“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” – Christian Lous Lange

How often are you on your phone? Do you check it during class? Do you scroll Facebook while at dinner with your friends? Has it become a barrier between you and what you should be doing?

Recently, I have noticed how often people are on their phones. At dinner with my friends, they often all have their faces buried in their screens, not interested in starting a conversation (we just eat in silence a lot of the time). At chapel, every single person I saw this week seemed to be on his phone the entire time, not even pretending to pay attention. Even in class — classes that they pay good money to be in and are is probably very important for their future— everyone still seems to be preoccupied with their phones. I have friends who will send me Snapchats during class; I have seen people scroll Facebook, read articles, play games or even watch videos during class.

We have become a society that can’t put their phones down. People have used cell phones for so long that they have forgotten how to communicate with others apart from technology, and they easily get bored or anxious when they haven’t checked their phone in a while. They just can’t seem to put their phones down.

Why is this? Why can’t we have a real conversation with someone without picking up our phone? Why are the preferred methods of communication online and not real-life, face-to-face conversations?

If you stop communicating with your friends, you will lose them. No one wants to be friends with someone who won’t even talk to them. Do yourself a favor, and put your phone down! Your friends will appreciate it.

“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” -Albert Einstein