My Relationship with Technology
Throughout my childhood, I did not use technology very frequently, as my parents were sure to limit it in my life as much as possible. I enjoyed my childhood thoroughly, and learned how to do things for myself without the aid of a phone or computer. This taught me self sufficiency and independence early on, and these are still characteristics I possess. The friendships I made and the relationships I cultivated were not tainted with the vanity of likes, shares, and followers. Of course, I learned the basics of using a computer and phone, however, I did not grow up with one in my hand.
I am so grateful for this because by the time I got to high school, I was not allowed to use technology at all throughout the day, save for the one computer room my school had. If someone had to accomplish academic work, such as working on a paper, it could be done in this room. Aside from that when school started at 8 AM, all phones had to be powered off and put away and if a teacher saw a student on their phone they were at risk of being sent home for the day. Of course students flirted with the line of what they were allowed to do, and we all quickly learned that our teachers were not bluffing, students did, in fact, get sent home for using their phones.
I am so grateful for this experience because I learned more in my four years of high school than during any other time in my life. And even better, I learned it from books and lectures, which almost seem to be a lost art in our current day and age. As a result of this experience, I am able to hold intelligible conversations, I am a proficient reader, and I have built relationships with people by forming genuine human connections.
Although the progression of technology in our society is undeniable, and it would be foolish to ignore it, I am so proud that I am able to live without it. It has become important to me to strike a healthy balance of technology use in my life, because it is necessary to use it in our society, but I do not wish to form an addiction. I mostly try to use technology to enrich my life, rather than to fill a void.
As I entered college, I did not have the same restrictions on technology in my life, and I found myself using it much more. In high school I would estimate that my average screen time a day was about two hours. Now that I am in college it ranges more towards five hours a day. That is about 20% of my day spent looking at my phone! Realizing this fact made me aware that I want to make a change in my life.
I was specifically impacted by the article "I'm 14, and I quit social media after discovering what was posted about me." It heavily reflected ideas that I hold about technology and social media usage. In my lifetime, I will never be truly anonymous, and things that I post are going to follow me forever. This is why I am careful to keep my online presence respectable, because it is a reflection of myself, my values, and my character. My mother always told me "If you would not shout it from the rooftops, do not put it in writing." This is a much more important concept now than ever, because if that writing is digital, it is nearly impossible to take it back. I value my reputation and my safety, so I am truly skeptical of the dangers of my digital footprint.
Making Necessary Changes
While I used to fill my free time with watching TikToks and scrolling through Instagram, I have decided to spend more time a day reading than sitting on my phone. This goal has helped me to lower my screen time and I feel that my attention span has already gotten better and I feel much happier. I even noticed that I am getting better sleep again! I also decided to leave my phone at home when I go out during the day. This venture was less successful for me. I have stopped doing so because it made it hard for people to get in contact with me if they needed to. However, if I am only leaving my house for a short period of time I will still leave it from time to time. If I need to have my phone with me, I have started to put it in my bag and check it periodically throughout the day.
Technology, although a blessing in many capacities, has had detrimental effects on my over all mental well being, and limiting its power over me has been truly eye opening to the negative effects it has had. I am grateful for the way I was raised, because technology has not been too detrimental in my life. However, it is important for me to be aware of the role it plays in my day to day life, and I will continue to treat it as a tool rather than a crutch that I need to lean on.
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