Today the world continues to make great strides in technological advances. Self driven cars, medical robots ,digital learning, the list in itself is endless. There is no doubt about it. Technology has brought about advances our forefathers could never dream of, but, take a closer look. Take a look at the grip technology has fastened around our children, at the divide technology is causing in families and at the anxiety and depression social media is ingraining into the minds of the youth.
Let me paint you a picture. A father on his way home from work. Hand glued to his phone as he multitasks between driving and scrolling through his group chat. He gets home safe despite his reckless behavior (Our God never sleeps) only to be greeted by a silent house. Behind closed doors, monitors and phone screens glow bright. His son is engrossed in a virtual quest to save the lost princess (Translation: Online gaming), his daughter is fighting back tears as she scrolls through hateful comments on her last Instagram post.
His wife later calls them all to the table for dinner. Her attempt to make conversation with her children is received with short dead end answers. ‘How was school today sweetie?’ Fine. ‘How was work today honey?’ Busy. They all quickly finish their meals and basically make a run to their respective cocoons. Grabbing their gadgets as they go. The same story goes on every day of every year.
Technology is beautiful and useful but like a rose, it has its thorns. These thorns are piercing through the family. A study carried out in 2019 showed that the vast amount of time people spend on their devices has adverse effects on their marriages as well as their parent-child relationships.
Social media is also slowly creeping into the lives of our children and youth. It feeds on one’s insecurities, telling young girls that their worth is measured by the number of likes they receive. Online faceless bullies thrive on social media, protected behind their screens.
Social media platforms have been linked to increased cases of depression and anxiety in young adults. We are so glued to our phone screens that it affects our mental health to the point where we become so obsessed with what we view online. We forget about the very real physical connections that need to be made, especially at the family level.
Many parents do not even know their child’s favorite color. Reason? We don’t talk anymore. We do not sit down and have conversations. Families do not bond anymore because every member of the family from the young baby engrossed in their tablet to the toddler glued to the television screen to the teenager with their phone constantly in their faces; they are all trapped in the thorns of technology.
I don’t think anybody can say that technology has not benefited the human race. Agriculture has been mechanized, jobs have been created, healthcare and education have been improved and this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
However, technology does have its dark side and this side is what threatens to tear families apart. It is what threatens to do away with marriages and parent-child relations. It is what threatens to make us strangers in our own homes.
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