Technology Addiction

By: Cindy Velasquez

AAST

Feb. 6th. 2018

As medication, cars, inventions, electricity begin to change, so does technology.

Technology has began to change the way we communicate, travel, find information, and even

work. It has improved the lives of many and it’s easier than ever. However, as such
improvements are made, there have been an increasing large numbers of addiction to technology.

This addiction has been increasing shown between teens and children. Parents are beginning to

worry of the addiction to technology leading to risk factors such as health.

Addiction to Technology simply begins with an overuse of it. “Addiction corresponds to

the degree of psychological dependency the user has developed with the technology, and to the

magnitude of associated behavioral addiction symptoms.” (Turel, etal.2011 page 1046) It is

common to see addiction when communication is mute between friends, family or even co-

worker. Many block out life from the world and become focus on what they view. Most

commonly the more participants in the use of technology, the longer individuals stay involved

with technology (device), the more competitive they become (1st Turel, etal.2011).

Studies have shown addictive tributes have mostly been shown between kids and teens.

“Children aged less than 8 years were reported to spend an average of 6.43 hours per day on

electronic media and 50% of 14–18 year olds exceeded the two hours per day recommendation

for TV viewing and approximately 66% for computer use ”(1st Houghton, etal. Page 2 ) These

statistics have been taken to see how much teens use technology over the course of time.

Technology not only includes the use of video games online but also mobile devices, tablets,

computers, and even social media such as Instagram or Twitter. In order for technology to

become a daily activity, it has to drive a certain attention for the audience who is viewing. The

level of interest also increases and when attention level becomes lower than normal the audience

begins to find another way to continue having an interest.

From time to time many children have become as if they are dependent of technology as

if they need it with them at all times. Memorizing numbers, information and history has also

become less important because, all info can be looked up with in an instant and saved. “The use
has been attributed to psychosocial reasons. It has implication for raising awareness about

addictive potential of technology and its impact on one's lifestyle.” (1st Sharma, etal., 2017,page

1) Sleep disorder can be developed as kids or teens can stay up at night playing with technology,

viewing social media, etc; as a result, academic, athletic, and weight gain such as cardiovascular

disease is caused by technology. (FDC Prevention work. Teen Technology Addiction. 2017)

In conclusion, the variety of complications can be caused by addiction to technology.

However, simply to know is that addiction to technology should be recognized in households and

its important to have limitations for your family. If you are addicted to technology don’t ever

stress and instead try to find a solution on limiting the use and what activities makes you happy.

CITATION:

Houghton, S., Hunter, S. C., Rosenberg, M., Wood, L., Zadow, C., Martin, K., & Shilton, T.
(2015). Virtually impossible: limiting Australian children and adolescents daily screen based
media use. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 1-11. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-15-5

Sharma, M. K., Rao, G. N., Benegal, V., Thennarasu, K., & Thomas, D. (2017). Technology
Addiction Survey: An Emerging Concern for Raising Awareness and Promotion of Healthy Use
of Technology. Indian Journal Of Psychological Medicine, 39(4), 495-499.
doi:10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_171_17
Turel, O., Serenko, A., & Giles, P. (2011). INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY ADDICTION
AND USE: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF ONLINE AUCTION USERS. MIS
Quarterly, 35(4), 1043-A18

FDC Prevention work. Teen Technology Addiction. (n.d.). Retrieved February 02, 2018, from
http://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/articles/fcd/teen-technology-addiction