Technology has allowed society an escape from the real world. Throughout the years, technology has advanced with every new iPhone or iPad. Most people nowadays are always on their phone, whether they’re texting their family or sending a Snapchat to a friend, or even walking into someone while doing so. This idea of people avoiding the world around them is introduced by Sherry Turkle in her essay “The Empathy Diaries.” Sherry Turkle is a well-known researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and she establishes the argument that technology has driven people to converse less in person, which ultimately causes people to be less empathetic to one another. I have witnessed the advancement of technology as I have grown older and how it continues to lure in more people as a way to escape challenging emotions in the real world. The constant connection to technology has been forced on to the younger generation by society and has given rise to the lack of in-person conversation with a direct impact on empathy, and it is up to the older generations to stop enabling these bad habits.

            Growing up these days is different than what the older generations experienced, and this can be explained through the access of technology. Children can easily ask their parents for the newest iPhone, and it is considered “normal.” This early attraction to screens has caused this younger generation to resort to talking to people online rather than in-person. Whenever I am around children and they happen to see my phone, the only thing they become concerned about is using my phone. As these kids grow up, they continue to rely on phones and exploring the internet as a way to avoid interacting with the real world. Turkle makes the point that

Many of the things we all struggle with in love and work can be helped by conversation. Without conversation, studies show that we are less empathetic, less connected, less creative and fulfilled. We are diminished, in retreat. But to generations that grew up using their phones to text and message, these studies may be describing losses they don’t feel. They didn’t grow up with a lot of face-to-face talk (350).

Older generations have lived many more years than the kids of this generation, and they often find it hard to hold conversations with them. Turkle make the point that children having access to technology is not viewed as a negative, rather they want to learn more. I was raised in a household with very few electronic devices laying around, so I respected the idea of having true conversations and listening to what other people have to say. Whenever I converse with an adult, they always compliment my ability to listen and hold eye contact, and it is sad that most people cannot do that nowadays. The lack of in person conversation that occurs in today’s world continues to be unspoken about, but sending a quick text will fix everything, right?

            Have you ever had someone run into you while they were looking at their phone and not even apologize for their actions, or watch as a three-year-old has a meltdown at the local grocery store because he was not allowed to watch his favorite show? Phones allow people to feel more connected to the world without having to ever look away from their screen. However, the real world includes having in-person conversations without the use of our phones, but rarely can someone hold a conversation without having to check for notifications. Most people do not see this as a problem, while there are others that are too scared to speak up about the dangers of technology due to the influence it has on our everyday lives. Sherry Turkle mentions,

But these conversations require time and space, and we say we’re too busy. Distracted at our dinner tables and livings rooms, at our business meetings, and on our streets, we find traces of a new “silent spring” – a term Rachel Carson coined when we were ready to see that with technological change had come an assault on our environment. Now, we have arrived at another moment of recognition. This time, technology is implicated in an assault on empathy. We have learned that even a silent phone inhibits conversations that matter. The very sight of a phone on the landscape leaves us feeling less connected to each other, less invested in each other (344).

As a result of avoiding this difficult subject, the younger generation has become less empathetic for one another. The term “connection” can mean one thing for some and a different for others. One can be connected while scrolling through social media, while another can be engaged in a conversation, until a notification pops up and they lose their train of thought. The inability to disconnect has been pushed on to those younger than myself because if they put their phone down, then they are told they will be unable to connect with those around them. Even though conversing with others is essential during our critical period in our lives, children and teenagers have been taught to avoid their problems by hiding behind a screen.

            The younger generation having access to technology directly stems from what their parents allow. Personally, my parents gave me little access to technology because they valued precious family bonding over addictive screen time. This idea, however, has been changed over time and parents now grant their children unlimited access to the wonders of the world. These are the same parents that believe their kids do not get bullied, but how would they begin to understand when they have taught their children to conceal their emotions so flawlessly. The older generation, specifically parents, oversee their kids and it is up to them to represent how there is more to life than technology. Sherry Turkle declares that “It is not enough to ask your children to put away their phones. You have to model this behavior and put away your phone” (350). Parents have a direct influence on their children and when they do not carry out their responsibilities, then Turkle exclaims that, “If children don’t learn how to listen, to stand up for themselves and negotiate with others in classrooms or at family dinner, when will they learn the give-and-take that is necessary for good relationships or, for that matter, for the debate of citizens in a democracy (350).” If the younger generation is unable to perform even the simple tasks that include conversing and caring for others, then how will they ever be able to survive when they are exposed to the real world, where they must form relationships with other people, have real jobs, and encounter people who only care about themselves and will take advantage of them. Parents have had many more beneficial life experiences that can allow them to educate those younger than them about what the world has to offer outside of technology. It is easier for those who have not had phones as long to put them down and when they do so, it can teach the younger generation to do the same.