Everywhere you go, it is typical to see someone with their eyes glued to the screen of their smartphone. These gadgets do simple things such as texting, taking pictures, going on social media accounts, and finding directions. Technology first boomed in 1995, and in 2017 it is predicted that one-third of the world will have some type of technological device. To some people, they are vital to everyday life, but are they actually that helpful?

 Computers and smartphones are used for things such as staying in touch with family and friends and doing work. They are an extremely helpful way to communicate with people around the world through email or social media accounts. Writing a letter seems to take too much time and effort while an email can be sent in two seconds. Many students and people in the workplace rely on their computers to get them through the day. It is easy to do research for school papers or make charts and diagrams for your meeting at work with a device. Computers and smartphones do most of the work for us while we just control the device. Compared to decades ago when our grandparents had to look up all of their information in the library, we are just one click away from what we need.

 In addition to all of the wonderful things that technology can do today, it also causes major problems. Although the internet helps people stay in touch around the world, bullying is that much easier. Hiding one’s identity behind a social media account is effortless and happens all around the world. If there were not a thing such as social media accounts, it would not be so easy for others to attack our personal lives. Speaking of social media, although this is a way for our community to stay connected, we are farther apart than ever before. A loss of communication is the number one problem with technology today. Many people can be seen gathered together yet staring at their phone screens. Another difficulty with our innovations is the safety of the users. The  Galaxy Note 7 by Samsung has been known to blow up and was even banned from airplanes in late 2016. Technology has even gone as far as taking lives. It all started when humans began making the more advanced technology such as rockets, boats, and airplanes. On many occasions, these forms of transportation have been deadly by malfunctioning in our time of need.

 Even after all of the trouble that technology brings, many people still believe it does more good than bad. Freshman Xavier Terrell said, “Without these technological advancements, our world wouldn’t be able to accomplish the things we have, such as curing illnesses and going to the moon.” In this aspect, it is helpful to society as a whole. Senior Sam Ndukwe said, “The technology that we have today allows us to develop things we need such as medicine and makes communicating with others easier.” Technological advances have found prevention to diseases such as tetanus and measles. Also, with dozens of apps and websites used to connect with others, there has been a significant increase in communication over the past twenty years.