Cellphones Impact Family Relationships

1000 Words2 Pages

As the technology of cellphones advances, the easier it becomes to communicate and maintain relationships globally, however, these ubiquitous devices lead to the possibility of diminishing close family relationships. In this essay I will explain that the way cellphones have impacted family relationships is, in fact, a genuine controversy. First, I will explain the overall debated situation, then I will express how valuing either technology, tradition, or communication all lead to different, mutually exclusive views on the influence of cellphones in family relationships. The major purpose of cellphones is to provide an outlet for verbal communication at a distance, and as the generation progresses in the Digital Age, this purpose has shifted …show more content…

As mentioned above, cell phones encourage children to spend most of their time on the Internet, rather than spending quality time with their loved ones. This increased social isolation forms a barrier between family members, as they struggle to participate in verbal communication. Hence, traditionalists believe that getting rid of cellphones all together will form stronger bonds between family members as they would have to share information verbally. If families can no longer hide behind a keyboard to express their thoughts and emotions, a new sense of confidence and trust is developed. These family ties lead to traditional events such as, discussing one’s day during family dinner or expressing your emotions during family game night. Nonetheless, this traditionalist view comes at a cost: people currently live in the digital age and the lack of technological skills would put users at a disadvantage. Despite this setback, those valuing tradition will support the idea that cellphones negatively impact family …show more content…

Those valuing technology believe cellphones form an outlet in which families can bond over a common interest, however these people relinquish the intimacy that forms through verbal forms of communication and give up the “traditional family”. Similarly, valuing tradition enhances one’s personal relationships and creates an extreme amount of trust. Yet this inhibits the technological skills and techniques that are needed throughout the digital age. Finally, valuing communication retains meaningful bonds in long distance relationships, however, technology can be used as a distraction from communicating at close

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