Ramirez 1

Daniel Ramirez

April 09, 2017

Composition 1

Mrs. Scaife

@ddiction 2 Technology

Do you remember when you were 8 months old? Probably not. But you can pretty much

imagine how you were. A baby that cries in order for you to get the things you want and tries to

use your little legs in order for you to take your first step and playing on your iPad pro. Yes, you

read that correctly. Well, this may not be how you imagined but nowadays there are many kids

growing up that have things of this nature. By the way, the baby I was describing was my niece,

Gaby. Her grandparents gave her an iPad that young and now if she doesnt have it she throws

the biggest tantrum you can imagine. But, is she the only that does this? True, she only is a baby,

but has your parent ever taken your technology away? Did YOU throw a tantrum? My niece,

Gaby, now is 3 years old and does not communicate well with others. I see a correlation with

people that are constantly throughout the day on their phones or other devices. Being addicted to

technology, although have some benefits, is very costly! People that are addicted have poorer

social skills, dont have a self-identity without it, horrible sleeping habits, and dont perform as

well academically (due to lack of focus/concentration). Thus, we must understand that the cons

outweigh the pros of constant technology use.

Technology has changed the way we socialize with othersnegatively. M.I.T. professor

of Science, Technology, and Society, Sherry Turkle, wrote a piece in the New York Times thats

called Stop Googling. Lets Talk. In this piece she discusses how young adults, college students
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in particular, interact in face-to-face conversations. A surprising number that was mentioned said

that a 2015 study done by Pew Research Center showed that 89 percent of cellphone owners

said that they had used their phones during their last social gathering. (Turkle Stop Googling)

This is probably due to the fact that many today, including myself, have the ability to text

without even having to look down at their phones. This is also attributed to the fact that growing

up in the 2000s has put an importance to writing using QWERTY keyboards, which is the same

format iPhone uses. In fact, statistics show that in 2012 one-third of every high school student, in

the United States alone, have an iPhone! (Smith) Turkle goes on to explain how when two people

are having a conversation that the mere presence of a phone on a table between them or in the

periphery of their vision causes a change in the topics of conversation. Personally when I see

one of my friends use their phones I also change topics because I feel like whats the point of

having a serious conversation that is a touchy subject, just to have to repeat it when they say

Sorry, I did not catch that. Could you repeat it? So I thus change it to things that have no true

importance such as small talk.

Henri Tajfel, a well renowned psychologist, in 1979, proposed social identity theory.

Social identity is a persons sense of who they are based on their group membership(s)

(McLeod).Thus, self-identity is how one views themselves based on the group they pertain to.

We are living in a time where technology is more advanced than any other time in human history.

The group that makes up a huge portion of social media users and people who text are called

Millennials. Millennials are people that are becoming young adults in the 2000s. Based on

millennials being a group they identify with, a lot of them feel the need to keep up with the

others. Based on personal experiences, I have learned that its viewed negatively upon if you do

not have at least one form of social media, such as: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.
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Instead of Keeping up with the Joneses, we are trying to keep up with the fast paced world of

sharing every thought or idea that comes to our heads in order for us to feel as if we belong to the

in-group.

Technology has impacted our health and our sleeping habits. Have you ever used your

phone at night time? Do you remember how sleepy you were? Do you remember looking at the

bright screen? If you were on it for long, are you even sleepy anymore? Probably not. There is a

good reason for that. The brightness ones cellphones screen affects the chemical in your brain

known as melatonin. Melatonin affects your sleep cycle. During late hours of the day, melatonin

is produced due to the dark environment. Thus, looking at bright things, such as a cellphone,

limits the amount of melatonin produced and thus makes it harder for one to fall asleep

(Grandner, Ph. D.). Studies show that sleep is very important for daily functions. Lack of sleep,

for long periods of time, can cause loss of mental functions such as, memory, concentration,

critical thinking, problem solving, etc. Lack of sleep also affects your awareness, speech, heart

rate, and other physical functions that are essential for life. Deprivation of sleep can cause

chemical imbalances in ones brain that can lead to a depressed state and eventually even

becoming suicidal (McCall). According to a study, 92 percent of U.S. teens have a smartphone.

(Richter).This outstanding number demonstrates how numerous and abundant technology has

become over the years. More availability of internet use, therefore, correlates with more sleep

deprivation among teens.

It seems that academic performance has suffered due to the addiction of technology.

Some could argue that technology has helped academic performance due to grades increasing.

However, one must take into consideration national exams and not just homework as a way to

tell if it really is increasing academic performance. The ability to quickly find answers online for
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homework assignments is well known. Nowadays people use the word Google as a verb. If

one doesnt know the answer to a question, someone may ask the person to google it.

Personally, I believe that the easy access to information readily available is a great tool. I myself

use Google very often. However, it is important to not rely on a website for a quick answer.

During a national exam, such as the ACT, one will not have the availability to pull a phone out

and look up the answers. Thus, scores will fall based on reliance of quick answers found online.

As mentioned earlier, sleep deprivation because of cellphone usage is also a large contributor to

why academic performances suffer.

Technology has affected our daily lives in many ways. Technology helps the world

socialize with one another around the world in an instant. But, is it really connecting if one is just

looking at a screen and not paying attention to the people right in front of them? Although

technology has benefits, the cons of technology such as, lack of social skills, poor sleeping

habits, poorer academic performances, loss of focus/concentration, etc. have outweighed them.

At this rate, how will socializing be in the next generation? Technology will only continue to

advance and become even more a part of everyday life. Will it control you?

Works Cited

Grandner MA; Gallagher RAL; Gooneratne NS. The use of technology at night: impact on

sleep and health. J Clin Sleep Med

2013. Web. 19 April, 2017.

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McCall, Vaughn. The Correlation Between Sleep Disturbance and Suicide

psychiatrictimes.com. Psychiatric Times,

2015. Web. 19 April, 2017.

McLeod, Saul. A. (2008). Social Identity Theory.

Web. 19 April, 2017.

Richter, Ruthann. Among teens, sleep deprivation an epidemic med.stanford.edu. Stanford

Medicine,

2017. Web. 19 April, 2017.

Smith, Jake. One-Third Of High School Students In The U.S. Have An iPhone cultofmac.com.

Cult of Mac,

2012. Web. 19 April, 2017.

Turkle, Sherry. Connected, but Alone? TED.com Ted Talk,

2012. Web video. 19 April, 2017.

Turkle, Sherry. Stop Googling. Lets Talk. nytimes.com. The New York Times Company.,

2017. Web. 19 April, 2017.