The twenty-first century, the first century to begin with the breakthrough of the smartphone, iPad, iPod, and other technological innovations that have shaped the world across all fronts. Technology has changed the way we communicate, educate, and advance.

I remember my first real interaction with technology was early in elementary school. My elementary schools curriculum deeply believed that it was highly important for their students to learn how to navigate a computer and type long essays easily on keyboards. At the beginning of the 2000’s it had already become very prevalent how strong the presence of technology would be in the future and how important it was for students to be exposed to a computer so early in life. In my elementary school we had electives and one of our electives was “Typing” and about 3 times a week student’s would go into the computer lab and open a program that would track their typing speed and accuracy, and would getting them better acquainted with the use of computers. As I got older these classes didn’t go away, but increased in intensity.

Besides laptops and desktop computers, another very prevalent technological advance that I was exposed to at a young age was the increase in the ability to communicate  through video chats such as Skype and FaceTime. I remember spending hours at a time on Skype with my best friends in elementary and middle school locked in our rooms glued to our computers video calling one another. As the outside world become increasingly more dangerous than it was in my parents generation, it became more popular for younger kids to FaceTime rather than play outside where an adult wasn’t always present. It also allowed for kids to continue talking to friends who lived far away outside of school.

Both typing and video calling played had very large impacts on my life growing up and were the first two things that truly exposed me to the world of technology. Although they had very positive outcomes, the introduction of technology in my life has not always been a good one.

One major negative aspects of technology, especially among the youth, is the use of technological devices at dinner tables or in social settings. My friends and I have a huge problem with using our smartphones at the dinner table, especially when we’re eating next to each other. We constantly look through social media and text other people instead of appreciating and taking comfort in each others company. In order to combat this bad habit, we’ve come up with a game that only works when we go out for food. The “game” is that everyone leaves their phones out on the table, stacked on top of each other, and whoever reaches for their phone first has to pay for everyone’s dinner. This has truly benefitted our dinners and has forced us to get off of our phones and truly appreciate and enjoy our dinners together.

In all, the use of technology has been very prevalent in my life since a young age, and although it is very important and has allowed us to have greater communication with our friends and loved ones, allows us to do work faster, and has also provided a large enhancement in day to day tasks as well as in healthcare; sometimes the use of technology can leave a large negative imprint in our lives if we give it the opportunity.