In today's society technology is a vital part of our everyday lives whether we like to use it or not. Every year that goes by there are more technological advancements that help make different aspects of your lives a lot easier. My generation was born in a time where we are considered digital natives. This means that we were born with computers and technology since we were born and did not need to be taught how to use computers later on in life. Having access and the need for computers in and out of school made it mandatory for our age group to learn how to use this skill early on while growing up. When I was in first grade, at the age of seven is when I first had access to a computer at home. My parents thought it would be a good idea to invest in buying a computer for my siblings and me at home to help us with our studies. I remember when we first got the computer my parents were extremely strict on what I could use it for. At first, I used the computer at home to help me improve my reading and writing skills since I struggled with reading comprehension as a student growing up throughout the elementary school. This first allowed me to see technology in a positive way because it was a tool I had access to use at home and at school to help me improve both my reading and writing skills considering the fact I struggled a lot academically at the time.
Since I started to use technology early on during elementary school for academic support I have always viewed technology as a positive component in my everyday life. Throughout the years I continued to use it to help with my studies. Eventually, as new programs were added every year the computer we had at home was used as a resource and a way to help with any class. When I started to struggle later on in my academic career with math it allowed me to help improve my skills with the calculator feature and a program that helped me a lot throughout the years called Khan Academy. Since technology in my life helped me better myself as a student I always viewed it to be a healthy aspect of my life.
As I got older and the use of social media became more popular and used by many people my age it was the only time that I would ever consider technology to be unhealthy. Since I knew so many people that were very close to me get cyberbullied this is the only time I ever considered the use of technology to be a negative component in life. This was the first time I ever thought about how technology could be a negative aspect. Since people were able to hide behind a screen and be mean to people anonymously through programs like Ask.FM, it caused a lot of people to become depressed and anxious. Eventually, when people started to bring awareness to how cyberbullying could really upset someone badly it eventually started to improve. Anyone who bullied anyone via online was held accountable for their actions since it was such a horrible thing that occurred way too often at the time.
I remember when I was in middle school and throughout high school my favorite time of the year was summer. Growing up I attended a sleepaway camp where the use of technology including phones, iPods, laptops, and pads were strictly prohibited. This was honestly one of my favorite parts about summer camp because it gave me a way to disconnect from the outside world. It allowed me to grow as a person tremendously by not having any access or form of communication through texting, phone calls, and social media. All my friends also agreed with me one of the best parts about summer camp was just not to worry about how many likes or who followed you. The little things that come along with the use of social media that stress many people out for no reason. I loved to be able to talk to my friends in person and be able to not worry about anything other than having fun with my friends at camp. I will always say even to this day that going to summer camp and being able to disconnect is one of the best ways for my friends and me during the summer to improve mental health. I always felt anxious-free over the summer and felt overall happier.
My Online Footprint
Even though I am someone personally who loves to disconnect from the outside world and enjoys taking breaks from technology, it is still very important to have around as well. Being in college it has been very important to have access to computers to help with all my assignments in many of my classes. Especially since I am a strategic communication major, there is a lot of classes that require programs to help with audio and video editing. I do have an online presence but compared to my peers I would say not as much compared to them. I do have a few social media accounts but I am not that active on them on the daily basis. My digital footprint shows that my actions online are noticeable and present but lack a lot of information googling myself. Since I do not have a lot of accounts and the account I do have are private it is hard to find me on the web. Technology has been around my entire life and has helped me in a lot positive ways overall but even to this day, I will always be someone who enjoys a break from access to technology as well.