Technology has surrounded us for so many years. Technology has affected our lives in a much more impactful way since iPhones, iPads and computers entered our world. Although there might have been technology many years ago such such as the first tools that humans made out of wood and stone, technology has never been so helpful or problematic as it is today.  Society relies on their cell phones and the internet for practically everything. Whether someone is calling their mom to ask for their social security number, using their phone to figure out what day of the week it is or using their cell phone as a flashlight to find the pair of socks they lost under their bed, we all rely on our technology. The amount of ground that has been uncovered through the internet is astounding. Technology has not only been a positive change though, people are so connected through their devices that people rarely talk face-to-face anymore. These days you see 3 year olds sitting at the dinner table watching a movie on mom’s iPad and playing a game on dad’s phone at the same time. How are children supposed to develop their social skills if they are always staring at a screen and not having an actual conversation with the people in front of them? There is a lot to learn through the internet and the devices we have in our pockets, but there is a fine line between using technology to keep us connected and using technology to disconnect us from the real world.

Technology has always had a rather large presence in my life. Although I grew up in high school and in middle school surrounded by technology, as a family we had guidelines of when we could use our devices. The dinner table was always a “technology free zone”, as my mother called it. We would turn our cell phones on vibrate, put our computers away and have a nice family dinner. This time without our devices is so important because it is times when we laugh with our family or go on a hike with our friends when we feel at our happiest.

I received my first cell phone when I was in 6th grade. My parents thought it was important for me to have a phone so that I could still independently walk to school everyday, but be able to text them when I arrived and was on my way back so they knew I was safe. I remember getting my first phone, it was a side flip phone with turquoise accents that was pretty cool, back then. I later got the iPhone 4 as most of my classmates did, which then evolved into the iPhone 5, 6 and now the x. I find myself constantly looking at my phone because I have built a habit of checking it every so often, even though I don’t need to have my phone on me at all times. I am starting to implement times where I don’t go on my phone because I think it is important to say connected to the real world and notice what is in front of me.