Student tech heads stay plugged in at school
December 15, 2008
By Stacy Buell
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Hall Monitor Stacy Buell Skyline High School
Teenagers are attached to the Internet, and are not disconnecting anytime soon. The average teen spends between five and eight hours per day on the computer, chatting with friends, surfing Wikipedia, doing homework and being bombarded with information. But the Internet has taken away valuable face-to-face time with people.
Before the Internet, people used to use this thing called a library. From research on Google I have found the library was where students went to do research projects, read books and chat with friends — to connect in person. Today, teens come home, go to the computer, get the day’s homework done (sometimes) and chat with friends online. The in-person time when people get to know each other is a pivotal part of any relationship. One can never really get to know someone until they make a connection deeper than text on a computer screen.
The absence of this personal time has had a glaring effect on teenage social lives. Teenagers are now in constant contact with their friends and can find basically anything they want on the Internet, except a personal connection. They are never unplugged, never disconnected and certainly never alone.
But one cannot deny the benefits from having this astounding technology. I am one of these teenagers plugged into the Internet and my electronics every day. I thank God for Google every time I have to do a research project; I spend impersonal time with my friends on Facebook and I go to the library about once a year. I can never escape the Internet, meaning a distraction is always there, waiting to take my time, and my grades, away.
There is more to life than a screen, but while providing one of, if not the best, informative and communicative tools ever, the Internet is depersonalizing human interaction along the way.
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