Nobody wants to take out a pen and paper every time they miss their friend and want to write them. It is so much easier to email them. Now, computers are so advanced that you can know what is going on half way around the world or the house next door in a matter of seconds. Computers are faster and much more efficient. However, the question comes up, are computers taking over teenagers?
It is obvious that Teenagers who spend most of their time on computers don’t have to be on the computer. Just about anything you can do, you can do on the computer. Ages 8-18 spend seven and a half hours a day on the computer according to the New York Times. Considering there is 24 hours in a day that is a long time to be on the computer. Also, this does not count all those hours texting or talking on their cell phones, so technology really does seem it is taking over our lives. The world is at your fingertips, with a computer.
My generation happens to be the first to actually grow up with this kind of technology. Perhaps we are abusing our privileges, or we are just preparing our world for its future. I am not saying too get rid of all things old fashioned and bring in the shiny new things, but to let the future come easily. Someday the teens now will be the creators of something better then the basic computer. But, they never could have thought of it if they never experienced long hours in front of their laptops.
In other words, teenagers around the world rely more and more on computers, most teenagers cannot leave their house without their computer or some sort of technology.
When I go to a sleepover, my friends and I spent more than half the time around a computer. We sit on the couch in a row and hold our computers on our laps as we surf the internet and chat with people. But, I can remember my older sister, Shannon’s, sleepovers when she was my age and the closes thing to technology they had was a CD player. The generation above mine spent most of their time playing games, and walking the streets instead of talking to people on the computer. According to my mother when she was a teenager, the only technology they used at sleepovers was the TV, but their TV did not have 600 channels.
“I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication, they're tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.” – Bill gates
Just consider we are the creators of our own things. The computer shows our personality and we can make it do anything. We teenagers make up what we want our computers to be. So are computers taking over teenagers? No teenagers are taking over computers.