Our Addiction to Technology

How many people have answered their phone while watching a movie at the theater, while eating out at a restaurant, or even during dinner with their family at home?  It surpasses bad phone etiquette when it begins to affect our precious time with others.  I know a married couple who actually define quality time as sitting in front of the TV while networking on their laptops.  As suggested by commercials, some parents might tell you that playing “Wii Sports” as a family is a great way to connect.  Is this what quality time has been reduced to?  While technology has allowed us to connect with others across the globe, has it begun to inhibit our time with those who are right in front of us?

How dangerous could our addiction to technology really be?  Well, we seem to be spending ridiculous amounts of money on it, obsessive amounts of time, and it might be affecting our health.  Just how unhealthy is it?  According to a recent report on CNN, the World Health Organization now considers cell phone use in the same high-risk category as lead and engine exhaust.  Some have even compared it to the health risks involved with smoking or exposure to asbestos.  Could excessive cell phone use even cause brain cancer?  This may be difficult to determine after a relatively short period of cell phone use.  However, according to CNN, an international study on cell phone use released in 2010 suggested that participants that used a cell phone for 10 years or more doubled their risk of developing a brain tumor.  If it can be that dangerous for adults, how dangerous is it for kids?     

As adults some of us still seem to recognize boundaries between technology and our real lives. Maybe it’s because many of us remember what it was like before the Internet and cell phones and we understand the importance of quality time.  Those who don’t remember the difference are kids.  As a teacher, I’ve seen students in elementary school classrooms own and frequently use cell phones-even as young as 9 years old!  When asked, many kids don’t see the point in sitting down to read a book when they could just go online or watch TV.  Recently I asked a few 6th graders what they were going to do over the weekend.   Many of them said they would just watch TV or play video games.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that kids would rather play video games than play outside with their friends.  This was alarming to me.  Are kids in the techno-generation doomed to live with an addiction to technology?  Did we unknowingly pass on our addiction to our kids?  If so, can we stop it or is it too late?  

So how do we get our addiction to technology under control?  Is there a 12-step program?  Should we implement restrictions on cell phone or computer use?  Maybe just admitting we have a problem is our first step to recovery.