Summary: The Influence Of Technology On Family Dynamics

Nowadays people spend several hours during the day using all sorts of technology such as social media, video games,cellphones, online TV, etc. Technology has became part of our lives to the point that the excessive use of it is affecting the family dynamics. Interactions among families has been affected in the era of digital media. In which the common scenene seen in modern families these days is the one in which the father is watching TV, the mother is busy scrolling on her phone, the son is paying online with children of different parts of the world, the daughter is playing with the apps on her table, (Devito, 28). * the only eyeballs that is not looking at some sort of screen if luckily is the pet’s one. In the article, The Influence

of Technology on Family Dynamics, statics show that children and teenagers spend an average of 7 and ½ hours a day using media (Villegas 2). Instead of interacting with their families when they have the chance they are using media. Additionally, in a survey made by the magazine Common Sense a study shows that 69% of the parents check their devices at least one time within an hour. It is clear that the use of technology is no longer an activity just for the youngest members of the family. It has become so popular that it is engaging parents and as well as children. Preventing them from interacting with each other. On one hand, the parents are too busy in their devices and they are not performing their parent role of leading interaction among the family, on the other hand, in case a parent tries to arrange family activities the struggle comes along when children avoid to join them because they prefer entertain themselves on the internet. Family is considered the fundamental unit in society(Joo & Teng 28). In other words, a human being learns the basic social skills base on the interactions that happen in the family. The family has tremendous impact on individuals since it is the first place where we interact with others. Technology plays a role in the family as the biggest distractor, causing the members of the family to isolate themselves instead of interacting. Some of them lose interest in sharing time together which develop important bonding feelings that allow them to make their relationships stronger. It is very important not to let technology take control of they way how we use or family time. Rather than being constantly connected to their devices, families should well spend the limited time they have together. Allowing bonding in their relationship and interacting with each other in conscious way. Today almost every family has at least one computer at their homes (Villegas 2 ). The access to technology is unavoidable, however what is avoidable is the amount of time that those families are dedicating to the use of technology. Becoming a more modern and technological society cannot be a the cost of disrupting family dynamics.
Furthermore, since families are not spending quality time with each other. The lack interaction leads to bigger problems for instance, shortage of communication. Although technology does have advantages for example, it can be used to connect with family members that are far away to efficiently keep in touch. (Tang 32). Nevertheless, it is important to recognize that such a way to interact should be only used when necessary in case a family member is hundred of Miles away. One study of the psychological and social impact of the internet on involvement and well being showed that the greater use of internet the more communication declines between family members within the household( etal Lundmark 1998). It is noticeable how the level of communication has decreased in the modern family due to multiple variations of technology. These are being used as a distractors not allowing the family to be able to communicate effectively. For instance one common situation is that teengers find more interesting to surf the internet and tell about their problems to their online friends than to communicate those to their own parents. This is a trend that many children and teenagers identify themselves with. For example, they prefer texting than calling . They do great at texting others, but not as well when they have to hold a conversation face to face. Therefore when these children are at home, they tend to keep their thoughts to themselves because they have developed the ability to effectively to communicate behind a screen but their social and communication skills have significantly decrease. This tell society that communication skills are being affected by technology. It is irrefutable that in the past when families did not have so much access to technology the dynamics were different. Technology came to take the place of what for example T.V used to do. In the past many people used the TV as a distractor. The growth of technology has offer family member more ways of distraction make it even more difficult to communicate with each other since having a conversation within the household is not longer seen as way to amuse. According to the article Impact of Social Media on Human Communication and Relationships, communication is fundamental to the family dymanics because it enable them to know each other better. “[c]ommunication is purposeful. The common purpose of it are to learn, to relate, to help, to influence and to play”(Tang 30). Numerous benefits can come when effective communication is held within the household. The members of the family are able to learn from each other, to grow together as a family and give advice or suggestions to a member when necessary. Trust is one powerful output of effective communication among the family, when the members communicate and express their concerns to each other the level of trust grows. “The key to family communication is building trust, and that the lack of communication affect your relationship with your family members” (Tang 31). It has been proved that communication is a common pattern of strong families. When a parent build trust between him and his children by spending a lot of time talking to them about the small and big matters. That level of trust and the skill of communicate will be bring them together since communication is the soul of any relationship. It is the way that love and other emotions are expressed. Relationships are played out in the context of communication(Tang 31). As a family it is our responsibility to promote effective ways to communicate with each other.
Moreover, the unreasonable way how technology is used by people is changing and affecting their behavior. In the article “Is Technology Making us Feel Lonely ” a research showed that 58% of teenagers agree that the use of media is making feel their lonely.One of the biggest issues with social media is that it sells them the idea that those hundreds of virtual friends or followers count as real connections. In reality what percentage of those online friends they know in real life or are able to interact with. Number of virtual friends does not equal strong ties. The spread of technology makes then to connect with people who can be miles away but disconnect of those that are within feets(parents, siblings ). Those teenagers think that these weak ties make them feel more lonely, and also reveals other behavioral problems. “[A] study at the University of Glasgow in Scotland linked time on social media with lower self-esteem , higher levels of anxiety and depression”(Magazine xxx 4 ). Regardless the number of online friends you can have in any social media account the kind of communication in the media tend to be very shallow. Friendship still a relationship to be more successful develop one to one, face to face instead than logging to “Face”. The trend of social media usually makes a to become people that we are not just for the sake of increasing that number, that seems to be linked to the meaning successful relationships at least that is part of the propaganda that social media is based on. “When we hide behind this facade, we can[not] genuinely connect with others”(ma 4). On the top technology appears to lead to more social involvement, but in reality it just stimulate fake or superficial relationships. Those kind of relationship that teenagers are developing through media are causing them to isolate themselves from the real world. The virtual world and all the content appeals more to them that the one they live in. While one could argument that technology for example works great for those who are introvert because it allows them to become more outgoing and communicate through messages. In fact, technology is encouraging introverted kids to stay in their shells and preventing them from socializing in real life. Most likely Once the virtual world is turn off their loneliness is turn back on right away.ADD MORE FRO TANG PAG 32
By the same token, technology has changed and altered negatively the family routines.

Mealtime seems to be one of the most affected to society eyes. As much access that people has to technology, it became very popular to have any sort of technology device during mealtime. “64 % of all 8-to 18 years old, live in homes where the TV is usually on during meals”(Villegas 7 ).Such a pattern affects the quality time that a family should spend during mealtime and it makes it difficult for the family to have engaging conversations. In the article “The Influence of Technology on Family Dynamics ” The author points out the importance of eating together and emphasizes on the multiple benefits that sharing a meal as a family has for children. “Eating together at mealtime provides opportunities for the family to communicate with one another. It also has critical benefits for a child’s development including: physical, social, emotional, academic, behavioral and for overall development of family connections.” (Villegas, 7 ).Strong family relationships are formed when the members share stories, ideas, thoughts and feelings and also establish traditions. Mealtime provides the perfect space to develop engagement, and interest among family members to perform all those enriching activities. Moreover one the major advantages of family meals is the benefit of reinforce family bonds.(Villegas 7). Meal time provides a space during the day for the family to get together. This at the same time establish family routines which is very important for a child because it makes feel him secure and it provides him the feeling that he has a family to count on. Eating together without any distraction allows the members of the family to be participants of what really is important at mealtime. Mealtime provides a valuable moment to share, to strengthen. It is a healthy habit that would leave an outstanding impact in every member of the

family.
Ultimately, technology is redefining parenting styles for instance, media is being used as a babysitter. There has been an emphasis in how technology is being used by teenagers and children, but no so much about how parents use it. The biggest concern is for example how parents use it to entertain their children because they need to do other things. “‘Oh , it’s just a phonomenal babysitter, it is fabulous ’”(Villegas 5). Parents are seeing media as reliable resource to keep their children occupied without paying much attention what are the effects of encouraging the youngest ones to use the media instead of using their imagination and play along with them. If a mother or father are busy, and their children is around, it seems easy to just turn on the tv or pass any sort of technology device to the their children to have a break and get them loose in the media content. “In a study focused on reducing children television viewing. the authors point out some of the key ways parents employ media at home as a safe and affordable distraction”(Villegas 6).