Cell phones in today's society are crucial aspects of everyday life, yet often times they overwhelmingly consume the generation most affected by them, "Generation Alpha."
Thinking back to what life was like when I was a child, cell phones had no role whatsoever and for that, I am so thankful. When I got my first phone in the eighth grade, a cobalt blue Samsung Intensity II, I could not have been more excited. Nowadays if a middle schooler was given a slide-out phone with a keyboard they would immediately snuff their nose at the gift.
My generation was the last to grow up without being handed a smartphone to keep our crying infant selves quiet in the waiting rooms. We still can remember what life was like before smartphones overruled the world.
The world of technology is ever changing for the better, but the attachment to cell phones is not necessarily a step in the right direction. This addiction to smartphones is creating real social problems for children and real action needs to be taken.
Young children today rarely crave to spend their free time outdoors like people my age and older, rather they beg for technology time. I wish there was a way to reverse this trend completely, but unfortunately what's done is done. Even if parents try their hardest to not let technology play a big role in the raising of their children, it still will affect their kids' upbringing.
The "Glass Generation" as Flux Trends puts it, spends all their free time trapped behind the screens of their smartphones, laptops, and tablets and, "these children are expected to be the wealthiest, most highly-educated and technologically-connected group to date" according to Khumo Theko. While I myself am also guilty of doing this at times, especially as a college student where 95% of my schoolwork has to be completed online, I love any chance I have to get away from the screens.
I have an appreciation for life detached from the world of social media and I hope Generation Alpha / "Glass Generation" can grow to become less dependent on technology.
