Advanced Category Second Place Winner

Advanced Category Second Place: Paula Sanchez 

School: NYLC - Jackson Heights

Teacher: Benjamin Levy

DON’T LET NEW THINGS DESTROY OLD ONES

Communicate with someone from another country or another continent may have seemed impossible years ago, but as the years have passed, overseas communication and information sharing is an easily accessible and fast possibility that a large part of world’s population requires and gets just by pushing some buttons. Even though this is supposed to be an important part of humanity’s progress and development, the damages that technology does to communication are not questioned enough.

In the positive side, technology has made a huge impact on relationships, and the invention and use of cellphones, apps, and social networks has also made it easier for people to communicate with their families, friends and stay involved and active in their professional life when there are long distances in between. In fact, we are at a point where technology improves economy by providing fast and easier ways of doing things and offering employment to many people.

On the other hand, some of the disadvantages of this development are the loss of the art of conversation, this may not affect older generations, but for teenagers, kids and future generations, the lack of face – to – face conversations and writing practice lead us to forget how to maintain a proper and formal conversation; and don’t forget the increasing use of codes and abbreviations that have destroyed grammar and spelling skills, sometimes even changing the sense of sentences.

Unsafety has also been part of those revolutionary and new cyber relationships, sometimes people meet and make friends and significant others on websites, have success in business; sometimes they overshare information about bank accounts, their privacy, or meet creepy people and criminals that seem very friendly, normal and harmless on the web.

In conclusion technology and communication have developed a strong bond that’s necessary for personal and professional life, but if it’s not used and taken with responsibility, moderation and prudence, it could tear people apart from their family and beloved ones, create addictions and risky situations, and spoil real life and written communication; therefore that’s why people say everything is good with moderation and avoiding excesses.