As our society gets more and more media and technologically reliant, we integrate technology as a more core part of our lives. This can help our society improve faster, communicate ideas better over long distances, and generally make the world a better place in general. However, during AP Government, we talked about how desperate we were as a society to get entertainment from broadcast media. Attention spans these days are a mere fraction of what they used to be, and with children growing up in this fast-paced world, that statistic doesn’t seem to be improving anytime soon. I really wanted to understand how addicted or reliant I was on technology, because I didn’t want to be one of those “mindless drones” that spent all day on their phone. So, I took up the assignment of giving up broadcast media (TV, Phone, Radio, Computer) for my own benefit (as well as for the benefit of my grade).
Initially, I was really hesitant to give up my phone and all things Media for a day. I already knew that I was pretty reliant on my phone to distract me whenever my depression kicked in. I was really worried that I would be worse off whenever I couldn’t use my phone whenever my mind was really idle. However, I also realized that doing this assignment would help me figure out just how reliant I was, and I figured that taking a short break from technology would put me on the right track towards making me more self reliant, and, hopefully, help me towards recovery from this emotional slump I’ve been in for the past couple of months. That helped encourage me to participate, and turn my phone in. Besides, I figured I would just use my iPad if it got really bad, and come clean the next day about using it.
Surprisingly, the day went really smoothly, and there wasn’t really any issue. Whenever I was bored in class, and needed something to distract me, I started observing the habits of my classmates, and I found lots of people who were on their phones, and, occasionally, sleeping. It was interesting to see how I looked to other people when I was on my phone during class. I also was probably a bit more productive without my phone to distract me. The hardest part probably came when I had to go to Midland for fencing (which, side note here, was really fun). The commute there actually wasn’t that bad, but I didn’t realize how weird the car ride would be without music, either from the radio or my phone. It was essentially just half an hour of talking, which wasn’t bad. I talked to my parents about the structuring of the elections that are happening right now, and we discussed what we thought of the results, and possible results to come(It was mostly me telling them about what we had discussed in class that day, since they don’t really participate in politics, being non-citizens and non-voters). The hard part was the return from Midland. The weather on the way back was pretty bad, so I didn’t want to distract my dad from driving, and my mom was too busy yelling at my dad to be careful. It was REALLY boring. I was just sitting in the backseat, and because I had driven the road from Midland a bunch already, there wasn’t really anything interesting or new to see. I was surprised, though, that I wasn’t really depressed for the duration of the trip, just bored. It was also a similar story when I went to bed. I normally listen to random things as I fall asleep, because I fall asleep better when it’s not 100% quiet. Again, it wasn’t really bad or depressing, it was just a weird feeling not having something playing while I fell asleep.
After this experiment, I think I have a better grasp of how I personally rely on technology, and how my technological reliance isn’t as overbearing and oppressive as I may have thought. This was pretty easy, and the times I really wanted to use my phone were mainly for practical stuff, like grade and email checking. However, I still do love my technology, and I probably wouldn't do this without some sort of external motivation.
Initially, I was really hesitant to give up my phone and all things Media for a day. I already knew that I was pretty reliant on my phone to distract me whenever my depression kicked in. I was really worried that I would be worse off whenever I couldn’t use my phone whenever my mind was really idle. However, I also realized that doing this assignment would help me figure out just how reliant I was, and I figured that taking a short break from technology would put me on the right track towards making me more self reliant, and, hopefully, help me towards recovery from this emotional slump I’ve been in for the past couple of months. That helped encourage me to participate, and turn my phone in. Besides, I figured I would just use my iPad if it got really bad, and come clean the next day about using it.
Surprisingly, the day went really smoothly, and there wasn’t really any issue. Whenever I was bored in class, and needed something to distract me, I started observing the habits of my classmates, and I found lots of people who were on their phones, and, occasionally, sleeping. It was interesting to see how I looked to other people when I was on my phone during class. I also was probably a bit more productive without my phone to distract me. The hardest part probably came when I had to go to Midland for fencing (which, side note here, was really fun). The commute there actually wasn’t that bad, but I didn’t realize how weird the car ride would be without music, either from the radio or my phone. It was essentially just half an hour of talking, which wasn’t bad. I talked to my parents about the structuring of the elections that are happening right now, and we discussed what we thought of the results, and possible results to come(It was mostly me telling them about what we had discussed in class that day, since they don’t really participate in politics, being non-citizens and non-voters). The hard part was the return from Midland. The weather on the way back was pretty bad, so I didn’t want to distract my dad from driving, and my mom was too busy yelling at my dad to be careful. It was REALLY boring. I was just sitting in the backseat, and because I had driven the road from Midland a bunch already, there wasn’t really anything interesting or new to see. I was surprised, though, that I wasn’t really depressed for the duration of the trip, just bored. It was also a similar story when I went to bed. I normally listen to random things as I fall asleep, because I fall asleep better when it’s not 100% quiet. Again, it wasn’t really bad or depressing, it was just a weird feeling not having something playing while I fell asleep.
After this experiment, I think I have a better grasp of how I personally rely on technology, and how my technological reliance isn’t as overbearing and oppressive as I may have thought. This was pretty easy, and the times I really wanted to use my phone were mainly for practical stuff, like grade and email checking. However, I still do love my technology, and I probably wouldn't do this without some sort of external motivation.