“Teens who spend more time on screens are less happy and more depressed, and those who spend more time with friends in person are happier and less depressed.” is a statement made by Ogla Tropinina. Although I agree with the statement made I do also make my argument about how our failing economy is affecting this generation and creating an imbalance in our brains that is creating a rise in depression.
The statement made above by Ogla Tropinina is believable to an extent. There is a thing called introverts and extroverts, introverts like little to no social interaction and extroverts love social interaction and couldn’t live without it. Talking to friends over a cell phone or computer is a preferable option for an introvert because of social anxiety, being forced into a situation of social interaction when you do not want to can create high levels of anxiety. There was a study done that proves this point however, how are we supposed to avoid it in our youth when youth are targeted the most via school? Since I started grade seven the use of technology has increased drastically influencing our schoolwork. Having internet is supposed to be a luxury but it is treated as a necessity because if you don’t you cannot complete your schoolwork or hand it in. Our entire school relies on technology for teaching purposes. School already creates depression but adding excessive amounts of technology when it supposedly exposes youth to a high risk of more depression is contradicting. If you ask people why millenials are more depressed than any other generation they will simply say “the economy”, isn’t it funny how one thing can make so many people depressed? However it is not just one simple thing, the economy controls the future that we want, the money, and the type of life we live. We all want a life that we can be proud of, a life that we do not want a vacation from but while we keep working with the same wages, the pricing of houses, goods, and services are going up. Doing everything you can and still failing is depressing. Often we choose staying inside over going outside. Organic food is now more expensive than junk food. If we are barely making enough money to make ends meet then why are we going to spend double to triple the amount of money on food that is nutritious and good for your body when we can save a little extra money by buying the cheap junk food? Junk food is also more accessible and faster than buying vegetables and meat and taking it home to cook. There are fast food restaurants everywhere you look, there is franchise after franchise over populating cities. When you eat food that isn’t packed with nutrients you are depriving your body of things to help it function. This will make your body have trouble producing hormones and can create a chemical imbalance in your brain, this creates depression. Many things can cause depression so we can’t blame it directly on technology. We cannot blame depression on these things when we are not doing anything to eliminate the problems. Essentially we are making ourselves depressed by not fixing the problem. We are the problem.
1 Comment
London
3/18/2018 22:07:05
I agree with you. There are many factors influencing the rise of depression and anxiety in people today. The economy, the food we eat, the time we spend staring at screens for whatever reasons. I see many positives to the use of technology in schools and in our personal lives too. But I also see the negatives. What I really hope for is that young people and older people too, look honestly at what research is saying to us with regard to the challenges and opportunities that digital technology brings to our lives. This next phrase really resonated with me when I read it somewhere. We are supposed to use technology - it's not supposed to use us. Maybe the increase in depression and anxiety are the results of technology using us.
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