Digital Sabbath

Before, people used to leave their homes to communicate with friends through places such as the bar, café, or even going for a walk. Now, technology has made communication so much easier. With applications such as Skype, Facebook and iMessage, we are able to instantly message our friends without spending money, time or energy to commute. Overall, messaging applications have made communication easier, quicker, cheaper and more efficient – all four are demands of which most humans look for when performing tasks. However, there are times when technology usage is more than we should take. Television for example can easily prevent a family from communicating. With 24 hours of nonstop broadcasting news and entertainment, some families can sit through these programs for hours without saying a single word to each other. According to a survey conducted by the Mirror, the average parent spends only 34 minutes with their children a day (Maughan, 2015). Over 2,000 parents surveyed had admitted to being too tired or busy to spend time with their children. With 24 hours in a day, if the average human spends 8 hours a day sleeping (Bjarki, 2015), 7-12 hours a day working or going to school (Ferro, 2015), and 8.4 hours on media devices (Chang, 2015), communication among friends, family members and the outside world in general is expected to be at its concerning lowest. According to research by the telegraph, 65.8% of children under 10 years old own smartphones

In a world where technology is portrayed as the key ingredient of the common millennial life, I sometimes wonder what would happen if we were to quit technology for one week. For most people, it would be chaos. Even though I am technically considered Generation Z, I feel as if I have fallen into the millennial trap of consuming most of my life on my pc and phone. We live in the world where we show our dream life through social media instead of showing our real unfiltered life. Don’t get me wrong, social media is fun, but what about life? Some people would argue that social media is their life. Simon Sinek is an emphatic and humorous person who teaches people things that no one else really has the guts to say. During an interview entitled “Millennials in the Workplace” with Be Inspired he addresses the millennial trap, specifically in the workplace environment. Not only does he state that millennials are having a tough time coping with the real world, he also mentions a probable reason for why this is. The parents of the millennials glorified their child with love and compassion, giving them high self-esteem and no real chance to learn. As a cause of this, “...we’re seeing an increase in suicide rates in this generation, we’re seeing an increase in accidental deaths due to drug overdoses, we’re seeing more and more kids drop out of school or take a leave of absence due to depression…” (2017) This is true even within my school. You have no idea how many kids suffer from

Mom turns on the television and sets the table, dad comes home from work, checks his personal digital assistant for an email he’s been waiting on, while his daughter sits at the table finishing up a “thumb lashing” on her cell phone that she is giving to her “BFF” because she just failed her history test. This scenario has become the norm in homes across America today. It’s the digital age, technology is booming at such a rapid pace we cannot even wear out our devices before the newer up-to-date models arrive. Technology has negative effects on society, because it is causing our critical thinking and social interaction skills to decline, it is disrupting the American family unit, and it has caused us to become a distracted society that is

Technology is constantly growing and thriving every day with a heavy impact on various people’s lives through its efficiency for daily tasks, communication, research, and other aspects of our lives. In an age of technological advancement, the extensive use of personal devices can lead to a heavy dependency on them, which causes negative side effects such as decreases in focus, productivity, and attention. According to Lenhart (2015), “92% of teens report going online daily — including 24% who say they go online “almost constantly.” Reasons such as these can enlighten certain people to take a well-warranted break from their tech such as their phones and computers. Even though it can be difficult to disconnect, my view on these “Digital Sabbaths” is that they can be very beneficial and give a more clear outlook on the digital society we all live in today.

People must find balance when using technology. Learning when it’s appropriate to use the internet, and when it's more productive to use paper and books. The world is always evolving. The human population tends to worry when a new abnormal tool is introduced. We must learn how to use technology as an advantage. I feel that older generations are more hesitant about the internet because they see younger generations using technology in “negative” ways. Teenagers these days struggle to go through an entire meal without a glance at their phones. Carr talks about how the obsession with texting, video games, and social media is currently so common. In my opinion, there is a simple solution. Little by little, people should try to “disconnect” from the world. It’s amazing what a difference it makes to just turn a phone on silent during an outing can

Everywhere you go teens seem to be glued to their phones, tablets, or computers. Technology is an addiction that does not seem to be going away any time soon. According to the Washington Post, teens can spend up to seven or more hours on their digital devices a day and the usage is still increasing. Not surprisingly enough, more than a third of all teenagers own a cellphone, ranging from a smart phone or just a plain old-school flip phone. But can spending all that time on their computers and smart devices be such a bad thing? Today’s easy access, always on world presents a wealth of opportunity for teens as students, but also challenges them to retain them essential humanity and unique personalities.

In the article “Technology taking a toll on a reality,” Brit Lamm insinuates that “people have the choice as to whether or not [technology] will take over and direct their lives.” According to Lamm, many students and adults are addicted to their phones, tablets, laptops and other smart devices, not knowing things that are happening around them. People are being less active; once they get home the first things is get online watch movies, play games or go on social media websites. Public are being addicting to the new technology we have in our generation and it becomes a distraction for students to procrastinate. In addition, nowadays people are taking the conversation face-to-face online. Instead of having the conversation, people upload pictures and videos on social media. Conversely, technology such as laptop and tablet can be useful foe students when it is for schoolwork. Also, these tools would help us better connect with people live across the world. Lam believes that “the dependence people have on technology can easily affect their social lives, social skills and maybe even their own reality as they choose to live in cyber space.” I agree with Lamm that technology has negative impact on the users such as online privacy fears and less social interactions; however, technology is a great way for people to share their thoughts.

We live in a world that is overrun by technology. Nowadays, everyone uses technology, from children and teenagers to adults and elders. It’s no secret technology is becoming more integrated in our daily lives, and by becoming more comfortable with it, we are allowing this revolutionary innovation to become more involved in our personal lives too. Technology is having a negative impact on today’s society for a couple of reasons. It’s putting our privacy at risk and it’s creating an environment where people lack social engagement. Overuse of our devices has even lead us to become sleep deprived. The problem is, people too readily embrace technology, seeking only the benefits and ignoring the many downfalls. We need to learn to socialize with one another and live without the constant usage and reliance of our phones or mobile devices.

As asked by the English alternative rock band Muse in their famous song “Screenager,” “Who’s so phoney and always surrounded?” This song perfectly depicts the effects of technology on America. People are engulfed by different types of technology everywhere they go and even carry around technology such as phones, laptops, and iPods. These items may seem like a blessing, but they are potentially dividing America. Every day, eight to eighteen-year-olds watch four and a half hours of TV, listen to two and a half hours of music, use the computer for an hour and a half, and spend two and a half hours on their cell phones, two hours for texting and one half hour for talking. This adds up to eleven hours dedicated on the media per day (Crawford).

Teenagers and young adults have become too reliant on their technology and not appreciating what the world has to offer. It’s getting more rare to see a teen WITHOUT a cell phone.  In today’s world, our society revolves around technology and has become excessively dependent on it. People need to realize that we need to start living for the moment instead of living through a screen. If you can’t spend a whole day without being on your phone  then you should discover why you spend so much time being on it and if it’s practical.

Most people would agree that it is nearly impossible to avoid technology use in their daily routines. Technology is often described as an “electronic drug” by people such as Alex Lickerman M.D. and many others who notice and even engage in the epidemic that is affecting millions. Because the electronic world demands attention from the physical world, there are effects that are to be expected. The ever-present electronic word, that demands everyone’s attention, is playing a role in how life in the real world is lived; people now interact with one another and establish relationships differently as a result. As technology becomes more integrated into every minute of peoples’ days, it is changing the culture, specifically, the fundamental

Technology is the foundation of a teenager’s everyday life. It is hard for them, and myself, to imagine our lives without it. I am always on my cell for either work, communication, or entertainment, but sometimes it feels as if I am addicted to my cell phone, and I would say that my friends may even be worse. Even though I may be connected with everyone on social media, it’s hard to say I have a real connection with them in real life. Technology is unarguably one of the greatest achievements in history, but I think it has limits and restrictions on people’s social lives, including millennials. Technology hinders millennials from developing deep, meaningful relationships, gives them a false sense of reality, and creates impatience and lack of focus.

When reading the first chapter of our class textbook, one thing that stood out to me was a graph that detailed “Average Time Spent with Major Media per Day in the United States (in 2015).” I was startled to see that twenty four percent of most americans day was spent on a mobile device, and thirty five spent watching some form of television. After logging my media use for two days, I realized that I am a part of the statistic, and in fact consume more media than the average american on a daily basis. I spent six hours on my computer daily, that is almost three times as much as the national average. I sent 32 texts a day, went on instagram 7 times, and went to over 11 different apps and websites. I realized that media was consuming my life, and that I needed to change my online socializing habits in order to enhance my ability to focus, better my interpersonal relationships, and to become more civically engaged.

Technology can be used as a great tool for both education and communication. Specifically, the younger generation is being targeted to use technology. They tend to use this technology for work, school, communication, or entertainment. In the film Digital Nation, the producers stressed the influence technology can have on the everyday life of a teenager. In order for one to gain an understanding of the influence of technology, one could use Digital Nation has a reference to identify how teenagers use technology in their everyday life and the distractions it may cause to a teenager’s focus.

Digital connectivity is an amazing thing, only if it’s used moderately. In sherry Turkle’s “Can You Hear Me Now?” She argues that digital connectivity may be altering and even having a negative effect on people. Because of technology people are growing more selfish, and are getting lonelier. Also, cell phones are not giving teenagers the ability to ponder and sort out their emotions by themselves making them less independent. Turkle effectively describes the effects technology is having on people by providing us with what people feel when they are put on “pause,” examples of the lonely elders in the nursing homes of Japan, the relationship between parent and child.