Is technology is changing how kids interact with eachother?

Growing up my parents did not have computers in their homes. They didn’t have home computers until I was born in 1993. Instead of having cell phones they had party lines. Compared to today, they effectively lived in the technology stone age. After hearing stories from my parent’s, aunts, and uncles I have realized that even though they love technology now they don’t always feel it is as necessary as people my age do.

 My mom who is still not proficient with a cellphone feels that my sister and I are addicted to our phones, saying that we spend more time texting friends than we do actually talking to them. My parents agreed that growing up without the technology overload that kids have today was beneficial. Their reasoning for this is that the over saturation of technology is making today’s kids lose their social skills, because they spend more time behind a mouse and keyboard than they do playing outside and developing the necessary skills to be a well-rounded individual. One example of this is internet gaming. Back in the 1960’s and 70’s my parents would spend time playing with their friends outside running around and having fun. The big deal about this is that they were in contact with their peers. Today many people enjoy internet gaming. One example of this is X-box live.  This gaming system gives you the opportunity to interact with people across the world over a television screen. This gaming system gives you the ability to talk to people who you are playing with but you don’t get the same sense of seeing them or being able to interact with them in person.  Another example of this is the i-pad. "This gives your the opprotunity to have a touch screen computer anywhere you want. This will cange the way kids grow up. They will be able to access a touchscreen anywhere they wnat." (Cuban).

            Although technology has advanced our lives greatly I feel that it sometimes becomes too much to deal with. There are times when I feel the need to get away from everyone and technology all together. One example of this is when I go skiing or when I go hunting. When I do this I leave my phone and I-pod at home and just get to go out into the world and relax and interact with new people. Skiing gives you the opportunity to meet new people while having time to yourself and not be bothered by the dregs of technology. Hunting gives you the same opportunity but the lack of technology is ramped up even more. It is the perfect way to just get way from people and technology all together.

Compared to today my patent’s childhood was slower paced and had more human interaction than kids today could even imagine. I feel that this is not necessarily a good or a bad thing. Technology is a good tool for kids to advance their studies but it needs to be controlled so they still get the same social skills that are developed by hanging out with actual friends, not just virtual ones.

Biblography

Cuban, Mark. "iPad will change how kids grow up ." msnbc.com. msnbc, 01/30/2010. Web.  31 Jan 2012.