Growing up in a world where using technology is normal makes it hard to know and see its affects on people. Everyday people try to create a bigger, better, and newer piece of technology that they believe will bring us Americans, as a nation closer together, but it is only tearing us further apart.
As a society, we use technology everyday. They use the Internet all the time; it is on our phones, our computers, and even our iPods. It has become a part of our lives and we spend more time with it than we do with our family and friends. As Source B says, people who used the Internet “reported spending less time talking with their families, experiencing more daily stress, and feeling more lonely and depressed.” Although their intensions of using the Internet were good, their results were unhealthy. Technology was and is not made to bring depression to the lives of its users.
Recently, online schooling has become popular for kids in high school and college. Its easy access from home has made it become popular worldwide. The most convenient part is that a student can go at his/her own pace, yet you leave yourself in total isolation from the outside world. One study shows it takes many years of teaching core values for them to become internalized (Source A). These values are ones used everyday, like cleaning up after oneself, learning to share, being kind and playing fairly. “That is why it won’t do for children to learn in ‘settings of their own choosing’” (Source A).

One of the most used pieces of technology, the iPod, has become a source of comfort to most people. It “preoccupies you so you are no longer obligated to interact with the uncontrollable factors of everyday life” (Source B). They keep you from being forced to talk to the outside world, which in turn damaged social skills and diminishes the “interaction between individuals” (Source B). When people see you with you headphones in it gives them the impression that you don’t want to be friendly and you would rather isolate yourself from the world. Which in turn makes them feel they are not welcome to talk to you.

Although the iPod isolates its users from socialization, some people enjoy their music more than they do social interaction and are willing to sacrifice time with their friends for time with their music. Some say, “Music, deepens their experience of walking through the world” (Source D). They believe music is unifying because it brings them together to share their favorite tunes with each other. Although it can be unifying it can also be addicting. In Source D one girl says, “ I can’t live without walking around campus listening to my music.” This can be detrimental to one’s social skills because not only is she not making an effort to socialize, but also now she can’t because she is addicted to music and being around it.
The common rule between all kids while growing up is never talk to strangers, yet the internet invites its users to become friends with them through chat rooms and bulletin boards. According to Source C, “the internet can foster openness, self confidence, and a greater sense of ease and comfort in dealing with others,” but the people users are chatting with and revealing personal information to could potentially be predators. Most studies show also online relationships are impersonal and your time could be better spent with your family (Source C).
Growing up in an era where technology is the norm hurts o ur social skills. It makes it extremely hard to communicate with people without using some sort of technology. By using too much technology though we find ourselves feeling more lonely than before, although our goal was to bridge the gap of interpersonal communication with it (Source B).