Introduction
Technology plays a very important role in making our lives comfortable and easy. We use technology every day and everywhere in order to fulfill our needs and wants. The development of technologies, such as the broadband internet and the routinization of mobile phones, has helped people to communicate and connect with each other more easily by overcoming geographical conditions and time lags. Moreover, this technology penetrates into one of the most fundamental links of human beings, family relationships, and can be seen to have a great influence on the daily life and communication style of family members. As with other relationships, such as friendship, the use of sundry devices and software in a digital environment can help to improve communication among family members and help them to connect more uniformly. On the one hand, however, it has a potentially negative effect on family relationships.
The negative impact of technology on family life
The influences of popular culture and technology in teenager’s relationship have affected the divide between traditional roles that children and their parents play, at the same time, the same lines between parents and children is indistinct. This divide has increased because of the growing use of technology among kids. Mostly, children absorb technology by playing video games and sending and receiving messages with their friends or parents. Media is the most powerful force in young people’s lives. 8-18 years old children spend more time with media than in other activities. Media provides a lot of things to people that they need and want such as TV shows they watch, games they play, songs they listen to, books they read, and websites they visit. These are a broad part of their lives. The amount of time that both children and adults spend using media devices can help to indicate the role that media plays in family life. For mobile media, more than half of teenagers have their own mobile phone which is 66% of all 8 to 18 years old children. On average, 8 to 18 years old kids spend about 33 minutes talking on a mobile phone, and about an hour and a half sending and receiving text messages daily (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010, p. 18) For online media Hughes and Hans found that families with children are more likely to have computers and Internet access than those without children. On average, the amount of time 8- to 18-year-olds spend using the computer daily is about an hour and a half, excluding school work. Similar to television, computers and the Internet also have the potential for encouraging independence and singularity or being used as a means of socializing and connecting. One could say that although Facebook is considered “entertainment” it is also a means of social and communal activity. (1)
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In America, the use of media has increased over the past 10 years. In the past 5 years, TV content has increased by 38 minutes, 47 minutes a day for music and other audio, for the computer 27 minutes has raised from the past 5 years, and increases 24 minutes a day for video games. During this time period, spending time on reading has reduced from 43 to 38 minutes, not a statistically important change. (2) This information is quite out of date however, many people are still spending a lot of time on social media, probably more recently. “Adolescents can see the impact of technologies on family dynamics as both positive and negative. Interestingly, the views of participants on these issues were similar around the world, suggesting there may be opportunities for countries to collaborate in creating solutions to support families in making effective use of technologies.” (3) There are some examples of adolescents’ opinions about the negative impact of digital devices
“I got on bad terms with my mom for spending too much time with digital devices and not spending enough time on school studies.” GIRL, 13, REPUBLIC OF KOREA
“I have argued with my family because I didn’t fulfill my responsibilities due to my distraction with the laptop.” GIRL, 14, URUGUAY
“When mum switches her computer on to work at home, she has no time to talk to us.” GIRL, 18, BURUNDI
“My family tends to spy on my private life through social media. In consequence, we fight over misunderstandings.” GIRL, 16, TUNISIA(4)
In order to reduce these problems parents and children have to make their own plans for the use of media. I think the media has to work for us and within the family values and parenting methods. When used appropriately, media can upgrade our daily life. Furthermore, setting limits for media will be very helpful. Like all other activities, digital device use should have reasonable limits.
The positive impact of technology on family life
The use of modern technology in our home is normally chosen to make life more comfortable, such as the use of a vacuum cleaner to clean the home quicker and a microwave is very useful for reheating cooked foods and cooking. There are technologies for entertainment, also. For instance, TV, gaming equipment, and computer. Technology and the internet at home allow family members to work flexibly within the workplace and work hours. Valkenburg’s study has shown that communication online in adolescents was linked with time spent with friends and the quality of these friendships positively. (5)
This chart shows that majorities (86%) of internet users in all countries surveyed say they stay in touch with friends and family online. Less common factors are commercial and career activities, such as searching or applying for a job, making or receiving payments, buying products online, and taking online classes. (6)
Technology provides huge benefits for families which cannot stay with family, especially at long distances. Video chat services can be important services for those families. For example, “FaceTime, Skype has advanced to the point where family members across the globe can connect on a daily basis.”
Most of the respondents think new communication technologies such as the internet and mobile phones influence the quality of communications with family, friends, and colleagues positively. The internet and phones have a good impact on the quality of communications with family members living elsewhere, and the smallest positive impact on work-related communications. Particularly, about half of the respondents in the survey think that new communication technologies have not had an impact on their communications with household members, family members elsewhere, friends, and co-workers. However, only a small percentage of adults feel that these technologies actually reduce the quality of their communications. (7)
Attewell, Suazo-Garcia, and Battle (2003), found in their study that young children who use computers at home scored higher on cognitive and self-esteem measures than children who did not use computers at home. (8)
Researchers found that electronic media, particularly video games, can enhance visual-spatial skills, such as visual tracking, mental rotation, and target localization. Gaming may also improve problem-solving skills (Schmidt & Vandewater, 2008, p. 63). (9)
This evidence is not very clear because they did not specify the researchers exactly and also it is quite out of date however, the study has done by experts. So, I think is pretty reliable.
Technology brings a lot of benefits to us, for example
“I think that the internet brought us closer to those who are far away and pulled us away from those who are close by. Within my family, there are times when we can all be in the same room without saying a single word because each of us is glued to the screen of our smartphone.” GIRL, 16, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
“My mom, she moved to Spain when I was a kid. I can share with her each moment that she or I live every day.” GIRL, 17, PARAGUAY
“Each time we find something interesting on social media it brings up a conversation.” GIRL, 16, TUNISIA(10)
Everything in the world has its advantages and disadvantages. I have chosen this topic, as it sounded very interesting to me. I also had a similar experience there were many times when family communication was cut off because of the mobile online and computer. However, because of the mobile, there were times when we had something to talk about.
When I was in Korea, I did not notice the necessity of mobile phones. After I have come to China, I realized that modern technology has brought a lot of benefits. When I miss my family members, I can call them through video chat services. I think it depends on how we use and where we use technology in real life. As I wrote this report, I learned how technology affects us once again and how other people think about the effects of technology.
Reference
- https://docs.rwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=nyscaproceedings
- https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/8010.pdf
- https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/SOWC_2017_ENG_WEB.pdf
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6453656_Preadolescents'_and_Adolescents'_Online_Communication_and_Their_Closeness_to_Friends
- https://www.pewglobal.org/2015/03/19/internet-seen-as-positive-influence-on-education-but-negative-influence-on-morality-in-emerging-and-developing-nations/
- https://www.pewinternet.org/2008/10/19/the-internet-cell-phones-and-family-communication/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265582308_The_impact_of_technology_on_families
- https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/SOWC_2017_ENG_WEB.pdf
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