Tehya T.

Limit Technology and Spend More Time with Your Family 
By Tehya T.

According to research, 51% of moms feel that technology is a distraction to families (Orlando). Clearly, moms want to spend more time with their families.  How can families connect if everyone is always on a device? Technology is very effective, and that is why we find ourselves using it more and more. However, technology takes family time away, results in less communication face to face, and it changes our moods and how we treat and act to our family.  By limiting technology, families will be able to spend more time together.

First of all, technology takes away family time.  Technology is very easy to get a hold of and it can easily distract people.  For example, family dinners are no longer the same as they were years ago. Families used to talk about their day and what happened at school or work. However, today families might not even have dinner together because of technology. "Our fixation with technology has created new routines that are very different from traditional notions of family time" (Orlando). Technology can also distract parents with work. Things like, phone calls and or work on the computer can easily take up to more than half of your day. "Remember that technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master." - Christian Lous Lange.  Today parents are too busy working rather than spending time with their families.

Second, technology causes families to communicate less.  Technology can isolate children and adults. Technology is growing with new apps, videos, and games.  Everyday people are interacting face to face less and less.  There are numerous articles written about this topic.  One article states, "...children's absorption in technology, from texting to playing video games, does by there limit their availability to communicate with their parents" (Taylor). With most adults having to work with computers or phones, they sometimes get caught up in their phones or computers, and sometimes it may not even be for work.  Situations like the following, "As it turned out, mom was so engrossed with an online conversation on her mobile that she didn't even notice her young son calling out for attention" (Orlando), are becoming more and more common. Once in awhile families should disconnect and communicate.


Lastly, technology changes our moods and how we treat our families. Say that someone posted something on Instagram and got mean comments. Someone would probably feel sad, mad, or even hurt.  As a result, he or she would most likely treat their family meanly.  Or, the opposite situation could happen.  For example, a person could post something and get likes and nice comments. This would most likely result treating his or her family with respect and a feeling of happiness. A recent study showed that "when we are feeling blue we use social media sites, such as Facebook, to find friends that are also having a bad day, suffered a setback or going through a tough time in their lives" (Steakley).  Therefore, be aware of the things that you are doing online because that could affect your mood.

Some people argue that technology does not cause families to communicate less face to face. However, when families are in their living rooms together and everyone is on their phones or watching tv, there is not too much talking. Everyone is so focused on what they are doing or what they are watching, that they are not talking or communicating with each other.  This is why technology does cause families to communicate less.

If families don't limit their use of technology, they may miss out on family moments or activities. Additionally, they may not communicate with each other and miss out on special events or occasions. Do families really want this to happen? So, people need to limit the technology and spend more family time together.