Is Technology Killing Our Friendship, By Lauren Tarshis

There’s no denying that technology has grown to play a major role in education and learning. Students are using laptops, tablets, and smartphones to research, complete, and even collaborate on assignments, both in and outside of the classroom. Timothy D. Snyder and Thomas L. Friedman both have written articles expressing their opposing opinions on technology in the classroom. Timothy Snyder is a Professor of History at Yale University who has written five different award-winning books. In his article, “Why Laptops Are Distracting America’s Future Workforce”, Snyder explains to students and teachers why he is against technology in the classroom. Thomas Friedman is a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, author of six award-winning

“How young is too young for cellphones in school?” by Donna St. George says there was “near-silence at lunch when [a] middle school allowed phones for a week.” These middle-schoolers were so absorbed in their phones they did not have a normal conversation. If teens are so obsessed with their social media life that they cannot function normally when given a phone, they will not make conversation and will have weaker relationships. Teens are literally withdrawing themselves from normal social life to become “social” online. As stated in “Is Technology Killing our Friendships” by Lauren Tarshis, “1 in 4 teens are online almost constantly.” This “1 in 4” could be doing things in real life, rather than staying online nearly endlessly. Therefore, youth is more into their social media than actual

In the narrative The Flight from Conversation by Sherry Turkle, she says in this age of mobile devices and Facebook people have sacrificed conversation with connection. People are always on their phones and struggle to maintain eye contact when their texting in classrooms and even in dates when you are supposed to connect to someone physically and emotionally and instead people act like robots and text even on dates and probably other social occasions. All this meant to show how people have become less social due to their phones always sending texts or emails and shopping online when they should be focused on where they are who they’re speaking to and what time it is. And this is a reasonable conclusion in our modern society people, especially teenage girls; seem to be on their phones texting almost 24/7.

One of the many negative points in this article is that there has been a decline in teenagers’ social abilities in the recent generations. In the article it says, “The number of teens who get together with their friends nearly every day dropped by more than forty percent from 2000 to 2015 and the decline has continued to become steeper” (Twenge). After reading this article I realized the difference in the amount of times I hung out with my friends in high school than I did in middle school. Middle school was around the time I got my first smartphone and not many people had one, so I wasn’t constantly on it and neither was anyone else. We also couldn’t even bring our phones to school if we had them; this forced us to communicate in class and during passing period, instead of having our faces glued to our phones. Since we were always talking face to face, it was easy to have many

Being tethered to a phone, as opposed to simply having and using one, has become the norm and does more harm than good at times. People, especially teenagers, cannot seem to put the phones down. Some even admit to being addicted to their smart phones and experience anxiety when they are without it. According to Ellen Gibson, author of “Sleep with Your iPhone? You're Not Alone”, more than thirty-five percent of adults in the U.S. have a smart phone; two thirds of those people actually sleep with their phone due to the anxiety they feel from the thought of missing something such as a text, phone call, email, or social media posting. Gibson states “…being away from their phone will almost certainly cause separation anxiety… some people have become so dependent on being able to use their smartphones to go online anytime, anywhere, that without that access, they ‘can no longer handle their daily routine’”. To some, being addicted to a phone is like being addicted to a drug; there is a strong dependency that makes it hard to focus or concentrate on anything else. After speaking with a group of students from Cranston High School in Connecticut, Turkle says “These young people live in a state of waiting for connection. And they are willing to take risks, to put themselves on the line. Several admit that tethered to their phones, they get into accidents when walking” (236). This is an issue that will

Cell phones and the computers are similar to each other in many different ways. One of the most common similarities is the internet aspect. With everyone connected to the internet, the adverse effects can spread throughout like a virus. “A Nielsen study released in 2010 indicated that texting was the primary reason for purchasing mobile phones and that text communication had become a "’centerpiece of mobile teen behavior.’" The modern smartphone of the 2010s is a powerful computing device, and the rapid and ongoing development of new applications provides users with a growing number of ways to use mobile phones for recreation, productivity, and social communication” (Issitt 2016). In the following Issitt states, “however, as smartphones have become more common, concerns about the detrimental effects of smartphone use have also increased.” (Issitt 2016). Issitt expresses the large growth of people with smartphones has its positives and negatives. The positives being the ability to communicate, but the negative being the effects on relationships with one another. An example of the negative side of things is the lack of interaction with people. People are more likely to call or text instead of interacting with one another. The lack of interaction can ruin relationships, or make people feel unwanted. In the article “Eurasian Journal of Educational Research,” the writer states that the internet, “can transform into an addictive instrument in excessive usage situations.” (Gunduz 2017). The statement explains the issue of the unnecessary use of the internet as a growing addictive process that is taking over more and more

Many of our students have smartphones, laptops, and tablets they use throughout the school day for school work. While some students depend on their devices to look up the current fashion trends and football stats, we feel that technology has also enabled students to think in a different way. Many students are quick on their feet to Google information to prove their friend wrong, send texts and emails in less than 10 seconds, and get excited when they are allowed to use their

In one study researchers found that ninety four percent of teens who have a smart phone use it daily. This means that we are not communicating and connecting like we should. An example of this is found in the article. In the article “Is Technology Killing Our Friendships?” author Lauren Tarshis debates whether or not technology is killing our friendships.

Teens, and even adults develop a bad habit of being on technology 24/7, in which is hard to break, the article Health Experts Concerned Tech Habits May Threaten Speech, Language & Hearing as Communication ‘Time Bomb’ Looms by PR Newswire mentions this, saying, “New polling from ASHA finds that informing parents and teens of the potential risks that overuse of personal technology devices poses to speech and language development as well as to hearing health prompts an overwhelming unwillingness to change usage habits.” Our society has been so attached to technology that we can’t give it up, no matter what damage it causes. In fact, it is shown that technology has had a negative effect on relationships, the article Mobile Devices Are Detrimental to Personal Relationships states “While some analysts have argued that cell phones open up new possibilities of communication, fostering instant text messaging and social media connections that expand an individual’s personal relationships, some psychologists and sociologists have suggested that this type of communication and connectivity is both less meaningful and less developmentally beneficial than face-to-face and traditional communication.” People in relationships have relied too heavily on technology and consequently has torn their relationships apart. In addition, overuse of technology can affect your communication skills as well as speech. To demonstrate, in the article Overexposure to Media and Technology Deprives Children of Healthy Outdoor Recreation by Castaldy, Daniel, Collins, and Linda Rice, states, “Social interaction for adolescents is now largely achieved via text messages, Facebook posts, and tweets, while interpersonal interaction that typically accompanies outdoor recreation is on a decline… As a result, they don’t fully develop the interpersonal communication skills they need to interact successfully in

The use of technology has severed our ties with people we cherish. This is because we only concentrate on our devices and social media rather than our family and friends. In the article “Social Media as Community”, studies have shown that Americans today have fewer close relationships today, than they did twenty years ago. This shows that technology can make us distant from those we have a relationships with, such as our relatives and friends. Many people focus on what is happening on the internet without them noticing what is happening with the people close to them. If our school participates in “Shut Down Your Screen Week”, then students could have a

“There was a clear trend for those who used these technologies to receive for social support”, “Social Media As Community, Keith Hampton”. There are some students out there that don’t like to express their feelings face to face, so sometimes it is easier for them to do it over text. If we didn’t have access to technology then students wouldn’t be able to express their feelings the way they like, so the students may be moody and not want to do fun things. Hampton also states in “Social Media As Community” “The data backs it up. There is little evidence that social media is responsible for a tend of isolation, or a loss of intimacy and social support”. The internet isn’t the only thing that can isolate or make students have loss of social support, other things

This idea that the physical action of such seemingly meaningless tasks makes me want to leave my phone aside for the few hours I spend at school, learning and enriching my mind. These articles have clarified for me that the negative outcomes of technology in learning prevent my mind from absorbing knowledge. My academic work, whether it be in high school or college, will constantly deteriote if I let technology overpower my ability to think and learn. It is not even the fact that the use of technology will probably lower my grades, but the possibility of not growing or learning makes me realize that the consequences of technology use in the classrom are some that I will avoid and prevent by allowing myself to use my senses and knowledge to gain new ideas and experiences. Such implicaitons are ones that I wish to not face and will do so by simply setting my phone aside to learn, and by letting go of the temptation that technology can be, in such a modern, tech-savy

My Dad always tells me about how he met so many people in his life and how many of them impacted him even though he only met them once. After saying that he always asks me the same question followed by the same statement. “Nick could you imagine if all those people had their faces locked into their phones? I probably wouldn’t have met most of them”. He shakes his head and laughs because he believes the generation that I’m growing up in is lacking interaction with people. He sees us meeting people through social media and blames our phones for us being too insecure to go up to people and introduce ourselves. His proof is in The Breakfast Club. “Imagine if those kids in detention had phones. None of them would have said one word and none of them would have gotten to know each other. Instead they would have sat there and played games on their phones.” I think he has good reasoning for this, for the days without cell phones were completely different then now where they are so replete that everyone has one.

The urge to be connected has become more of an addiction than a form of convenient communication; due to the amount of time people spend on technology. This causes a severe disconnection with others around them. People spend more time looking at the “perfect” lives of other celebrities, that they forget to enjoy what is around them. If people spend more time looking up from their screens, they could make more friendships or companionships with other people. Imagine all the possible conversations you missed because you were too busy talking to people through a screen, instead of those around you. People often use their means of technology as a way to distract them or avoid talking to others. Perhaps this is due to the social disconnect they have with others around them. If people spend less time on technology, more connections with people would form. You would have more time to do things you want to do, such as reading, exercise, or more. Instead of connecting with people through technology, we should make connections with people close to us the top priority.

Margie Warrell, the author of the article, “Text or Talk:Is Technology Making You Lonely?”, states that, “...technology makes it easier to stay in touch while keeping distance, more and more people find themselves feeling distant and never touching.”(Warrell, 1). Some people may think that others are hiding in social media so they don't have to interact with people in real life. Having no actual physical connection could cause someone to feel like they are isolated. Feeling isolated can cause many problems in school such as, trouble talking to people, trouble focusing on assignments, and trouble handling the school atmosphere. Another reason people might think technology is making you lonely is when Sherry Turkle, the author of the article, “Alone in the crowd”, explains, “people who choose to devote large portions of their time connecting online are more isolated than ever in their non-virtual lives, leading to emotional disconnection, mental fatigue, and anxiety.”(Turkle, 2). People in the world may think that the stress from school alone is enough to cause anxiety, so why would you add something into school that emphasizes that emotion. Not having a connection in real life will mentally damage you and make the real world tougher than it already is. All in all, social media has many negative effects not only on relationships, but physically and mentally as