Computers and Smartphones: Beneficial or Detrimental?

Ryan Sandarage                                                                                                                               10/7/2012
ENG3U
Computers and Smartphones: Beneficial or Detrimental?
Have you ever sat in class waiting for your friend to reply to your text message? Have you ever sat in front of your computer on Facebook chatting with friends with a major assignment due the next day? Many teenagers including myself would respond “yes” to either or both of the questions. These are prime examples of the constant struggle caused by teenager’s over-dependence on their computers and mobile devices. This dependency for using these devices is taking control over the lives of teens.
Teenager’s dependence for their computers and mobile devices is comparable to an essential need. Although we don’t need these devices for our basic survival we use and treat them as if we do. Many would argue that these devices provide many benefits and allows teens to accomplish more, and to be quite frank, they do have many potential benefits. However, teenagers have exploited such potential benefits and have become dependent on them. A study from 2009 showed that the average teenager spent just over 1½ hours texting on cellphones alone. Additionally, teens on average spent approximately 1½ hours on the computer, and only 16 minutes of which was for doing schoolwork. The remaining time was dedicated to tasks like using social networking, YouTube, and other activities. Are these statistics concerning? Yes, because together these activities amount to approximately 21 hours per week, which exemplifies the fact that teenagers are dependent on these devices.
This dependency is influencing many aspects of a teenager’s life, most especially in academics. Teenagers’ dependence of computers and mobile devices can be attributed with poor performances at school and lower quality of work being produced due to the distractions these devices create. These distractions are...