When I was in high school, I volunteered at a clinic, and sometimes I signed up to sit on a bench with two other volunteers and wheel people to and from their cars when they came for their appointments. Usually, my fellow volunteers were much older than me. As a 17-year-old, my companions appeared to be in their 50s, 60s, or even 70s. For most of them, volunteering had become a new favorite pass time in their retirement.
I have many memories of the stories my fellow volunteers told me and the wisdom they left me with, but one experience in particular always stuck with me. At one point, a girl my age walked out of the clinic and an older volunteer sitting next to me watched her as she pulled out her cell phone immediately upon walking out of the clinic's doors. He smiled at me and said, "Look at that! Those kids are always so quick to pull out their cell phones. When I was young, we spent time outside. Technology has destroyed the way our kids act."
The girl continued to stand outside the clinic for about five minutes until a car pulled up, and she climbed inside. I realized that the girl hadn't pulled out her phone to check her social media or even text a friend. Instead, she had texted her mom to come and pick her up. Despite her good intention, she had received criticism for using technology for a seemingly righteous act.
Why do we talk about technology in a bad light despite all of the good things it has brought to our society?
It turns out, people have had a pessimistic attitude about new technology for years. We all have done it to ourselves or someone around us. As someone in a relationship, I often criticize my significant other for spending too much time on his cell phone or playing video games. In the past, however, wives criticized their husbands for spending too much time reading the newspaper. “You come in and plunk yourself down in a chair and start to read your newspaper and don’t even say a word. You act as though I’m not even here.”
For years and years, new technology has been criticized as affecting humans negatively. Things such as bicycles, pencil erasers, novels, radios, and even chess have received criticism. Can you imagine being upset with your child for spending too much time reading a novel or playing a game of chess? It turns out, this was a reality when chess was first invented.
When I first learned this in my Psych 532 class, it changed the way I think about people who play video games. As I had mentioned earlier, my significant other often plays video games, and it used to bother me, to no end. I thought of video games as something that wastes time. However, when I found that people used to speak the same way about the game of chess, I tried to reconsider how playing video games with his friends may actually benefit him. He’s communicating with friends. He’s using leadership skills. He’s planning and making strategies. As long as this activity is done is moderation, it’s not harming a thing. I simply view video games as a waste of time because that’s how my parents have talked of technology for my whole life. Since I grew up with this ideology, I never stopped to consider how this game may actually benefit someone.
Throughout my life, I know I will see many technological advances. My children and my children’s children might own something that does not even exist yet. Going forward, I hope to approach these technologies with an open mind. I hope to consider how they benefit society before I criticize how they may harm us.