In the society we live in we can’t think of not having technology. We need phones to communicate, and computers to study. We have integrated books online for easy access. Adults say “you’re always on your phone” but what they don’t understand is I’ve never lived without it.
Yes, there was a time in elementary where we used to go ride bikes and hang out on the tennis court every day but I still had a phone. Maybe it wasn’t technically mine, it was my sisters with my favorite games on it or my moms that I used to go on zoom calls with friends. I had ipads that used to get locked up in school or the house computer that always stayed in the living room. I had my TV where I always stayed up to watch the latest episode of Bunk’D or Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir. But my mother was a part of the generation where she had a phone that was connected to the wall and she had to memorize everyone’s numbers to call them.
Being social then meant talking face to face. Being social now meant interacting with likes and comments. We use stickers to communicate how we feel now or emojis. We doomscroll to feel more connected to what’s happening. We are a society filled with microtrends that you will only know if you’re on social media. To be without technology is to be stuck in a disadvantage, never knowing what someone’s talking about, never being in the loop.
Adults say “ you’re always on your phone” and yet isn’t an adult the reason we have one. You can’t say we’re always on our phone when you never lived in a society where we need one. I agree we don’t go out as much but have you thought that the only reason we need to have a phone is because it’s not safe without one. To keep in contact, to track, we can’t just go to the park alone anymore in middle school like my mom could.
Technology is a struggle, like everything it has good and bad. The Internet helps with communication but it also helps students cheat. We have built sites to help us on Cline ela tests. We made social media which has given us entertainment, some jobs, but also a bullying platform. We have started destroying lives and filling them with anxiety because what we say online can never be taken back. Social media has turned kids into teens showing them that they should be wearing makeup,drinking coffee,etc. But when I was that age I used to wear leopard print, play roblox and make slime.
In this society we have rules dictating when we can use our phones because it has become a problem. There were too many people not paying attention because a little screen they could fit in their pockets was vibrating and they couldn’t not look. Teachers saw too many airpods in ears, and phones behind macbooks that they now make us put them up. Yet, rules were always meant to be broken in cases, and now you can see students getting a little bit more creative. They are finding ways to have their phones, have an airpod, or apple watch.
Technology has helped keep more people safe but it’s also changed how we live. How we communicate, how we shape our worlds and this all happened in less than a century. Tech will forever evolve and the coming generation will be more and more dependent on it and maybe instead of saying “ you’re always on your phone” like it’s a bad thing. We can start teaching ourselves to take small breaks away from our phones to just be a kid again riding our bikes, going to the tennis court, and staying up watching Bunk’D.
