One step forward, two steps back?
By Karissa Kelly, intern writer, Castle View High School
I was recently engaged in a discussion among high school students about the advancement of society and it struck a chord with me. People were excitedly shouting out reasons why our society “advances” as time goes on. “We are always coming up with new ideas, inventions and technologies,” one student stated. Many others voiced similar statements.
However, after spending many minutes listening to my peers express their opinions, I kept coming back to the same question: “What is a society’s progression really based on?” These days in America, the dramatic rates that divorce and suicide approach are startling.
New inventions and technologies sound great for a society in theory, but in regards to relationships, it is like taking one step forward and two steps back. Children spend many hours of their free time playing on a computer, iPod or cell phone every day. They invest their time in these games and social networking sites instead of playing outside or spending time with their families. And if we are honest with ourselves, adults probably have the same problems as well. People alienate themselves and that is not healthy for a society.
It is interesting because the divorce rate of today is excessively higher than it was fifty years ago. But were they less advanced because they did not have as many things as we do? Cell phones were unheard of; let alone iPhones, iPods, video games, Facebook, etc.
People have become more independent through technology and it seems as though it is more about competition than cooperation. Individuals typically strive to have the biggest and best thing. Technology rapidly becomes outdated; therefore people come to be unsatisfied with what they have.
Don’t get me wrong; inventions are powerful tools to society. However, the way people center their lives around these materialistic items instead of building relationships is what causes damage to the advancement of our society.
Relationships are the backbone to a society and what gives it the power to advance. As great as they seem, new-and-improved items could never replace the importance of a relationship. Society will advance when people do not lose sight of the things which really matter in their lives.
