Technology - Dangerous or Beneficial
As I look back at the changing technological world, I see a few negatives about some of this technology. First understand technology by itself is not bad or good, it is how it is used and how it has come to be used. Before 1977 when the VHS (video movies) became a consumer good and the time frame that cable television came about the only form of entertainment within the home was a television that had a few channels and radio. Sure there was the phonograph to play records and cassette tapes existed as well. But for the most part there was not enough entertainment within a home to keep people isolated within their home, especially children.
Kids would get out of the house and play whether it be sports or other forms of play. However once the VHS and cable come along kids started spending more and more time within their homes. At about this time too came the video game which was another entertainment draw for kids. Parents prior to this time often encouraged the kids to get out of the house and play, spend time exploring the world so to speak. But about this time that these new forms of entertainment came along parents begin viewing the world as more dangerous for there kids and they quit encouraging there kids to go outside so much. And why not they now had a lot of entertainment in the home, movies to rent and watch, games to play, and look at all those channels on cable television, why would they want to leave it all.
Through the eighties families moved more and more from outside types of entertainment to inside types of entertainment. Then in the early nineties along came the Internet, yes I know the internet has been around since the sixties however, not really for the general public until Microsoft came out with windows 95. This created one more thing to keep the interest of kids in the home, and parents became even more afraid of the outside world especially with all those perverts on the Internet that where just lurking about waiting to grab their kids.
So these are the dangerous technology's that have damage our culture, of course it did not end with these because then the even bigger entertainment grabber came along, the “smart” phone. Now with in home movies 24/7, in home game machines 24/7, in home internet 27/7, why would anyone want to leave there home. Well the “smart” phone allowed people, parents and their kids to leave there house and bring there entertainment with them.
However the fear that parents have instilled within their kids, that there is a stranger hiding around every corner waiting to grab them still remains. Course now parents are telling there kids there is also perverts on the Internet just waiting for them to lure them away from there homes so stay in the house.
Now in some respect parents are right, there are dangers in the world, there are perverts wanting there child, at least one or two and one never knows who those perverts could be, strangers, family, friends, etc. except we now have a government that is using fear to scare parents and kids as well. So technology is good except when it is bad, it’s really our culture which has gone bad, raising kids in fear, becoming afraid of everybody, but then just look at what we see on all that technology, the media teaching everyone to be afraid, be very afraid.
We need to change our attitudes in how we live our life, yes we need to learn to be cautious, we need to be aware of our surrounding, but we also need to not live in fear. Fear only makes life, and our culture more negative. Teach our kids about the dangers that do exist, teach them that fire burns, so stay away from fire, but fire also keeps us warm, teach kids that electricity hurts when we touch it with our bare hands but electricity also has many good uses, it runs all that technology. People can be evil, but most people are good and we need to keep that foremost in our mind.