There is no doubt in my mind that the numerous advancements society has made in the communications field of technology has helped many people around the world.

That much is obvious, even in every day life.

Options such as text messaging, FaceTime and Skype provide convenient ways in which to keep in contact with loved ones, and even ways in which to form new friendships.

However, according to recent studies, the amount of this technology that is being used among the younger generation could very well be hindering the development of person to person social skills.

Having to interact with someone over a webcam is not the same as interacting with a person in real life.

I strongly agree with this. I do not believe that students of middle school age, and younger, should be exposed to so many ways to communicate via technology.

I can remember being around 13 or younger, and the only reason I would use technology to speak with friends was in order to set up a play date.

Now, though, cell phones and computers are primary ways of speaking with supposedly close friends.

It is understandable to want to use instant messaging and text messages to keep in contact, but to constantly be using these methods so that they turn into replacements for actual human interaction is completely unnecessary.

In fact, I see this topic as being rather loosely comparable to placing one’s children in public school or keeping them home to teach them there.

Interacting with a person, face-to-face, is similar to being placed in a public school.

You get placed in situations that you are then forced to deal with as they happen.

From dealing with these situations, you gain a certain amount of experience that allows you to continue to grow when communicating with others in similar situations.

With home school, meanwhile, the social interactions that public school students deal with is severely limited.

This, then, aids in the prevention of the development of every day communication skills.

Young people communicating via technology instead of face-to-face works much the same way.

There are not many benefits that come out of Skyping with your best friend from eighth grade while you are still in eighth grade.

I believe it is much more beneficial to engage in face-to-face interaction, instead of having several devices and an Internet connection between two people.

Basing my opinion on my own experiences, I always preferred being with my friends at that point in my life, instead of just talking to them over AOL instant messager, and because of that, I still find it more enjoyable to be with my friends to this day.

Teenagers who are being inundated with every type of communication except for legitimate conversations will simply not place quite as much importance on said conversations as they should.
These limitations not only affect their social lives, but also extend into possible future employment opportunities.

Technology is highly used in many jobs today, but I believe that more jobs would find the ability to carry on a conversation in person more valuable than the ability to quickly type out and send an email.

This is why I believe that the younger generation should put less emphasis on technology, and more emphasis on the real world.

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