’s life, but it can also destroy it. According to the world health organisation, gaming disorder is when gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative health consequences. For gaming disorder to be diagnosed a person must have sufficient impairment in areas such as personal, family, social, or education to be diagnosed with this disorder. Studies suggest that any person who takes regular engagement in gaming activates should be alert to how much time they spend gaming particularly when it is to avoid certain necessary daily activities.
As a result of sitting for long periods of time either gaming, watching television and even working we tend to spend most of our time sitting down either at work or at home. This sedentary lifestyle can result in lack of blood circulation, obesity and low levels of fitness and it has been proven that sitting down for eight to twelve hours a day increases the chances of getting type two diabetes.
Having a screen near your bed or staying up late to use certain electrical devices with a bright screen can affect your sleeping pattern. This is because our body emits a hormone called melatonin which tells the body it is time to sleep but if exposed to bright screens for a long period of time our body stops emitting this hormone and then it is much harder to fall asleep. Although this doesn’t just affect how long of a period you sleep for, it also affects the quality of your sleep. The effects of poor quality and quantity of sleep can impact on your mood, the ability to focus in school or work as well as affecting your social life. To help solve this problem it is recommended that you remove these devices from your room and stop using them within an hour before you go to bed and to create a bedtime routine.
Nowadays we use screens everywhere, at work or at school and then we come home and relax by using technology instead of sports and social activities. This has resulted in us sacrificing healthy activities for screen time, with less exercise, poorer dietary habits and less social interaction with our friends and family.
Overall, I believe that technology can be a good thing for our society, but if it is overused it can be addictive and can affect our health and wellbeing. Technology has given us some amazing things such as landing on the moon, advanced medical technologies and much more.
The most powerful way that I can highlight the downsides of technology with you all is to leave you with a quote by Steven Spielberg who said “technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful because we’re too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone. ”
