Technology has been around for a while and society hasgotten use to having it around. Technology has evolved from a flip phones to atouch screen devices. Society loves technology and uses it every day. It has gottento the point where society depends on these devices.
Technology is so ingrainedin our society that it will not be leaving, it might change and develop. Howevertoo much technology is harmful to its user’s. It harms the user’s physical,social and emotional health. Technology’s users are also noticingnegative effects on their physical health.
People are noticing that their eyesare becoming worse due to electronics. According to Susan Patterson in herarticle “7 Ways Electronics Quietly Harm Our Mental Health” she wrote “The bluelight emitted by the screens of electronic device is the culprit here…… Excessexposure to this light has been linked to retinal damage that could potentiallylead to macular degeneration.” Some of the other Side effects are eye strain,double vision and temporary short-sightedness (O’ Conner).
Technology is alsocausing people diseases and skin irritation. According to Lindsay Holmes in herarticle Sneaky Ways Technology Is Messing With Your Body And Mind she states “Ourphones are actually teeming with bacteria (think about it, where don’t we bringour devices?). And where are we putting that bacteria? Directly on our face. Germspile up on our phones thanks to our external environment, which could trigger acneor eczema outbreaks”. This is especially concerning to those who are alreadystruggle with acne or eczema. Acne and eczema is not the only problemselectronics can cause. They can also cause some types cancers. Studies showthat people who intensively use their phone for ten years or more have anincreased chance of getting certain types of cancer such as rare eye, brain andsalivary glands (Chelala).
Another area that technology users are noticingproblems with is their spine and joints. “Dr. Ewa Gustafsson, a researcher andergonomist at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, conducted a study about themobile phone habits of 56 young adults who send text messages every day. Halfof the respondents say they suffer from arm, wrist, neck, and back pain due toprolonged use of their cell phones”( The Negative).
The painthat the young adults in the study experienced comes from texting. Textingcauses a lot of stress on your wrist, arms and thumbs because of constant use.The neck and back pain is due to being hunched over and bending forward to seethe screen.
The back and neck pain are not only from texting but can occur fromanytime one does not have good posture, which happens a lot when spending timeon electronic devices. Having good posture has so many benefits, that peoplewith too much electronics are missing out (The Negative). The benefits of goodposture is not the only thing that people can miss by using too muchelectronics. They can also miss amazing relationships. Socialhealth is someone’s ability to make good deep relationships with others and tobe comfortable in a variety of social situations and respond correctly (Koshuta).
One relationship that technology is hurting is the relationship betweenfriends. Friends are not taking as much time to enjoy face to faceconversations as they us too. This can be very harmful because it reduces one’sability to understand non-verbal cues and the relationship is less likely to bea deep and meaningful one (Patterson).
Another concern is that peopleespecially tweens to teens are making “friends” with people who they do notknow. Besides the obvious reason of protection this can be bad because theperson might spend all their time maintaining this fake relationship when theyshould be spending that time on making real friends. The relationships formedat work are also minimizing. This is partially due to the fact that at breaks co-workersmight all be sitting around the same table but they are glued to their devicesinstead of talking to each other. Another reason is that most people arebecoming very awkward so they would defiantly not want to talk to their boss(s)face to face for fear of screwing up or having awkward silence. This is veryconcerning because good relationships can make the workplace better and makecoming to the office everyday a little more exciting. A third relationship thatis taking a toll from technology is the relationship between parents and theiroffspring. One of the major reason for this is that the world is very fastpace.
This reasons mean that parents already have a limited amount of time withtheir children because often during the day the children are at daycare whileboth parents are working. Then in the evening once everyone is home the parentsfeel that they have a lot to do like cook supper and they feel quite tired. Itdoes not help that technology is an easy, always willing and most costefficient babysitter (Mari K.
Swingle p.123). This is very concerning becauseparents and children are not getting the bonding time that they need.
Howeverit is not just affecting the relationship between the parent and child it couldalso be affecting the child’s emotional health. Technology is also harming user’s emotional health. Sleepis one area that is affected by technology use. According to the article “Fromneck problems to hearing loss: How technology might affect your health” writtenby Michele O’Connor “Sleeping with your phone near you causes hyper-vigilance –feeling alert, tense and on guard: ‘Subconsciously, you’re expecting a call ortext and this means your sleep will be lighter,’ explains sleep expert Dr.
NeilStanley.” This is not the only way thattechnology is robing sleep from people. Technology has bright screens which isfine during the day but it can be very harmful in the evening and night. Thebright screen tells our minds that it is not time to go to bed.
It does this bysuppressing the production of a hormone called melatonin and this is the hormonewhich helps us to fall asleep (O’Conner). Technology is also making people feellonely. It is debated on whether technology more specifically social networksare causing loneliness or if lonely people just turn to social media (Holmes).
This is a serious concern because lonelinesscan cause someone to seek negative attention or get depressed. Technology alsocauses addictions and making the addictions more available. Some of theaddictions related to technology is gambling, online relationships, gaming andonline shopping. However “The root cause of these addictions may lie in otherpsychological problems such as anxiety, depression or previous addictivebehavior these users have” (Patterson). The largest concern with cyber addictionsis that they can be done with some anonymity. This is concerning because theanonymity makes people bolder and more aggressive when doing their addictions.Another concern with cyber addictions is that they can easily go unnoticed andunchecked even though they are just as dangerous as other addictions (Patterson).This is concerning because we want people to overcome their addictions and notbecome bolder when pursuing it.
Overall technology user’s emotional health isbecoming worse due to technology. Physical, social and emotional health are all deterioratingdue to excessive technology use. Technology is causing weaker relationships inhomes, work and with friends. All of these are contributors to poor socialhealth.
Technology is also causing troubles with emotional health. Loneliness,sleep loss and addictions are proof of our deteriorating emotional health.There is also our physical health to be considered. Technology is hurting ourjoints, eyes and causing diseases. Technology clearly has its bad sides too. Societyis being affected by technology but dose our society understand fully theeffects of technology? WorkCitedChelala,Cesar. “Health Risks of Electronic Devices.
” The Women’s InternationalPerspective, 12 July2015, thewip.net/2015/07/12/health-risks-of-electronic-devices/. Holmes, Lindsay.
“SneakyWays Technology Is Messing With Your Body And Mind.” HuffPost Canada, HuffPostCanada, 6 Dec. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.
ca/entry/health-effects-of-technol_n_6263120.Koshuta, John. “What IsSocial Health? – Definition & Examples.” Study.com, Study.com,study.
com/academy/lesson/what-is-social-health-definition-examples.html. O’Connor, Michele. “Fromneck problems to hearing loss: How technology might affect your health.”Express.co.uk, Express.
co.uk, 16 Jan. 2016, www.express.
co.uk/life-style/health/634318/Smartphone-tablet-gadgets-effect-health. Patterson, Susan. “7 Ways Electronics QuietlyHarm Our Mental Health.
” Off The Grid News, www.offthegridnews.com/alternative-health/7-ways-electronics-quietly-harm-our-mental-health/.
Swingle, Mark K. “Community,Communication, Digital Meditation, and Friendship.” i-Minds, New SocietyPublishers, 2016, pp. 179–189.”The Negative Effects ofElectronics on Human Health.
” Green Lifestyle Market, 3 Aug. 2014, www.greenlifestylemarket.com/blog/the-negative-effects-of-electronics-on-human-health/.
