Laziness: Mobile Phone and Society Essay Example

that they should be doing.

People never turn off their phones because they are always connected. Because of the Internet and the devices allowing us to use the Internet, the world is easily accessible right under our finger tips (Bradley, 2009). Therefore, people become desensitized to the world around them. Erica Bradley’s article “Technology Is Making Us Lazy”, declares that Americans have no reason to get out and socialize. Because of all the social networks and the capability to communicate online, Americans lack the ability to communicate face-to-face (Bradley, 2009).

For example, many people using social networks often create a new image of themselves to hide behind because of their insecurities. Technology was made to be used as a tool, but in today’s society, it is used as support to avoid thinking (Pinto, 2007). Society is relying on technology and it’s becoming a major distraction. Not only do people have bad eating habits, they are not exercising (Mobley, 2006). There does not need to be a change in technology advancement, but a change in how society relies on it. The advancements in technology has benefitted America is both positive and negative ways.

In a positive way, many schools have been providing teachers with SMART Boards. Valerie Moses explains that a SMART Board is “… an interactive whiteboard that hooks up to the teacher’s computer, comes with a pen tray. Anything written on the pen tray will show up on the SMART Board screen. ” (Moses, 2009, p1). Students explain that the SMART Board helps them learn better because the teacher can demonstrate more effectively by uploading graphics and examples (Moses, 2009). Although

technology has helped in schools, students have been caught using it non-effectively.

There have been multiple occasions where students have been caught cheating on a test or assignment, by either looking up answers on the web or texting the answers to other classmates. This demonstrates how reliant our society is on technology and how with the wrong choices could end with bad consequences. Even at home, people are overusing technology. A survey of 95 Murray High School students shows that 59% of them spend more than 2 hours using electronics a day. In some cases, technology, like the web, is helping society. Social networks, like Facebook or Yahoo! can keep someone updated with world events and even local events. It has become part of everyday life (Gale, 2007, p 41).

But what most of those people do not see is how addictive technology can be. The above chart demonstrates that almost 60% of students use electronics more than two hours a day. This shows us that technology can be addictive. Jonathan Mandell’s article Are gadgets, and the Internet, actually addictive, recalls a time in April 2007 when BlackBerry users could not send or receive emails for 11 hours because of a glitch in the system. Many people reported this as a natural disaster (Mandell, 2007).

People are relying on technology so much, that it is becoming a major problem in our society. It is hard to disagree with the statement that America would not be where it is today without technology, but technology has become a crutch. Every day, society relies on technology to get through the day effectively. Yes, technology has

benefitted America in a million ways, but it has also made Americans lazy. On a smaller scale, another survey question was answered by 95 Murray High School students as shown below: From this pie chart it’s clearly shown that more than half of the students at Murray agree that technology is making people lazy.

Also the ratio of yes to no is about 6:1, certainly showing that the wrong affects of technology are starting to show up in our society. In all the choices people make about using their technology effectively is becoming less noticeable, especially with the influence of parents and others. For example, with young adults, with children, who are constantly on their cell phone, I-Pad, or Kindle; their children will not only see that as an example, but will also be given that object to keep them entertained through mini games and other puzzles.

From this, it installs the thought of electronics to only be used for entertainment and fun, rather than research and extended learning. Technology has made our society lazy. We depend too much upon it too much. We can shop, exercise, eat, and party without even leaving the comfort of our own home. The internet and other technology are always there for us but we don’t need to abuse the fact that we can use it whenever we want. Right now technology is a bad thing and people are abusing its beneficial qualities, but we could create a solution to this problem by using technology to help our world grow instead of becoming lazy.

The advancements that are happening in our world today are really creating

a brighter future for our society. The people who rely on it way too much will realize they are only making it worse for themselves; they are becoming less capable of spelling and reading because they rely so much on their computers and phones to do it for them. Americans today have become so independent on their personal technology that the children of today are learning it and not really learning anything at all.

The solution to this problem is to limit our time spent on the computer on facebook or on our phones texting or emailing and use technology effectively. Teachers have already started to do this. In the classrooms they have been able to get SmartBoards. These are interactive whiteboards that let teachers give lively lessons, write notes in ink, and save your work with only your finger. This interests the students and they are able to then see that technology can be used to learn. In St. Mary’s, Ohio, Kyle Menchhofer decided to do a study where the students were each assigned to their own PDA for use in the classroom as well as at home.

They “use applications…to draw pictures, create journals, essays, and flashcards for spelling and math” (Long, 2009, p. 1). Menchhofer also says, “We need to teach them to be responsible users of cell phones. There’s a right time and a wrong time to use them” (2009, p. 2). He is right. To end this problem we only need to begin to use technology effectively, and this will help us to understand how we can keep our brain functioning on our own without the smarts of

the technology. The advancements in technology have helped America in countless occasions.

Without the technology we have today, every day American lifestyles would not be the same; there would be no internet, cell phones, computers, etc. Without all of these advancements, lives would not even be the same. We, as Americans, need to not to let technology control us. Although technology progression has helped us, we need to learn how to not rely on it so much. If we continue to rely and use technology as much as we do, someday, we will all be robots; unable to communicate face-to-face, have poor physical health, and are reliant upon the technology world.