The Role Of Modern Technology In The Leisure Activities Of Teens - Term Paper Example

Impacts Of The Addiction To Technology The world we all are residing in at present is called the age of technology era where most of the things are transforming into digital means or processes. Technology has advanced to unlimited extents and science has done a lot of wonders in creating new designs and processes, tools and techniques, products and services for mankind (Parsons and Oja 80). Out of the technology products and services, cell phones and internet can be their solid examples. Cell phones and internets are observed to be most widely and commonly used by the young generation of any society. Nowadays, if we observe in our surroundings, almost every child is using the cell phone and almost every teenager in the developed countries has the access and constant use of internet. The teenagers and children are highly addicted to this technology of cell phones and internet. It can be seen around us that the first thing that a teenager does when he or she gets up is they check their cell phones for any text messages or missed calls. Leisure activities and outdoor games for children have been taken over by cell phones and internet. It can be observed that teenagers are strongly addicted to this technology. It is observed that teenagers nowadays do not have enough time to spend with their family. The spend most of the time at night on the internet or talking to someone on the cell phones. Sleeping late, then getting up late is becoming a common practice among teenagers (Meulman 20). Teenagers just sit and browse the latest entertainment sites on the internet, or chat with friends, online social networking and pass their times viewing all types of websites. If they are not on the internet, they can be seen with their cell phones. The text messaging tool in the cell phones is used maximum by the teenagers. Teenagers tend to conduct their entire conversation on text messages. Also, they keep on text messaging to their friends of each and every moment. All this is damaging the productivity levels of the individuals. Instead of un-necessarily using the cell phone and internet, the teenagers can use this time in doing something productive and beneficial for their future. These types of technology addictions have caused losses of family values among the teenagers. The teenagers have gotten addicted of this technology to a very large extent and now this can be heard commonly among the teenagers “I can’t live without my cell phone…”, “I can’t live without the internet”. The technology should be used as a means to get things done faster and efficiently rather than being depending on it in the whole (Fox 2004). The teenagers being addicted to internet and cell phone has been causing harm to their personal and professional lives. They are not being able to become groomed and sophisticated professionals rather they are slipping into bad activities and are coming in the trap of unknown people. Young teenagers do not know the complete good and bad things about the internet and cell phone use and therefore they may fall into traps that are laid by some people (Stern 2004). Addiction to the technology of internet is found to be at its peak amongst youngsters. Too much of internet use may cause damage to the eyesight of the teenagers. Constant text messaging has been observed to be damaging the vocabulary of the teenagers and they are now more commonly using slang language rather than the proper English vocabulary terms. This all will cause long term negative effects on the teenagers if they don’t use technology in a certain limit. Internet addiction among teenagers has been classified as one of the strongest addictions of technology amongst the young generation and its harm is also spreading across a wide area, including the society. The personalities of the teenagers are being transformed due to the internet. Those things that are avoided by the family due to their negative impacts are easily viewed by the children over the internet (Skog 2000). The schools have rules of not allowing cell phones to students but at university everyone is bound to have a cell phone. The war of getting the latest type of cell phone is most common among the teenagers. They just focus on getting the most expensive and latest gadget so that they can impress their friends and family, regardless of the fact whether they have any use of such hi tech cell phone or not. Addiction to technology is no way a solution to improve the society or country’s standard of living. Technology should be used when it is required and not have an addiction to technology. Teenagers should be prevented from getting addicted to cell phones and internet as they may be damaging their personality by this addiction. The social life of teenagers is now becoming on virtual basis rather than on real basis. Friends are spread all over the internet and they keep on chatting with each other constantly. Friend gatherings before used to be having hang outs and visiting each other’s houses but now it is just restricted to the computer screen and carrying out chat sessions of all kinds such as voice chats and video chats. Conclusion Addiction to technology is not a good sign at all. Technology addiction may make a person lazy and keep him away from doing healthy tasks and chores. Cell phone and internet addiction may damage the vocabulary of the teenagers and also cause them to stroll away from family values and gatherings. The negative impacts of technology addiction are a lot and it should be avoided so that a healthy lifestyle can be maintained by both young and old of any society. Teenagers need to be constantly monitored so that they can be prevented from getting addicted to technology of internet and cell phones. They should be kept busy in other productive work that will help them shape their futures towards a positive note. Works Cited Parsons, June Jamrich, and Oja, Dan. New Perspectives on Computer Concepts. Cengage learning, 2010. Print. Fox, K. “Evolution, alienation and gossip. The role of mobile telecommunications in the 21th Century”. Social Issues Research Centre. SIRC, 2004 Web. 17th April 2011. Meulman, Jacqueline J. “The Role of Parents and Peers in the Leisure Activities of Young Adolescents”. Journal of Leisure Research 6(1) (2000). pp.16-35. Print Skog, B. “Mobiles and the Norwegian teen: identity, gender and class.” In: Katz, J.E. and Aak-hus, M. (eds.): Perpetual contact. Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print. Stern, Susannah R. “Expressions of identity online: prominent features and gender differences in adolescents' World Wide Web home pages.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 6 (1) (2004). Print. Read More