2010
Forum
5
Technology adversely affects personal relationships
E mily R eed
Although technology
can bring us closer to
friends and fam ily around
the world, provide an
easy and efficient way to
research and be a source
of entertainm ent, it is also
a plague on humanity.
Instead of hanging out
with friends, or simply
calling them, we text or
instant m essage. Personal
relationships have been
reduced to im personal
typed com m unications
that could be sent from a
stranger.
Technology was
invented to make life
easier. How could anyone
have known that it
would rob us of healthy
relationships? It has
becom e nearly im possible
to keep anything private,
unless said verbally (and
even then, things get
out). Texting has become
the only method of
com m unication for many
people. Calling requires
too much time or effort,
and only a few years after
im plem entation, em ailing
is alm ost obsolete. People
w ithout cell phones are
essentially cut off from
social circles. Cell phones
and m obile devices are
ubiquitous.
T e e n a g e rs a re o fte n
too "pressed for tim e" and
don't even call anymore.
"I think that it depends on
the urgency. If you need
to get hold of someone
right then, calling is more
efficient, but if there is
no urgency then texting
is better," Em ily Borne,
freshm an, said.
According to a USA
Today survey, on average,
teenagers in the United
States send out 440 text
Photo by Libby Kara
Vesla Lee, Mark Ehman and Marissa Ness, seniors, text during break. Students admitted that texting has become more common in their
daily lives than calling leading to some loss of personal connection.
messages a week, and 110
of them every day. It is
predicted by a Cleveland
U niversity School District
after being cyberbullied
by a woman who was
m asquerading as a
teenage boy.
P la n th a t b y th e y e a r 2 0 1 2 ,
P e rs o n a l re la tio n s h ip s
all m iddle and high school
students will learn in a
wireless environm ent on
laptops.
People often do cruel
or thoughtless things
that norm ally they would
never think of doing
in person, for instance,
cyber-bullying. In the
last few years cyber-
bullying has been on
the rise, w ith cases such
as that of M egan Meier.
M eier com m itted suicide
that were once im portant
enough for people to
talk face-to-face or to
spend hours talking on
the phone at night, have
been dim inished by the
more im personal forms of
com m unication. It used to
be, if you were thinking of
som eone, you called them
and talked with them,
having a conversation
that included give and
take. I w ill admit,
I am among the
What do you think about the
idea of having a gender neutral
bathroom?
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teenagers that text more
often than call, but I still
rem inisce about the good
old days when calling
was the only way to be
in touch with friends and
family.
These problems are
easily fixed. When using
netw orking devices
for social purposes, we
should use discretion
and think about what we
are posting or sending.
Judgem ent is a key part
of being allowed to
use such devices, and
without em ploying proper
judgem ent, this privilege
should be revoked.
Another way
to approach using
technology is the
thoughtful way Amish
societies look carefully at
how they will use it before
introducing it into their
lives. We could learn from
this—before we damage
our ability to
have real
personal
relation­
ships.
STUDENTS
speak ou t
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"I think that it would be
okay but there could be
problems with having
more than one person go
in at a time.”
—Kaelyrv
Rushforth, freshman
"I think it is pretty cool
as long as it’s made for
one person at a time it’s
fine, and also if the seats
are clean.”
—Morgan Winnick,
sophomore
”1 don’t think it's that big
of a deal.”
—Kris Kolitz, junior
’’I think that some scan­
dalous things could end
up happening in them.”
—Marissa
Provensen, senior