Effect of Technology on Household Social Interaction Essay Example

primary and fundamental unit group of society” (Sundar 176). According to their laws, a family is a group of individual who live together under the same roof or house. A family is essential to a young person. Household is the place where an individual will develop his or her communication skills, courage, confidence and how to express oneself. Traditionally, a family will sit together, eat together, or watch the televisions as a family as they await to sleep (Lin and David 86). The interaction in households happened a while ago not less than a decade.

Modern society has, however, brought a lot of complexities to the family setting. The diversity of personal relationship has made individuals emphasize the relationship between them and their friends over their families. One of the main argument as to why this is happening is the technology that one generation shares (Lanoue 96). A generation that makes use of a certain technology will be close to each other. Family members, on the other hand, are widely spread through the ages. As such, they cannot utilize the same technology which creates a barrier between a father, and a son, a daughter, and a mother, or little sibling to an older sibling. This has created an increased questioning of how the future family structures will be. The idea behind this argument is that families are spending their time less and less away from each other but closer to their electronic gadgets.

In a familial relationship, there has also been a drastic change where a social shift has occurred. Traditionally, the relationship was given through family ties and kin (Jenks 56). Currently, the connection in a

household is chosen through non-kin or kin relationships. This alteration in a familial relationship has seen the increase in the purchase of electronic gadgets. Individualism has been on the rise where family members spend less time with each other. This loosening up of family ties has given room for technological material to dominate the house.

In a family, there has been a process known as domestication. Domestication is the process where domestic technologies help in running a families’ activities from day to day (Mesquita 56). The local technologies alter the pattern and culture of the family’s interaction. The new trend can, however, be attached to the introduction of new technology to the household. The family that has access to information and communication technology is different from that which does not have such amenities. The difference can be witnessed in the family dynamics. The technologies that a family finds domestic has become an intrinsic part of the household’s life. In the modern families, the immersion of household members in technology related things is at its highest level. This is the first generation of children to live in an ICT rich environment. The technology has, however, gone to impact social interaction within a family negatives more than positives.

A household is one of the most important site for a child to observe, learn, and participate in authentic activities which develops his or her sense of cultural value. A household need to engage in a particular manner in such a way that the child can pick the essential elements of communication. Technology also plays an important role for a child in a household. With new technologies being created each day,

a child ought to learn how to use them in an acceptable manner. This includes how much time that individual should be on such technology or how dedicated that child should be in the technology. For this reason, children should be taught how to use technology for self-expression, entertainment, communication, and other work related tasks. In preparing a child to use the technology this way, the child will be disciplined. In addition, s/he will be ready for a life that technology will not alter his or her social interaction with other individuals. As such, parents should ensure they use technology correctly in front of their children to detest them from having bad habits with technology.

Research has shown that technology has resulted in “technologization of childhood” (Lin and David 132). Technologization of childhood is a term that is used to describe or view childhood as being different when compared to the past society. In the modern society, especially in the household, everything is “technology driven” to a point that it has become toxic for a child. A study carried out in the United States gives four media that have made technology, toxic in childhood (Jenks 97). The four technologies are; video console, television, computers, and smartphones (Shklovski, Sara and Robert 251). These are the three technologies that children are more likely to be exposed. The children use these technologies on a daily basis, whether it belongs to them or a family member. There are some negative impacts that the four technology presents to the child and the household social interaction.

The first negative impact on a child is a social development (Mesquita 56). This not only affects

a small child, but also teens. However, the basis of a good or bad social skills for a child starts at a younger age. When a child is exposed to a game console, that child will be spending his/her time on that machine daily. As a result, going outdoors to socialize with the rest of the children will prove to be a burden. The child will be used to his/her company, thereby killing any hope of socialization in the future (Turkle 78). Computer for teens and smartphones are the other technologies that make teens sit indoors or be on their own without having a partner to socialize. As much as these impacts the social skills of a child, it also creates a distance between the family members. The reason is attributed to lack of bonding by the household members or individuals in the same family. The linguistic, intellectual of the growing child is likely to be at risk. As such, the technology has presented a challenge where the social interaction of a child has been negatively impacted from a very young age.

The second negative impact that technology has negatively affected households is the culture of buying a young person console game and installing it in his/her bedroom. This bedroom culture is widespread in the United States. If that person does not have a game console, he or she owns a smartphone. This is a character that is seen even in individuals at the age of 26 years and still living at home (Sundar 57). The study shows that technology-rich bedroom opens room to peer activity. Members of a family will be coming with their peers

and head directly to the bedroom without any time for the household members to interact. Technology-rich bedrooms encourage social contacts outside the family instead of promoting closeness among the household members.

The Internet has also facilitated the erosion of family ties. The Internet is responsible for the individualized environment. One of the most common is the facilitation of social media (Turkle 78). Social media has caused people to be friends with anonymous people, sharing secrets, and even telling each other jokes. However, when it comes to the family this is not always the case. Most of the time, the family members keep to themselves, each one selecting his or her best social media platform. The time that family members could be socializing and sharing are used to surf the internet.

Jokes that would have been shared by the household is shared online. As such, the household has become individualized impacting social interaction within the family negatively (Jenks 165). The time that these individuals would be spending with each other is substituted with the weak ties on the internet. The Internet at home is, therefore, a negative technology, and it erodes family ties. The main problem with the internet is that it alienates the family members and consumes the much needed time for the kin in a household to interact. The social interaction within a household gets compromised, and the family falls apart.

Electronic media have been termed as being “the death of childhood” (Kraut 78). Technology can take advantage of a child’s vulnerability, destroy their innocence and undermine their individuality. A child who always has different technologies on his or her side is destined to be socially disabled.

The only thing in his life that he has been surrounded by being the technologies. One example is letting a small kid have a phone of his/her own. This should never be the situation which a child should be born into. Social interaction is built from a young age and, if the child is brought up properly, the family will be well knit compared to that family that the children have been surrounded by various technologies.

As much as technology impedes social interaction in a household, it also facilitates to some extent. Some new technologies have helped to boost the social interaction of a family. One of the ways that it has improved family interactions is by making work easier and reducing the time that one should have done that work (Mesquita 56). The time that is saved is used by the family members to engage in other non-task activities. The leisure time is increased, allowing family members to have time for themselves to bond. Leisure can be carried out by taking a trip outside the town or visiting a particular orphanage. The extra time is also used by a parent to observe the children, play with them and find a way in which they can socially interact and bond as a family.

Conversely, other technologies are a powerful form of media literacy for children and a tool which will go a long way in giving the child the essential communication skills. Social interaction among individuals in a household arises from various aspects of a relationship among the family members. A child that is lively, outgoing or creative tends to bring the family members close. The family

is more likely to share than a family that has a child who is antisocial. Some technologies encourage a child to be creative, or rather, gives them the opportunity to showcase their creativity. As such, the family members meet and do something together in light of the creation of the child. In such a case, it can be noted that the child brought the family to interact socially. Technology, in this instance, can be identified as having the power to make a family socially close, and it increases the frequency of their interaction.

Some technologies have a greater impact on social interaction within a household than others. Television is an example of technology that has played a great role in the family social interaction. The viewing of television by family members is a good example of social activity. Family members gather around and watch one of their best television shows. Some households have inculcated a tradition such as a family night where they sit around and choose what to watch. Netflix has facilitated this culture by having a variety of channels and movies to watch from. The television show that the family members are watching can as well become a topic of conversation for the household. This boosts social interaction within the home.

The internet at some point has fostered family, social interaction. Family members that are far from each other can catch up and share some stuff together. According to research, the internet plays a vital role in family interaction is that it provides the young individuals with a connection to re-establish and intensify the familial relationship. Internet supports a variety of application and sites that

can be used for communication. The Internet allows individuals to extend their relationship with an extended relative beyond their nuclear family. Most of the relatives beyond nuclear families are hard to foster a relationship. The internet has, however, helped to forge a greater understanding among the extended family members. The internet is, therefore, a form of an online relationship that helps enhance the offline relationship and social interaction among family members (Atwood and Concerto 80). Without the internet, these kinds of relationship would be hard to maintain, especially when different members of a household live far from each other.

The effect of technology on social interaction can be divided into two sections. The first is internal and the second one is external. Internal social interaction is the interaction among family members. Some technologies impede internal social interaction while other facilitate this type of interaction in the community. For example, Games that need family members to play with each other can be termed to encourage internal social interaction. This may be computer games, but not those that can be played online. Playing with family members increases the bond among the individuals in a household. This is common among brothers who share the same toys or games. They will always play with each other facilitating their relationship and build their bonds stronger.

Internal social interaction is essential for a household. All the work that needs to be done in a household depends on what kind of communication the members have. A poor social interaction among the family members will result in a poor communication. Internal social interaction is the foundation of a social life for some individuals. Families who

have a poor internal social interaction replicate these aspects of the relationship in the outer world. They tend to be introverts. It is therefore important for one to first cultivate internal social interaction to become better in communication. This kind of interaction is what holds families together and is the kind of interaction that memories are created from.

External social interaction is the social interaction of relatives. This includes aunts, cousins, nephews, uncles, another close kin. Unlike in the household scenario, technology has facilitated this kind of interaction. The introduction of mobile phones, video calls, and other social platforms have managed to bring relatives in far away places closer. Currently, a person only needs to dial or tap a particular gadget or technology to talk with a person that is far away. Families that live in different places, for example, a mother is in Texas and the father is New York, the family could talk each day through video chats or on a social platform such s creating a group in WhatsApp. As such, technology has brought with it advantages and disadvantages when the matter of social interaction comes into question. While some folks will find themselves far from each other, others will be closer and can build stronger family bonds.

External social interaction helps different individuals be better communicators in the society. Families who have a deep understanding of each other are usually happy. Technology has facilitated external social interaction which in turn has boosted the connection between family ties. There was a point where kin could see each other only during holidays. The use of mail took days and as such, communicating or rather forming

a close knit relationship was hard. Through the new technologies, these external interactions has been boosted and family members can contact each frequently.

The technology revolution has occurred rapidly, and it has impacted households in a variety of ways. The way that new technology has embedded itself in the life of family members is worrying. Families are having less conversation each day. Traditionally, there would be a family gathering and stories would be shared over a meal or over watching television shows. The bonding between a father and his child is eroding at an alarming rate. Conversely, the bond between spouses is deteriorating, and this is demonstrated by the high levels of divorce cases. Siblings are creating a bridge between themselves with each immersing him/herself in their stuff. Technology such as a smartphone is one of the biggest culprits to the erosion of family values and closeness.

Laptop and video games come in second place, and it has affected many households. Despite the negativity that is associated with technology in conjunction with social interaction among family members, there are also technologies that help bring households together. Steps need to be taken to prevent further erosion of social interaction within a household. These steps should ensure that technologies that bring the family closer together are encouraged while the rest are discouraged or rather, households should be given lectures on how they can handle such a problem.

Works cited

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Social Change: Theory and Implications. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007. Print.