Technology is not the cause for all your problems. It can be easy to blame, but self-control is key.
On Jan. 6, a 32-year-old man was found dead at an Internet café in Taiwan. He was on the third day of a gaming binge. One of the café’s employees found him motionless on a table, and he was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead as a result of prolonged computer gaming.
He was a regular customer who would stay in the café days at a time.When he would get tired, he would doze off for a little while or put his head face-down onto the table.
Tragic events like this don’t happen often, but this could be an up-and-coming epidemic — this is the second time it’s happened in Taiwan this year.
This story just helps my parents prove their “when I was your age, I wasn’t glued to a screen” argument. Every middle-aged person says the same thing: We didn’t even know what technology was. We never tweeted. We were outside socializing.”
Congratulations to them, but when they were my age, they didn’t have a phone to be glued to or a Twitter to tweet from. Times have changed and are still changing as we speak. What’s the point in this new day and age if you’re still going to look in the phonebook to find Papa John’s Pizza’s number?
Isn’t that what Siri is for?
Even though our smartphones may serve as a distraction, they aren’t to blame. These little gadgets help us with virtually everything. They allow us to shop without the hassle of crowds, find sources without traveling to the library, see exactly where Tiger Trails is, pre-order our food so it’s ready before we get there and so on.
Technology was obviously put in this world for us to use. We would be crazy if we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities it provides us with.
If you know that eating Chick-fil-A every day will make you gain 15 pounds in one week, you probably won’t eat it that often. That’s when your self-control kicks in,7 and instead of getting that spicy chicken sandwich meal, you’ll grab a smoothie from Jamba Juice instead.
The same idea applies to technology.
Look at technology as your friend. Some of us can be around our friends 24/7, and others need to take breaks from each other.
Instead of tweeting your friends who live five minutes away, try walking over there and hanging out for a change. And if you continue to miss all of your notes in class because you’re too busy on Snapchat, you should probably turn your phone off (Gasp!) and put it in your school bag.
If you find the technological universe is starting to take over your life, take a break for a few days. Practice some self-control.
Clarke Perkins is a 19-year-old political science freshman from New Orleans, Louisiana. You can reach her on Twitter @ClarkePerkins.