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Our society today is considered a high tech world.

Technology is
thriving today. We're no longer forced to send letters through the
postal service, book vacations through travel agents, shop in stores, visit
the library for research material, or wait for our photos to be developed.
Thanks to technology, all of these activities can be performed either
digitally or online (Deleo, 2008. Pg. 1).
Today, life is much easier than in our previous generations due to
innovations and technological gadgets, but at the same time all of the
new technology might be more harmful than helpful. With every breath
a new technological advancement is being put into place all across the
world. Technology such as T.V.s, computers, and cell phones have
become the center that society revolves around. Some people believe
that technology can be harmful, for example, cell phones keep us too
connected, people rely on it too much, and certain parts of childrens
brains dont develop as well if they use such devices as these.

Sara Childre (2013) states, The fear is not only that this
technology is replacing physical and imaginative play, but that it also
may be diminishing development of social skills, heart connection and
empathy for others (pg.2). Through much research and personal
experiences I see that technology can be useful and helpful, but it can
also be damaging to our children. I question what todays youth will be
like as adults versus how todays adults were after being raised with
limited technology.


In this paper, I will discuss how most of our current technology
innovations are taking over our societys creativity. The three main
points that I will discuss will be how technology should be an aid in our
society, not the backbone of our society. How technology has changed
our society to expect instant gratification. The last point is how our
children are loosing their creativity at an earlier age because of
technology and the impacts it has on them.



Technology should be a backbone for humans and not a brain,
meaning it should help support people but not think for them (Diwi,
2008). The Internet has made printed textbooks and written documents
obsolete in some ways. It seems as though technology has taken over
and changed everyones way of life. Nothing can be done anymore
without the use of technology. By becoming so technologically
advanced, Americans have exposed themselves to a major weakness.
Technology has become the backbone, the brain, the navigator, and
basically the entire way of life for Americans.
Imagine if the power grid of the United States were to crash or get
attacked, no one would know what to do. Oil, food, heat, lights, and just
about everything people use on a daily basis would no longer work.
After the stores ran out of food and supplies would people know how to
mend or make clothes, provide enough food, or get from place to place?
Without shopping malls or a place to buy supplies, Americans would be
clueless. I feel as though people rely too much on technology, including
myself, which can potentially cause people to loose their ability to
utilize individual creativity and imagination. Thus, I believe that trying
to survive without modern technology in todays society would be a
chore or an inconvenience for most people.

The way that most people utilize technology is not necessarily
beneficial all of the time. I have an image in my mind from The Jetsons,
where robots do everything in their world. Certainly a cartoon is not an
accurate depiction of the future, but this depicts the general trend of
technology. With the availability of a computer, people dont have to go
to the library to research. Online courses make it so students dont have
to go to school to gain an education if they choose not to. School is
important in developing social skills as well and this may not be
achieved as well through the use of technology. Facebook and texting
allows people to communicate with friends all across the world or even
just across the room without even speaking. From personal experience,
physically being in the same room as someone else and having a
conversation is becoming less and less common.

Cell phones seem to have become a necessity of life in the 21st
century. Every time my husband and I go out for dinner the first thing
he brings out is his cell phone to catch up on Facebook instead of having
a conversation with me. Our phones today seem to replace face-to-face
interaction. According to Yue Wang, a writer for Time Magazine, out of
the seven billion people in the world, six billion have access to mobile
phones and only four and a half billion people have access to toilets.
This just puts a perspective on how much cell phones are in peoples
possession, that arent a necessity, versus the amount of toilets that are
a necessity. Out of the one billion people that dont have cell phones
many of them are infants or young children that cant even hold one
(Wang, 2013). Because of the rise in cell phones and social networking,
social skills arent developing as strongly as they should. For example, I
have a 9 and 10 year old that love to play on their I-pads. They would
rather stay indoors and play games on their technology device than
enjoy the outdoors and utilize their creativity and imagination. I find
myself doing the same type of thing on my smart phone. At times when
I should be utilizing the nice weather we have and doing things
outdoors, I choose to stay indoors and stay updated on Facebook or text
messages. I believe that in time if our society continues to rely so
heavily on these types of devices, we could become more and more
isolated than ever before.

Another important point is that technology is being used by children on
a daily basis and it is a large contribution in taking away their ability to
think for themselves in ways such as being creative or imagining their
own world to play in. Childrens developing sensory and motor systems
have not evolved biologically to accommodate the sedentary, yet
frenzied and chaotic nature of todays technology. Rapidly advancing
technology has contributed to an increase of physical, psychological and
behavior disorders that the health and education systems are just
beginning to detect, much less understand (Rowan, 2013).
Nancy Carlsson stated that 72 percent of iTunes top-selling
education apps are designed for preschoolers and elementary school
children (2013). This means that iTunes target market for educational
apps is towards children ten or younger. With this technology in front of
them, they arent forced use their creativity and imagination in physical
form. They dont need to imagine a world of their own to play in outside.
The game theyre playing through a screen shows them everything they
need to see. Kids are learning math, science, shapes, and most
important, and how to use their thumbs and fingers on an ipad. Playing
without technology develops creativity, imagination, and keeps children
staying active.
Robinson explains that being creative is about exploring new
horizons and using ones imagination. Students and children are
pressured in learning certain outlined concepts and subjects, such as,
math, reading, and writing and not the arts, which tend to bring out
ones imagination and ways of exploring. The idea is that there must be
a way to find a balance between learning important skills yet inspiring
the imagination to discover new concepts and ideas to bring upon
creativity within our schools and children (Robinson, 2001. p.
161). How do we do this when teachers are demanded to teach a
certain way in order to get students to pass a test, or to save money by
taking away the school budgets? I often wonder if more and more
families will be willing to pay for private schooling for their children, if
our classroom sizes keep rising, and more pressure is put on our
students.
Children tend to not be as creative today as they used to be when I
was a child in the 1980s. Kids are loosing creativity secondary to
advance in technology. Their imagination power and their creative
nature have been destroyed and they are only the follower of the
technology. They are not playing creative games now, because they do
not like such things, its boring... They love television and watch reality
shows that depict bad behavior, even on the Disney channel!. In todays
life I cannot find children playing together some games like hide and
seek or playing with cards. Todays kids want to play with computers
and video games or watch television. Some video games are violent in
nature and kids loose their imagination power instead of gaining
something.

In my opinion, television has impacted childrens imaginations. In
our previous generation, our parents used to make many toys and
sculptures using their imagination power. For example, when I was
child, my mother prepared many toys for me and even she used to sew
my Halloween costumes herself. But I never tried to learn any of these
things. Because everything is available at cheaper rates now due to
advance in machinery and technology. Children today, lack the ability to
bring out their individual creativity and choose to rely on gadgets that
do things for them.


On the other hand technology has improved the lives of people all
across the world. The world shouldnt be rid of technology because
without it the caveman era would rise again. Technology such as the
light bulb and the toilet have bettered our lives. In many ways it can be
very useful; however, humans that are part of a more advanced
society are becoming more robotic and dont have to think for
themselves. Because computers and the Internet give people answers
that they dont have to come up themselves, some people might argue
that humans are becoming less classy. There has to be a point where
people dont believe everything on the Internet. Anyone can gain access
to a website and put up false information.
Technology is needed to help people with serious problems like
pollution and deadly diseases. While brand new phones and computers
are cool, there are much bigger problems that should be dealt with
instead. People should be educated about basic survival skills incase
technology crashes and humans have to provide food, heat, light, and
other necessities for themselves. Being in control of your life and
thinking for yourself is a much better way to live than living through
technology.
Children and people all across the world lean on technology to
carry their workload and make life easier, but this makes people weak
and not as independent as they should be. Children dont develop an
imagination or a social life with video games and learning on an Ipad.
This can carry on into adulthood, as they use a G.P.S. to get from A to B.
They have to use dating websites instead of meeting someone at a bar
or where they work. Technology should be improved in areas where its
needed most like: pollution, population issues, curing deadly diseases
and illnesses, modes of transportation, etc. Newer smart phones and
computers are great, but soon they will be more intelligent and
sophisticated than humans. I believe that people need to become more
independent from technology and live life through themselves, not
through a piece of circuit board with wires and a screen.
Conclusion: Still working on this section
Robinson explains that being creative is about exploring new
horizons and using ones imagination. How are students and children
supposed to do this when they are pressured in learning certain
outlined concepts and subjects? Such as, math, reading, and writing and
not the arts which tend to bring out ones imagination and ways of
exploring. The idea is that there must be a way to find a balance
between learning important skills yet inspiring the imagination to
discover new concepts and ideas to bring upon creativity within our
schools and children (Robinson, pg. 161). How do we do this when
teachers are demanded to teach a certain way in order to get students to
pass a test, or to save money by taking away the school budgets. I often
wonder if more and more families will be willing to pay for private
schooling for their children, if our classroom sizes keep rising, and more
pressure is put on our students.
Resources:
Wang, Y. (2013, March). More People Have Cell Phones Than Toilets, U.N. Study
Shows, Times Magazine.
Robinson, K. (2001). Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative.

Deleo, J. (2008, October). How Tech Has Changed our Lives.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2332338,00.asp

Childre, S. (2013, September). Children and Technology Should you be
Concerned. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/children-and-
technology-should-you-be-concerned.html

Carlsson, Nancy (2013,November). Is Technology Sapping Childrens
Creativity? The Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com.

Diwi (2007, April). Are We Relying Too Much on Technology. Infotech
and Public Policy. http://courseblog.cs.princeton.edu.
Rowan, Cris. (2013) The Impact of Technology on Child Sensory and
Motor Development. http://www.sensomotorische-
integratie.nl/CrisRowan.pdf

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