I always will be a personal advocate for technology as a mechanism for the betterment of the global community.
But what are the drawbacks?
According to the New York Times, the Pew Research Center found “half of American teenagers send 50 or more text messages a day and that one third send more than 100 a day.” Those born anywhere between the late 1970s to the early ’90s were certainly introduced to technology at an early age, but the introduction of screens and apps into the lives of children — even infants — is becoming much more normal. In fact, technology for babies and young children is becoming so integrated in our society that there are currently over 30,000 kids’ applications in Apple’s App Store.
It all sounds progressive until we look at the facts about young minds and screens. After a study conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2007, results found that “among babies ages 8 months to 16 months, every hour spent daily watching programs such as ‘Brainy Baby’ or ‘Baby Einstein’ translated into six to eight fewer words in their vocabularies as compared with other children their age.” This example of simultaneous growth and decay in the emerging generation is shocking.
But what about technology for adults?
In 2009, the federal stimulus bill devoted $100 billion to the innovation, creation and implementation of new technologies. Many pieces of technology that have been released to the public are certainly impressive, but many are concerned about where this growth is taking us.
Could people really be replaced by technology?
It’s certainly happening, and the trend is only growing. According to Popular Science, there are great efforts to build lifelike, useful humanoid robots that can do favors like pick up juice boxes and wash people’s hair. That’s not to mention the Home-use Robot Practical Application Project, which began in 2009 and “seeks a bot that can be used as both a wheelchair and bed; a cleaning robot; a security robot; a wearable robot suit that assists daily activities; and a two-wheeled rideable robot.”
Some argue these robots used to help the elderly are a great idea, and I do, too. But kids crave new and improved, too, and as these gadgets become more and more popular, it’s necessary to remind ourselves of the importance of face-to-face human interaction, human touch and human thoughts before we find ourselves down the line entangled in an anti-social web.
We cannot and should not stop progress, and we can only move forward.
But to live a healthy life in a world of technology, only we can be the fulcrum.