It’s rare to see someone without some form of technology in their hand or within reach of them in our society today. Even babies and small children have a form of technology in their hands. Today’s society depends on technology.

People have become extremely dependent because it has come to the point that they can’t leave their house without their phones, Ipad, tablets, etc. It has even become an outlet to hush their children. If a child is crying, whoever is taking care of them, will gladly put a tablet with a game on it front of them or sit them down in front of a tv.

When I was younger, I’d go out outside and play with my siblings or with a skip-it. It was very often that I’d be seen skipping over a pink and purple ball that was attached to a cord with a hoop on the end that would be around my ankle. I also had an Nintendo 64 but I didn’t play it much. My parents never put a form of technology in my or my siblings’ face in order to hush us. If we told them we were bored and we were crying about it, they’d say “Hi bored. I’m Mom/Dad,” or “If you’re so bored then go play outside.” It was never “Hey kids, here’s a game. Now shut up.”

There have been multiple occasions when I have gone to the store and have seen children who are much younger than me on cell phones and it amazes me because I didn’t get a  until this year [my senior year] and only because of a family situation that had happened where it became essential for me to have a cellphone. I didn’t get a cellphone just play games, text friends and upload pictures to Facebook but that’s what seems to happening in today’s society. People get technology just to have it. There is no need to have a tablet full of games or an Ipad that isn’t even used for a legitimate reason such as for work or school.

In schools students are also dependent on technology to the point that we can barely make it 45 minutes without it. In a class, there is bound to be at least three or four people on their phone. Then after a class, they are on their phone in the hall as they transfer to their next class.

I’m not going to lie, sometimes I check my phone in the hall but rarely do I check it in a class. I don’t find it necessary. I’d be perfectly fine if I didn’t have a cellphone because it’s not everything to me like it is to some.

Along with barely making it 45 minutes without checking social media, text messages and if there are cats in their yard in the game Neko Atsume, most use their phone for books that are being asked to be read for class. If we can just download a book to our phone, then what’s the point of an actual book? Reading a book on a small screen like your phone can be distracting. Things like Twitter, Instragram, Tumblr, etc., can pull you away from the book. I personally prefer physically flipping the pages of a book than having to scroll to the next page. It makes me wonder if one day libraries are going to be shut down for a virtual library.

Since today’s society is so obsessed with technology, parents use taking it away as a punishment and it has resulted in the child having a complete meltdown and in some cases, killing the parents over it. For instance, taking away an Xbox.  

Today’s society needs to put down the phone, tablet, ipad, etc. and pick up a real book or hand over a ball or a toy. One day, our only way of socializing will probably be through technology and Google will be our only form of intelligence. To be in a world like that, sounds terrifying and as if everyone will be robots. No one should say society isn’t dependent on technology because if they look around, they’ll see it for themselves and they might even be dependent on technology themselves.