Technology furthers disconnection

Keaton+Moore

Keaton Moore

Keaton Moore, Business Manager

I would bet right now that if I asked 100 teenagers how many instagram or twitter followers they have at least 90 percent of them would be able to tell me, along with how many people they follow back. This is something that in today’s world is all too common, but it’s what we have always known. Technology is this great thing to the two younger generations, the millennials and generation z, and it’s something that we have always known and been able to fall back on. It was created to connect us, but in all reality technology disconnects us and makes us feel alone.

I was sitting in my AP Psychology class taught by Daniel Jones on the first day back from winter break when he announced he would be showing us a video. This video he showed us really sparked something in my head, and yes there was some psychology involved, but it could be played to anyone in this high school and serve a purpose.

The video he showed us was about a guy named Simon Sinek who talked for about 15 minutes on the idea of millennials and what they are turning into, due to technology being in their lives. The overarching point he made was that millennials are becoming more and more unattached from the world. I am going to touch on the brief point he made in regards to technology making us alone, and in fact doing the opposite of its initial purpose. In fact in this video Sinek said, “too many kids don’t know how to form deep, meaningful relationships.” In a sense, technology is taking away our ability to be human anytime we’re not in touch with it. Another interesting point Sinek brought up was a problem that stems from this attachment we have with technology when he said, “If you’re sitting at dinner with your friends and you’re texting someone who’s not there, that’s a problem!” This just goes to show that even when people are in the most casual of all settings we still revert to being in touch with technology.

About a week after listening to this video and a brief lecture in Jones’ class I found myself sitting in on a theatre arts class here at the school during my senior unassigned study hall. I was in the back of the class not paying much attention, ironically enough because I was on my phone, when the teacher, Barb Whitlock, began to explain the challenges of an acting game being played. She explained that the reason our generation has so much trouble talking to others (in the game) is because of the technology in our lives. I found this very interesting because she has seen this game become more and more challenging for students as technology has increased in popularity. She even went as far to say, “Now it’s to a point where phones are used as pacifiers.” Obviously, don’t put a phone in a baby’s mouth when they’re crying, but often times someone can solve a problem with a whiny baby by giving them their phone to play a game. It’s what this generation knows as comfort.

Don’t get me wrong, technology has plenty of good uses, too. In an articlein www.popularmechanics.com, many technological advances in the past 50 years are given tribute to things such as cordless tools, the computer, the cellphone and digital music. All of these things are perfectly okay, and highly recommended to use in one way or another, but it’s all about finding the right balance. If a millennial or someone of generation z is reading this, don’t get your feelings hurt over it because we’re not the only ones who have this problem, it’s just the biggest issue with us right now. Ferris Bueller said it best, “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”