Persuasive Essay Draft

My mom walks into the TV room and gives my sister and me a glare. All I could think was what could that possibly be for or what did I do wrong now? As I look around the room I notice that my sister is on her IPod Touch and on her laptop, and I am also on my laptop. Then, I see my dad walk in the door from work talking on his Blackberry. Now I understand my mother’s glare.

Americans today tend to believe that the Internet is a great way of communicating and connecting with people. Although I agree that the Internet is an exceptional communicating device, I cannot accept the fact that families are not becoming as close because of the Internet. I believe that the most important relationship to have is with your family and distractions, like Facebook, can affect the relationship between a family. In the movie, “Digital Nation,” one of the first things that occurred was the narrator noticing how each of her family members is in their own virtual world, meaning they are on their laptop or iPhone. Do we want our world to become a place where we can only connect with people through a technological gadget? Ben Turner, the author of the article “The Internet’s Effect on Relationships: Detrimental or Beneficial?” suggests that people have started to become addicted to the Internet, therefore causing people to not take part in their family. Turner also refutes that constant activity on the Internet causes loneliness and intimacy in relationships has decreased. He surely is right about increased loneliness and that people are addicted to the Internet because recent studies by psychologists have shown that this in fact is the case. This study has increased in curiosity because many psychologists think that this addiction is significant and more widespread. Christine Morris, the author of “The Effect of the Home Computer on Family Relationships” from the University of Maine, urges that family rifts have been created because of Internet. She also reports that family tension and conflicts have increased and family communication has declined. Authors from the journal the “American Psychologist” suggest that there has been an “Internet paradox,” meaning most Americans think that the Internet is improving communication when actually the Internet depletes psychological stableness and social engagements. I agree with the authors of the “American Psychologist” because spending time in a virtual world does not count as social involvement.

From my personal experiences, I believe that the Internet is not at all beneficial because most of the time I am at the Internet I am aimlessly on Facebook. Instead of being on Facebook I could be spending time with my family or instead of watching my favorite TV show while eating dinner, I should eat dinner with my family. Recently, I have seen the television network commercials where you are able to record each family member’s favorite show at the same time. Basically, each family member is able to watch what they want in isolation. Obviously this does not help develop a family relationship. We should not let the Internet do this to relationships that are the most important in our lives. Well-known authors of the “Psychologist Suite 101” blog argue that the Internet does not lead to non-social behavior. They also argue that the Internet does increase a person’s social ease and comfort. Though I concede that someone who may not be as social in the real world can be social on the Internet, I still insist that us Americans live in the real world, not in the virtual world, so you have to be able to communicate with people all the time.

Allen Harkleroad, the author of “The Internet- Good or Bad?” from the Statesboro Business & Lifestyle Magazine, argues that the Internet has its positives and its negatives. One of the positives being that it is the best way to connect with family. I most definitely side with Harkleroad and agree that the Internet allows families to connect that maybe on opposite sides of the world. I agree that the Internet is the strongest connection for a family when they are not physically near each other because my experience when I lived in England and communicated to my family in the U.S. by Internet confirms it. Military families also find the Internet extremely helpful when communicating with their loved ones in combat. I agree that the Internet can useful to connect with family, especially when having to communicate long-distance.

When the television was first introduced it was revolutionary technology, but has it ended up decreasing family time? Elena, a writer on Syntax.com, discusses how television is not social. Usually, people watch television to watch their favorite show, which most likely does not include watching it with a family member. As from my experience, my family and I don’t like to watch the same shows so when I watch T.V. it is by my self. Is this the same thing that is happening with the Internet?

As I compare my life before and after my laptop, Ipod, and Facebook, I know an enormous amount of time has been lost using those tools. Our society has not been improving since we were introduced to technology, it has become worse. Should we believe that improvement would be spending two hours a day on Facebook aimlessly looking at friend’s pictures and statuses? This is not the kind of activity that improves our society or our relationships. Cascio, the author of “Get Smarter,” suggests that it is important to keep using technology as much as we do and to develop it to its full extent, but try to picture a family of four all in separate rooms each on their separate laptops or phones. I do not side with what Cascio suggests because I do not want to have no connection with my family. This does not sound like a happy family and it shouldn’t be because you have your family for life and you may have a phone for a year or two years. After all, it is better to have wonderful family connections rather than great Internet connections.

Many writers such as Ben Turner, Christine Morris, and the authors of the “American Psychologist” argue that Internet has caused family communication to decline because of Internet addictions. Also, the Internet has been proven to deplete psychological stableness and social engagements. I have gathered from my personal experience that all the Internet does is distract people from more important things. For example, when I am on Facebook all I do is waste time doing nothing that is going to affect my life. The recent improvements in television technology have worsened the fact that technology decreases family connections. There are opposing opinions that the Internet increases a person’s ease, which I agree with, but it is more important to be connected with people in the real world. There are positives to communicating on the Internet. For example, families that communicate long distance find using the Internet (e-mail) extremely useful. It is also useful for people who are not very social. The Internet is a distraction and takes away from family time. When it comes down to it, the Internet is not as important as family communication.