High Intermediate Category Winner

High Intermediate Category Winner - Andrea GonzalezSchool: 

School: NYLC - Jackson Heights

Teacher: Samantha Lee

Technology: Double-Edge Sword

   Through the following essay I seek to discuss the current problem that exists with technology and communication, and from my personal experience what obstacles the technology has caused and helped me to solve. Finally I propose a possible solution to the progressive deterioration that technology has caused in our society.

     Technology is known as the set of knowledge and techniques used for creating tools and processes that transform the environment. Currently this term plays a key role in our society, because its development is causing rapid changes in communication. These include the creation of new relationships, maintaining contact with people from anywhere and access to knowledge. Technology has removed barriers allowing this to be easier and cheaper. On the other hand it is not a secret that the use of technology has been replacing real interactions with the people around us and has even limited our productivity. Then it becomes paradoxical knowing that we created the technology, it is to our service and we can control it, but it still continues to cause major global problems and contributes to social destruction. Therefore it is necessary to create awareness of the proper way it should be used.

     As referenced above, the technology can be considered a weapon, double-edge sword, because it can help you and at the same time harm you. It just depends on the way you use it.The question arises: how can technology create problems and at the same time help to solve them?

     From my personal experience, technology has been very useful because it has helped me with little things like getting up every day to go to school. I don’t know what would I do without alarm clock. It has allowed me also to communicate with my family in Colombia, through application such as Skype, which allow my overprotective mother see what I am doing. To my surprise she has learned to use an app tracks my location through cell. One day I asked my mom if I could go out with my friends to time square, she said yes, but to be safe, she used the app and realized I was in a club in Manhattan. Of course I was in big trouble and the worst thing was that, when she called to scold me, my boyfriend heard the whole conversation.

     Nevertheless, not everything is bad, because many times I got out of trouble, when I forgot to do a task that had been assigned. Immediately I used my cell phone to do it; the only problem was the use of self-correction programs. The best thing was that I recently found a job through websites that offer job opportunities

     In conclusion a new generation of communications technology is approaching, and with that a new way of living and working, which is why we should seek and early solution to the current dependence on technology. Perhaps we should create a culture that allows us to present strategies for proper use of it, such as social campaigns that seek to strengthen human relations. Technology should be part of our lives but it doesn’t have to be everything. The important thing is to contribute to the development of humanity not to its destruction. Remember that technology is not the end the means to develop the world.