“Carnegie Mellon University concludes that Internet use leads to small but statistically significant increases in misery and loneliness and a decline in overall psychological well-being.” (Source B). Misery, loneliness, and horrid psychological well-being does not sound like the ideal life and yet so many people succumb to this because of new technologies. The amount of technology available to youth all across the world is rising and either you think it could have positive effects or negative effects on individuals. This is debatable because many studies have found evidence for both sides; it all boils down to personal opinion. Technology is not good, in excess, for youth because they do not always use it appropriately.
There is a group on Facebook that is entitled, “I was doing homework, and I ended up on Facebook”. What that tells us is that when the Internet is constantly available to teens that aren’t responsible enough to prioritize things in their life, they end up on the web and not in their books. Also, when teens are just shut up in their rooms on Facebook trying to think of the perfect status, they spend significantly less time with their family; it is a difference of about 402 minutes (Source F). Imagine you are on a car ride with your family across America, and you are watching the latest “The Office” episode on your iPod, there are so many things you would miss out on! Like all the small towns you pass through, famous landmarks along the way, or talking to a local at a rest stop. This is perfectly summed up in Source E, “Interaction between individuals is slowly diminishing as people turn to their technological devices instead of attempting to make a new acquaintance or simply experience the ‘natural’ sights and sounds around them.”
It would be a shame for someone to never make any other new friends because they were too absorbed in the latest Ke$ha song.
Would you be willing to “sacrifice some degree of social interaction” in order to just listen to music by yourself (Source D)? We are designed to want to be in fellowship with other people, not just locked up in a room glued to a computer screen. While the Internet allows immense amounts of information to be at our finger tips within seconds, and may “provide opportunities by freeing those who are too depressed to conduct social life” (Source C), the Internet can also be extremely dangerous. Many people get abducted each year because they said the wrong things on a public site or had too much information available for the wrong people. When communicating over the Internet, “one tends to be more communicative and revealing of personal information,” (Source C); this is because the other person does not know what you look like, what school you go to, or anything else for that matter. While the Internet is a great resource for information on your English paper, it is also a great resource for predators who want to sell make you into a sex slave.
Since youth these days, as a whole, are not responsible enough to use technology appropriately; it is not the best thing when it can be used all the time. If a child is not responsible enough to know when and where it is right to listen to your iPod and tune out the world and what things you should never say on the Internet, I would charge their parents to enforce light restrictions. If harsh rules were to suddenly be in place the child would most likely just continue doing what they have always been doing and then there would be problems between parent and teen. Finding the perfect balance these days is very hard to do, but is necessary; it would depend on the individual and their family what the “good balance” is. IPods and the Internet are not all evil, but they are not all good all the same time either; technology will always be under scrutiny and debate.