Is technology ruining relationships?

Is technology ruining our relationships? I conducted a study only to find that more than half of the students who responded spend 4-6 hours on the laptops alone each day. A more universally relatable example would be on the 21st of November I was invited to a friends place but there was no conversation and a room filled with an awkward silence. Apparently it was more convenient to have a virtual conversation on the chat!!

I ran a study which included inputs from 20 different Grade 8 students. 50 percent of these students said that at least one of their parents is constantly on their phone or some form of technology. That’s a really staggering amount as this age of teens really need their parents attention. An anonymous student from UWCSEA also went to say that they repeatedly urge their parents to get off their phones but they don’t do so. Although it is understood that some parents have a lot of pressure from work the screen time must be limited and family time must be extended.

Did you know an eye-opening amount of 71 percent of teens use more than one kind of social media? This amount has to be reduced as smartphones are shown to facilitate shifts in teenagers communication and information landscape. These pieces of data already show how addicted we really are becoming to the virtual and made-up world.

Jabiz Raisdana, a Grade 8 English teacher also went to say that, “Social media is becoming an extra stage for our performance, people are just trying to search for validation.”

The PewResearchCentre also found out that one in three teenagers sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3000 a month. This evidence is significant as it shows that this amount has to be reduced, texting could be the cause to many of our own social issues, such as bullying and being the cause of insecurity in people due to lack of attention.

On debate.org and anonymous user has also shared their strong opinion about social media ruining relationships. “People of young age are becoming so awkward, they don't even know how to interact with flesh and bones anymore. They don't know how to say hello without looking like a complete moron. They’re becoming very disrespectful to society by showing them their scalps more than their faces. (off topic: how many times did you miss the elevator because of some kid blocking the way while being distracted in the middle of writing a tweet? Ridiculous you guys!)” What is revealed here is that our actions are now getting to a level that is expressing disrespect and contempt to other individuals. It also illustrates that the youth are losing courage to have face to face conversations and put forth their views and ideas in real world interactions.

Some ways we can stop surrounding ourselves with these anti-social people (or becoming one!!) are, find an interest which you really love... play a sport, read a book or go out and meet friends and family! Another way is to stop yourself from too much screen time is make a time limit and stick to it. For example, only using your laptop for an hour each day. Also assign yourself some reading time, tell yourself you have to read at least thirty pages of a book each day.

Although technology is contributing positively to our world we must learn to control and moderate it. After all, eating something too sweet can leave a bitter aftertaste.

By Shrishti Khetan