Christian Lous Lange once wrote, “Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.”  With where we are at today, we have access to the whole world in just a little pocket device.  We are able to communicate with people halfway across the planet, yet this is affecting us in many negative ways.  So many people today are glued to their smartphones and tablets.  Everyone is guilty of staring at their phones and not verbally communicating with people.  It it so easy to pull a small device out of your pocket and text somebody.  People are losing basic communication skills.  Technology is making people feel more lonely and antisocial.  All though technology has it’s positives like staying connected to the world, it also has many negatives such as  feeling lonely, becoming  antisocial, having negative effects on friends, family, and health, and losing basic communication skills.  Technology has many negatives and is making teens feel more lonely. 

Looking into a school, all that is seen is a bunch of kids sitting at a lunch table gazing into their phones.   According to the New York Times in 2014, 73% of teens in the U.S. have smartphones.  Of those 73%, 19% of teens feel lonely.  It is wondering to think, how could somebody feel lonely if they can be connected to the whole world?  Well, teens are feeling more lonely because they do not get the basic communication with friends.  Instead of a group of friends going out to the movies, they would rather stay at home and watch Netflix.  Even when friends do have parties, they consist of kids all smothered up on a couch going through social media and playing games.  An article by CNN correspondent Matt Johnson in 2015 says that nearly 64% of teens and adults feel that they are addicted to their phones.  I’ll admit, it is very addicting to try to see what some of your friends are up to by checking Facebook or Snapchat. This can also lead to some heated feelings about someone.  A person may post something that could be offensive to the viewer and they might have some hard feelings.  With people constantly checking their smartphone, it it causing us to feel more lonely and antisocial.  Although there are many negatives to owning a smartphone, there also comes some positives. 

There are many positives to owning a smartphone.  It is so easy to keep in touch with friends that have moved away.  According to Zephoria Statistics in 2014, there are 1.86 billion active users a month on facebook!  1.15 billion of those users check facebook on their mobile device.  This is helping keep the world connected and is making communication so easy.  Kids are able to quickly contact their parents by sending them a quick text.  Friends can text about something that may be hard to talk about in person.  They can even help with long distance relationships using programs such as skype.  With the small, compact size of smartphones, they are easy to carry around and can access the same amount of information as a computer these days.  With three fourths of people having quick and easy access to a smartphone, it is easy to stay connected with people.  But, so many people are glued to their devices that it can have a negative impact with friends and family. 

There are so many cases of people staring like a zombie into their phones and not having face to face connections.   Even when a family goes out to eat, everyone is just staring of into the endless electronic abyss.  64% of people who have phones feel they are addicted and have trouble putting down their phones according to a 2015 NY Daily News post..  It is tempting to quickly go on your phone and check facebook real quick.  But, something might catch your eye and then you get side tracked.  This causing you to stay on your phone and not have conversations with people near you.  Now, with the whole world at our fingertips, we can access so much information with a few simple clicks.  It is almost more convenient to stay home and watch Netflix than to go out with your friends and spend some money on a movie ticket.  Teens just isolate themselves on their phone and don’t communicate their emotions with other humans.   Teens and adults feel they are more connected, but are they really?  Being isolated is also having some effects on basic communication skills

As teens grow and develop, it is time for them to start getting jobs and making some money.  But, there is one problem.  They cannot get the job because they don’t have basic communication skills and failed their interview.  Kids are so used to having their head tilted down staring at their phone.  This causing teens to have a tough time making eye contact with the person they are speaking to.  Also, staring at a device can have some effects on the body.  Most teens are slouched over because that’s just what they are used to.  They have a tough time igniting a conversation with adults or other people because they are used to just sitting there staring at their phone.  When asked a question, most teens respond with one word answers.  This can be very hard to talk to since they do not keep the conversation running.  It is hard for an interviewer to hire a teen who looks at the floor, is slouched over in their chair, and only gives one word answers when asked questions. 

In this day and age where kids have access to so many devices, they are losing basic communication skills and are becoming more antisocial.  They are having some negative effects with some of their health issues due to phone gazing all day.  Some teens are even having trouble getting a job because they don’t know how to communicate with other adults.   Some kids would rather stay at home instead of going out and socializing with people they know.   With nearly three fourths of the U.S. saying they are addicted to their devices, it is hard to have a fluent conversation with somebody.  Some kids are feeling more lonely even though they have the whole world at their fingertips.  Even when they are connected, they are missing out on those basic conversations that everyone needs.