Graphic By Gage Nelson

By Harley Phelps

Spot any group of high school students together, and most of them will have phones in hand, eyes glued to the screens — not paying attention to what’s happening in front of them.

People feel empowered behind the keys of a message board, slurring hate they never would have the confidence to say in a face-to-face confrontation. Yet, they struggle to communicate in person.

“On the negative side, some students feel empowered to hide behind anonymity in addressing other students and may not use the same courtesy they would when looking another person in the eye,” guidance counselor Lori Stussie said.

Students often feel they have the ability to hide behind an account user name, even if their names still remain linked to their accounts. This ignorance is what leads to the most hurtful comments.

“I have had friends who have had mean comments posted online,” freshman Allie Fischer said. “It just makes people’s self esteem go down. It makes people feel unsafe when they try to use anonymous accounts because they don’t know who posted it.”

Technology does not always create negative relationships. Sometimes, an e-mail or text is just the ice breaker a student may need to feel confident when first approaching a teacher or peer.

“Technology can help students break that initial hurdle in communication,” Stussie said. “It might help eliminate that initial awkwardness of a first time face-to-face conversation.”

But texting creates a fake sense of progress in a relationship. What students may feel comfortable texting about often would never be easy to address in person. Students seem to forget that they will eventually have to see that person face-to-face again, while both remember awkward or perhaps rude texts.

“I think that people think they can text about personal issues without it having to be dealt with in person,” Fischer said. “ But eventually they have to addressed because some problems can’t just be solved through text.”

Not only are text messages not always heart-felt, but the act of texting itself lacks authenticity. I find myself feeling like texting is more of a hassle than a joy. It becomes more of a daunting task than a way to communicate.

“I myself don’t text that much,” senior Darren Rawlings said. “I just prefer to talk face-to-face than over text. Even just over the phone. Texting takes too much effort, just to say something little.”

I often find myself wishing I paid less attention to my phone, but I also find myself not able to put it down.

The instant access to friends and the internet has created a generation that feels entitled and impatient.

“Students think that when they have to look things up more than just on their phone. It is inconvenient,” Fischer said.

Students now have the internet, which holds endless amounts of information and distractions right at their fingertips since most have smartphones or computers nearby.

“The internet is the most useful,” Rawlings said. “It’s just mass amounts of information. You can literally almost find any information about anything.”

However, this instant access to the internet and such technologies is not always bad. Technology can find many benefits in the classroom. Classes, such as graphic design and engineering, rely heavily on technology for the progress of their class.

“Wi-fi, Smart boards, laptops, printing devices that can scan, copy, enlarge, and print in 3D, robotics, electronics, computers, 3D drawing programs, are some specifically for architecture, engineering, graphic design, photography, video editing etc,” engineering teacher Charlie Lauts said.

Technology, however, may not be the problem, but the way it is used, or in some cases misused.

“I think the effects aren’t really the technology, but rather how people choose to use it,” Fischer said.

Technology by itself stands a great opportunity for advancement, but once in the hands of society possesses an entirely different set of possibilities. We have to ensure we don’t misuse this technology to bully or hide behind our screens, costing us the opportunity for real interactions.