I have currently been attempting to write this column for the last three hours. I began thinking about it at precisely 6:14 pm, and then I got caught up in television, Facebook, eating food, drinking coffee, and crazy, immature roommates. But now I'm settled and have decided on a topic. So, here we go.
The other day, I was texting my sister. We were discussing classes, and I commented on how her life was going to be far harder than mine with the major she was taking. Two minutes later, she had responded that this was a mean thing to say and that her classes were in fact harder than mine. It took me a moment to understand what was going on. I hadn't meant to insult her at all, and yet somehow she was. And then I realized- she thought that I was being sarcastic. Fail one of cell phones. If I had only called her, we would have avoided this situation entirely.
College often confronts individuals with difficult situations, whether they are with friendships, roommates, boyfriends, or relationships. Within each of those mediums, fights often occur, or sticky situations, things that happened over the weekend that you would rather not face or talk about. So, you do a coup out. You text your friends to apologize or send a Facebook chat to the group that you stood up last night, all the while never having to meet with any individual face to face, thereby avoiding a difficult situation.
I'll admit to doing it a number of times. I tend to not like confrontations or putting myself in situations where it's awkward. I would rather text someone a one-worded apology than call them and truly figure out the situation. I'm not proud of those moments because I have learned the importance of being able to talk to individuals, of being able to confront a difficult situation with a verbal voice instead of an electronic one.
The scariest part of all of this is that my generation is so enthralled with electronics and so used to communicating through those devices that something as basic as carrying on a simple phone conversation is impossible. Even more frightening is the generation just behind mine. My younger sister is a social butterfly, but I can't remember the last time I actually talked to her on the phone instead of through text. Instead of mothers yelling at their teen daughters for racking up the phone bill, they are yelling at them for sending 3,467 texts when they only paid for 200. My mom always muses aloud what our generation is going to do when we work in an office and need to discuss tactical plans with our boss, or carry on a conversation at a social luncheon – we aren't going to be able to do something as simple as talk about the weather without stumbling over our words because we can't use our fingers to type them out.
But younger kids lacking social skills isn't the only problem here. Bullying is another major one. Anything with a screen can be used to hide behind. Just in the last five years online bullying has become a huge problem, equal to America's debt and the war in Afghanistan. It's a frequent story in the news, and it's always the same one: a kid is bullied through the internet, and this ultimately leads to depression and suicide. People aren't immediately aware of the hurt they are causing because they can't see it. They can post a comment on the web and walk away without getting an immediate reaction. Meanwhile, those that are being attacked cannot get away from the words. Home isn't an escape, it is a prison.
Apple just came out with the iPad 2, a paper sized device that can live stream videos, support in-depth gaming, and even has a web camera to live-chat with others. I actually think it's an awesome product, but it's also one more to add to the long list of devices that are beginning to rule and dominate our world. So, while these inventions have their ups, I think there are a lot of downs, too. My sister isn't going stop texting anytime soon, but I plan on calling her from now on, if only so she doesn't read my words wrong and end up insulted.
