According to CNN news the average American spends more than 10 hours a day using technology, 9 of which is on social media! This is a staggering 42% or more of our time spent in front of a screen tweeting, posting, and sharing; so what are the effects? While technology has its benefits making life “easier,” such as a way to quickly find information and the ability to easily communicate with people on the other side of the world, the drawbacks are more pressing. It is getting worse as we keep diving headfirst into our societies technological revolution. This is why we as a school should participate in “Shut Down Your Screen Week.” Critics oppose “Shut Down Your Screen” because in life today it is necessary to have technology, however by putting down our phones and other electronic devices we get a break from the harmful effects that the overuse of technology has on our brains. According to scientists, technology even rewires our brains according to Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, it even happens on a chemical level causing it to become addictive. People should shut down their …show more content…
Researchers say that the stimulation from the use of technology “provokes excitement” which causes dopamine levels to rise. Dopamine is a hormone in the brain that causes a feeling of wellness and happiness that can be addictive. These urges that we have interrupt family life and work, also they dullen creativity and deep thought. Research on what negative effects technology has on us was even done by Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse. The opposing side argues saying technology has “benefits,” but it’s the overuse and abuse of those benefits that also has a negative effect on our daily
Thousands of years have passed that we have lived with technology, and it has worked in our benefit in many circumstances. However, it has become an addiction,
Technology in today's world affect everyone about the same since we can not live without. The amount of different activities and possibilities to do on the internet using different devices is immense . Whatever you want if it is food,games, or researching something anyone can receive in a matter of seconds. Tammy Kennon who is the author of , “ 5 New Brain Disorders that Were Born Out of the Digital Age” states the negatives about the technology devices that run the world. She tells us about how our patience, attention spans, and memory are all affected due to that fact that we are obsessed with electronics. In today’s world everyone relies on web searches like google to answer a question or do something for them. When a research was conducted by researchers they found out that”[O]ne -Third of them did not even try, reaching for google immediately” this shows how much people rely
Technology is a useful tool that allows complex things to be accomplished easily, but all great things have deficiencies. The national movement “Shut Down Your Screen Week” is fully aware that technology causes problems in a multitude of ways. I, personally, support this movement because I believe that shutting down technology for a while will cause humanity to realize how technology is possessive.
Scientists say that using email, texting, or searching the web can change how someone thinks or behaves. “The stimulation [of technology use] provokes excitement – a dopamine squirt – that researchers say can be addictive. In its absence, people feel bored,” says Matt Richtel of the New York Times. Addiction to technology may not compare to the addiction of certain drugs, but being a student who is addicted to something that creates different social interactions, and doesn’t allow deep thought, could be very bad. “In 2008, people consumed three times as much [technology] each day as they did in 1960,” Matt says. This rate has already increased, and a break from it wouldn’t be a bad thing. Researchers worry that constant digital stimulation like this creates attention problems for children with brains that are still developing, who already struggle to set priorities and resist impulses,” Matt says. Students in high school, or even in college, have brains that are still developing. A week off from the technology would allow these students to develop skills, with their growing brains, that could be used instead of electronics.
What is technology to you? For some people, it's a lifeline they can't go without it. If you were a gamer, how would you feel about not being able to play for a whole week? What about music junkies? Not being able to match a song to each of your feelings for a whole 168 hours. Possibilities are endless but participating in “Shut Down Your Screen Week” is not one of them. For instance, being plugged into social media allows you to look over and receive news, and look at the diversity of the world. Also, the internet contains so many astonishing materials. Although, screens provide us with many convenient things it is also addicting.
People have found it hard to function without their technology. Parents have been known to go hours without feeding their children, or feeding themselves sometimes causing the child to die from being malnourished, or the parent to fall ill due to the lack of nutrients (Maney 1999). In 2013, Mark Knapp and wife, Elizabeth Pester were charged after their three year old child was rushed to the emergency room, weighing only thirteen pounds; the couple was then arrested from their Tulsa home after they left their child in the hospital to return to their video game (Kemp 2013). Research shows that too much time spent with a tablet or cell phone and the radiation that it emits has led to minimal cases of cancer as well (Nordenberg 2000). Teenagers on average check their phones thirty-seven times an hour (Ritchel 2010). Teens report feeling anxious or sick to their stomach when their phone battery dies, saying they “need to have it back” (msv13 n.d). America has fallen in love with gadgets that will consume the ability to function in the “real world” (Della Cava 2011). Not being able to perform daily activities without your phone or tablet should be considered an addiction, it needs to be cured. Actions to prevent a technology dependent society include company management having “no-tech meetings” to insure that decisions are not being made without communication in the group, as well as schools having a “no cell phone policy”
People spend an average of 12 hours per day on technology. Researchers say that it is not healthy to be on that much technology everyday. People may say that we shouldn't have shut down your screens, week because we could hunt down information by Google looks at 45,000 pages for us. While this is true We are still very lazy and technology is the cause. If we spend 12 hours on technology
Did you know that a child can be directly affected by looking at screens for any more than a half an hour per day and adults should not have any more than 5 hours per day, at most? There are so many people that have been overusing their devices. The research shows that devices and social media are causing mental health issues because it damages the brain, people overuse them, and multiple studies have proven it to be true.
Every day, technology reduces one’s mental health. The over usage of technology is also being affected on school work. According to the text “ Similarly, another recent study on media consumption, published by the Kaiser Foundation, tracked teenagers’ technology use from 1999-2010 and concluded that 47% of heavy media users reported getting lower grades compared to only 23% of light users.” (Source 1). The study shows a direct cause and effect from using technology, According to the text
Technology can be a great help to society; however, it is causing more harm than good. It is triggering children and young adults to not focus on their surroundings. Children spend a lot of time in their homes playing video games rather than going outside enjoying the world. They are so involved with video games, that they don’t even know basic life skills. Children rely on their video games to teach them about life. Teenagers are greatly involved with their phones and don’t even know how to have a basic conversation. Technology can be a dangerous thing because many teens can not put their phones down, even when they are driving. People rely on technology so much, that they can not function without it. A possible
If someone were to tell you that every time you sat in front of your computer or scrolled through Instagram you were rewiring your brain you would probably back away from the screen. The alarming part is that this is reality. An eye opening University of Calgary study demonstrates that technology is an integral component to human identity yet, the amount of obscure negative reverberations that comes with its use may not be worth the empty satisfaction that it brings. This review shines a light on the addictive qualities of technology and the harmful physical, mental and psychological aftermath covered in the study.
With that being said the constant availability of technology puts a sense of security or safety into it, making the negative effects caused by over use murky from one’s awareness. Susan Greenfield argues that our brains are “under threat” from an “ever-expanding world of new technology”, which in turn is causing “shorter attention spans, personal communication skills are reduced and the ability to think abstractly is reduced” (297). This relationship of the human brain and technology stated by Greenfield is one of the concerns many, including myself, have. Mainly because I have become mindful as to how it has affected me. When social media was brought into the limelight, my first reaction was to get involved and “be in the loop”. As time progressed so did my senses of how this was damaging my ability to focus on things I needed to do and rather follow the temptations of the society around me. I now am apprehensive when a situation is pertaining to these social media’s, but many are still oblivious of the influence technology like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat have on one’s
From work to education, entertainment, and even communication, a key component in modern society is technology. Technology has engulfed a majority of our day to day lives, resulting in a continuous debate on technology addiction. While technology provides great benefits,
Due to the growth and expansion of technology, on a daily basis now you can see less human interaction compared to when we barely had any type of technology. A great example of this we you go out to eat now, you usually see families and couples that are the tables on their phones. When they can be talking communicating with each other and some even just text each other being at the same table even though can say whatever they have to say right there. There was a study done “in 2012, in fact, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the brain chemicals of people who habitually used the Internet (and were perhaps addicted to it) had abnormal connections between the nerve fibers in their brain” (CNBC News). We are becoming very addicted to technology because now we can not live without them. It has caused us, not to use our brain to think but allowing someone or a device to do
Almost everywhere people look they are able to see some form of technology. Only “ 13% of U.S. adults do not use the internet,” according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of survey data (Anderson & Perrin, 2016). With so many people using this is not surprising that technology is beginning to affect different age groups. Technology overuse causes developmental setbacks in children, self image issues in teens, and health concerns within adults.