Technology: A Waste of Time?

     I am used to growing up with parents and others who never cease to say phrases such as, "Staring at that screen will turn you into a zombie if you don't stop soon!", "You'll never have a life if you spend so much time on video games!", and "You should be spending more time outside!" While all of these came from a well-meaning concern for my health and success (and in most cases very likely helped me to live a healthier lifestyle), they still created a sort of stigmatization in me. This stigma has basically been telling me my whole life that "technology = bad" regardless of whether or not that was the message that was intended to be conveyed.

    This childhood experience has led me to believe that simply regulating technology use is not an effective approach. Rather, I think much more time needs to be spent on teaching kids (and adults for that matter) how to properly manage technology in their lives. There are so many wonderful and useful tools in technology for finding knowledge, entertainment, communication, and much more. however, improper management and responsibility when dealing with technology can be highly counter-productive, time-consuming, and harmful. The recent digital age has made it abundantly clear that technology will only become increasingly prevalent in our lives, so it has become all the more important to learn and teach how to effectively and healthily navigate a technological world.