I would have never thought I was addicted to texting or any type of social media network or game. And if I was addicted, I thought I could easily peel myself away from the screen of my phone or laptop, but sadly I was terribly wrong. When my phone broke during the last week of winter quarter, my days seemed endless. My hands felt empty. I craved to send out one successful text message. I even texted people in hopes that my phone would magically begin to work. In the end, I caved and bought an iPhone4. Am I proud of it? Not really.
In my house we have three desktop computers, three laptops, and an iPad. The iPad was definitely an unnecessary purchase. All we’ve done with the iPad is download games that now take up most of my parents’ time at home. My dad, who used to never play games, now plays games for at least three hours every night now. And their conversations all are about who did better in their game. My mom also sometimes declines to make dinner now. The iPad has definitely changed our lives. Now on Friday nights when I go home, we don’t eat dinner till nine and they bicker about who gets to play with the iPad. Our lives have been revolutionized. For the good and the bad.
Technology has connected our family. We email each other and even Skype each other. We call each other day and night just to make sure we are all okay. Advancement in communication technology has allowed my family to connect with our relatives overseas. All in all, we are more connected with everyone. Parents nowadays also want to get into social media. My mom has asked to join Facebook, but I have been hesitant to sign up for her due to privacy issues and her prying into my personal life. But lots of teens are hesitant about sharing their social network pages with their parents. Plus, if my parents found Facebook as fascinating as the iPad, they would be on it for hours on end.
Does technology ever affect family life? For my family, it definitely does. We talk about what we do everyday. So if technology dictated our day, then we talk about it. We now rarely buy the newspaper; we just read it online. My father watches Chinese shows on a software called PPS. Our family doesn’t even use the television if we are not tuning into a live show. This is how much technology has revolutionized our lives.
I do feel sad about some things. I miss the days that the three of us lounged in the living room and watched television. But since we live in the middle of Silicon Valley, it is kind of hard to limit our contact with technology. In the future, I hope that as a family, we can concentrate less on technology and more on ourselves. Technology can never be separated from us, but hopefully we are less addicted and less reliant on it.
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