Rufina Juarez
Eng. 109-Posey
WP #5
October 7, 2013
Word Count: 1049
Addiction to Technology Technology has increased very fast over the years. Now everything is done by computer or just with a call, when it used to take so long to send a letter nowadays sending a text message is more fast and easy. This benefits us because it makes life more practical and modern. When someone says they have an addiction, most people might think that an addiction is just cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. Unfortunately, not knowing how to use technology adequately might cause an addiction. People that spend too much time on technologies don’t have a social life, which makes them become isolated. And they must do something to stop it before it is a bigger issue. Those technologies are videos games, cell phones, and TV. If you ask a child what he wants for Christmas, he is probably going to say an Xbox, a Play Station, or a Nintendo DS. Parents would do anything just to see their children happy and sometimes they do so without thinking about the consequences of their acts. A child, or another person, that plays too much video games could be addicted to it without knowing it. Michele Steinberg author of article, “21st Century Science & Technology,” states that, “Video Games and Video Violence: an Unregulated Industry That Deliberately Addicts Children, Turns Some of Them into Killers, and Piously Defends Its First Amendment Rights” (16-22). But that’s not all, besides they become addicted they also become violent. This article states that there have been some cases of murder that are caused by children and young people that learned those skills from the video games they play. Some children and young people are so addicted to video games that they forgot about the entire world and they get into their own world. Preferring to stay at home than go out and take fresh air, playing soccer, or doing any other physical activity. They can also meet people from another country with their Play Station. This makes them not want to go out and have contact with other people, and so they become insolated. Parents should give them a specific time to play and limit the use, in that way children and young people can avoid to become addicted to video games. Another technology that can be an addiction to our society are the cell phones. Now having a smart phone is like having a computer in the hands. Which we can do practically everything through it; make a call, send a text, surf the Internet, take photos, record video, and so much more. But exceeding the limits of using the cell phones could not be good. Some people use their phones to the extreme, when they are driving, at school, or at work. And they don’t think about the consequences that might bring. Teddi Dineley Johnson, author of “Excessive Texting, Social Networking Linked to Health Risks for Teenagers,” clarifies that, “hyper-texters and hyper-networkers are more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, binge drink, use illicit drugs, have sex and report more sexual partners, among other poor health outcomes.” Those teenagers that are addicted to text and to the network are more likely to consume drugs and don’t have a good health. Also there have been car accidents because they were using their phones while they were driving. Teddi Diney, also states that “hyper-networking and hyper-texting were both highly related to health risks, hyper-networkers were at especially high risk for stress, depression, suicide, substance use, fighting, poor sleep, poor academic performance, high television viewing and parental permissiveness.” People that use too much cell phone are more likely to lead to suicide, to be stress, or to be depression. These are some diseases that been addicted to a cell phone might bring. People that are addicted to cell phone should have willpower to stop with this addiction, but it is not enough they will need help and get a treatment. In the other hand, a cell phone is a big tool that