The Effects of Technology on Relationships

The age of technology has arrived and the world is so absorbed by the hypnotizing
features that come with this new era. Technology of our time has come to be an everyday
necessity in peoples lives, so much so that it is ruining our social relationships with our family,
friends, and co-workers. If people use technology too often, they will gradually begin to deprive
themselves of the need for social interaction. some technological advances cause people to be
distracted, overly stressed, and increasingly isolated. Many people are involved in an abundant
number of relationships through technology, but sometimes the quantity of these associations
leaves people feeling qualitatively empty. Often people will make the excuse that they have
many friends online or that theyre very social online, but online doesnt improve basic skills
everyone needs to thrive in this world. Not only has technology affected the adults, but now it
has begun to affect the minds of children everywhere.
Children nowadays have become so dependant on technology that it can be classified
as an addiction. They begin to use tech at a very young age and it causes them to lose the
social skills that they need to flourish properly in the real world. For example, if they are allowed
to use tech at such a young age, they begin to lose interest in going outside and experiencing
new things, or they stop creating social relationships with other children. This causes them to be
ignorant towards real world situations. More than one-fifth of all children between ages 8 and
18 report having a computer in their bedroom,suggesting that the computer often may be used
in solitude, robbing children of time for other social activities and interfering with the
development and maintenance of friendships.Research suggests that playing violent
computer games can increase children's aggressive behavior in other situations. Now not only
is it ruining their social lives, but it is also affecting the way they act in general.
Parents more often than not get latched on to new advances in technology in present
times, so much so that they forget to give attention to their children. With the new technology,
they are allowed to bring their work home with them and thats good, sometimes. Most of the
time this causes parents to deprive their children of one on one time with them. They get so
caught up with working from the home computer or cellphone that they dont realize theyre
making their children feel unimportant. In August, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla) told
The Huffington Post that on her daughter's 10th birthday, the grade-schooler asked that Mom
put away the iPad and smartphones for 24 hours. It made me realize how often I'm not present,
even when I'm present, if unplugging completely was something she wanted from me for her
birthday, Children notice all the things their parents do and they more often than not, follow
their example.
When parents pay more attention to their work emails or social media accounts, their
children tend to lash out in order to gain some attention. A child has to be given more attention
than the technology we own. When a child sees that their parents are stuck focusing all their
attention on their technology, they dont feel noticed and they do anything to gain their parents
attention. Children become more aggressive towards others simply because they hope to gain
the attention from their parents or any adult. kids acting out with bad behavior having to

compete with a device for attention. Kids are saying pay attention to me so I think what we
need to do is engage in positive behavior with our kids, turn off the cell phones, and interact with
your kids. Kids need attention from their parents, especially at a young age when they are
learning from the things they see around them. Technology is making many families struggle to
understand one another, although some people may say it brings them closer together.
There are instances where using technology has a positive outcome, such as it being
used to track down relatives who live a great distance from themselves. Another way it could be
positively influencing would be the fact that it allows people to bring their work home and finish
them with ease. New technology has even allowed us to keep track of data and information
more easily, although more often than not this is used negatively. All these examples of the
positive effects of technology are great, however when too much time is spent on the personal
technology, the negative effects begin to appear. Very often the technology we own today is
negatively and overused; this can be seen when parents remain too hypnotized by their
computer screen to notice their kids begging for their attention. Nonetheless, there is still a
chance for change, by making the decision to limit ones use of technology around the house.
A change can be made in every family in order to create a more united household and to
show each other the love they deserve. Some actions we can take to limit ourselves is to set a
time at home when all technology needs to be powered off, or when eating dinner with the
family, no one should be allowed to have their phone out. Another way to limit themselves could
be to have set times when the family has to stop using their personal technology and just spend
time together doing other activities such as watching movies or playing board games together. If
the family feels like eating out, they can all go together and make a game out of not using tech,
such as making everyone put their phones in the middle of the table and who ever grabs it first
to check whatever, they have to do something as a punishment or pay for the food. The
possibilities for what to do together as a family are endless, but everyone has to be willing to
participate. This plan can very well work if the whole family really wanted to make it happen.
If the family decides to adopt this plan of action, they can expect a more bonded and
happy family. Spending time together is always a good thing with family, and if it can help
parents stop being addicted to their technology, that is a plus. This plan can very well bring the
family together and make them see what they miss when they are stuck staring at a screen or
that even spending time with the family can be a lot more fun that alway being on technology. It
can also help children gain the proper basic skills they need to thrive in their social groups or
even school. Taking this plan into action will have a positive outcome for families all around the
world, because with less time spent being on technology, there is more time to spend being
social with friends, family, co-workers.
Technology has come into the world and it has been a positive influence on the great
minds of our time and has led to greater discoveries. However, the use of technology in the
household has proven to have negative impacts on the lives of not only the children but of the
parents as well. This issue must be taken care of immediately because technology having
deprived children of proper attention from their parents can cause them to make bad decisions

in their lives. The effects of that can be them leading a life of delinquency and never having
known the proper way of making it in this life. To prevent this, we must all learn to limit our use
of technology within the household or in general. By following the steps listed and tweaking our
everyday routine in a very slight manner, can very well be the best change ever made. With the
children spending more time with their parents, they will learn to thrive in the world and possibly
aspire to be the next Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking in their quest to change the world.

Annotated Bibliography
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