OPINION
BY JAKOB LENKER, Freshman
In our modern day society, we use electronics. Cell phones, computers and tablets are examples of electronics we use daily. But using all these devices so often has a price.
Just imagine being at a party, and wanting to catch up with some friends. Sadly, everybody is on their phones, using Instagram or Twitter. This has happened to me several times, and it has probably happened to many others.
Let me put it simply; we need to use less electronics.
They destroy our relationships, and we don’t want this to happen.
I’m not saying electronics are all bad. In fact, there are many awesome things about electronics. What I’m saying is we need to use them less and go back to face to face interaction.
Let me talk about some of the problems electronics can cause.
Research from the Pew Research Center has shown 90 percent of young adults use social media sites every day. Also, one out of four people has been found to spend more time using social media than interacting face to face.
Using social media so often can lead to social incapability. Think about it, if you’re always texting somebody, and you never talk to them, then it will be awkward face to face.
Research from Victoria L. Dunckley, M.D., shows excessive use of video games and watching television wreaks havoc on your brain. Staring at a screen for hours on end can lead to cerebral atrophy, which causes brain to lose grey matter.
This will lead into a loss of concentration and memory, and can lead to depression.
Technology can even harm our sleep patterns. Experts from the National Sleep Foundation have shown using electronics in the bedroom before sleeping is harmful to getting enough rest.
The suprachiasmatic nucleus, a small region of the brain which regulates sleep, is alerted by all the bright lights of technology. These signals tell our brain, ‘It’s bright, so I need to stay awake’, according to many leading scientists.
Staying awake longer leads to going to sleep later, which equates to waking up later, or sacrifice precious hours of sleep, which is also bad for us.
Another problem, one out of four parents sent or read text messages, emails or other electronics communications after they had initially gone to sleep at least once in the week.
Also, the World Forum for Medicine has found a link between obesity and televisions in bedrooms. They found one less hour of sleep per child resulted in 28 percent of them being overweight and obese.
Even worse, 95 percent of people use electronics after getting under the covers, searches showed, disrupting our sleep patterns.
Along with affecting our sleep, electronics have caused us to be less active.
Graphic Designer, Jason Lenker laments about how his job affects him physically.
“Being as sedentary as I am in my job really is not good for my physical health, which is something I dislike,” Lenker said.
Nicolas Stettler, a pediatric nutrition in Philadelphia has studied the link between obesity and electronics, and said “To our knowledge this study provides the strongest evidence for an independent association between time spent playing electronic games and childhood obesity.”
He found every hour spent in front of a television can double the likelihood of obesity in each child.
Readers, hear my plea. Please stop using electronics so often.
Avoid them as much as much as possible, because for most of the time, we are better off without them.
Instead, go running, go read, go spend time with your family. I’m just asking everybody to go do something. Make a difference in your life.
We all can change our ways. We just need to get off our phones before we can make the change.
