By now it’s no secret to anyone that file sharing topics are not in abundance these days, which prompts the idea for varying our news stories and expanding our categories for writing. When discussing technology, there is no shortage of subjects of interest. You can expect to see us diversify more and begin covering several subjects in our news going forward.

This specific story was inspired by numerous technology discussions with friends and family over the holidays. While talking, many of us agreed that some old time holiday favorites should really be changed to relate to how things are as of today, such as…”Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a child or teen were asleep in bed, without a smartphone propped by their head.” We had a lot of fun altering a couple poems and songs, and it made for some very interesting discussions as well. I’ll let all of you use your own imagination for what we came up with for the “Twelve days of Christmas”.

Families and friends at times can easily get into heated debates on certain subjects, and this holiday season was no exception when it came to discussing technology, and specifically about how many adults are really feeling that technology is making them, or their children, lazier. It’s the discussion on children that seems to raise the ire in most people, and not just from those that are parents.

We often see comments or hear people speaking about “do it for the children, or save the children” but the debates I am referring to, are the exact opposite. It’s “don’t do it for them, make them learn without their gadgets and help from software, and people really need to quit spending so much time on their phones.”

This is a true story from an acquaintance. A teen out of high school was turned down for a job because he had no ability to actually sign his name on the application in cursive, and his ability to form sentences with proper punctuation was so horrible in answering questions, that the prospective employer instantly got an impression of laziness all the way around and chose not to hire him. Being that the employer was somewhat of a friend of the teen’s father, the truth of why he did not get hired was explained to the father. In reality, the teen was a very hard worker, and would have been a good candidate for the position, other than lacking writing ability which was also required.

Good impressions really do make a difference, and this is where technology comes in. Are people so dependent on letting software do all the thinking and correcting for them that they literally cannot do it on their own anymore? The answer in many cases is yes; outside of a computer (and often even with the use of a computer) we see not only children, but adults that are unable to spell, form sentences, and punctuate properly. Many schools are encouraging the use of gadgets and even providing them now for students.

Here’s the other side of the debate, how often are we required to actually write on paper any more, and is it really so bad to depend on the technology available? I couldn’t resist joining in a couple of these debates over the holidays. The discussion on “text speak” was the most heated, but also the most entertaining. Full demonstrations on texting were provided for some of the older people which allowed them to participate more, and there were several gasps and shows of dislike while they saw how the children are typing now. Texting has taken on a new meaning in households, no longer do people actually type (or write notes) using full words, it’s now become “b bk sn” or “c u ltr”. This isn’t exactly the type of shorthand that many of us grew up with, but it is what we are seeing all the time now. There is a lot of truth that technology is having a strong impact on what people are actually learning and retaining for future use. Similarly, if you can’t divide 24 into 300 manually and depend completely on a calculator, what math skills are you really learning?

I of course chose to play devil’s advocate in all of the discussions, and bring up all the pros and cons to keep the debates going since I read about technology all the time and was able to interject some pretty strong arguments both ways (oh, such fun I had). Personally, I do feel that there is a lot of truth in that teaching isn’t being done quite the same as it used to be, and children today don’t seem to have the same desire to learn things on their own, nor do they seem to be retaining the knowledge in the same manner as years ago. They want their PCs and gadgets to do it for them. A person trying to compose a sentence on a computer is only as good as their thought process allows them to be while doing so. If they are not expanding their vocabulary beyond text speak, and that’s how they type on a daily basis, chances are that anything they try to compose will possibly be lacking true language form and good content. The English language is changing, the Pope is doing selfies and many people are against the changes which are caused largely by the use of technology.

With so many forms of technology available today, it does encourage all of us to be lazier in many things we do, but is this really a bad thing? For the record, I type my grocery lists because it’s faster, but not because I don’t have the ability to actually write, or because I am lazy. However, many people (not just children and teens) don’t choose to think outside of their computers while using them, and are potentially becoming far too dependent on software doing it all for them, or they are spending too much time with games and playing on phones. But, as I mentioned earlier, how much are we really required to use handwriting any more and how much do we feel this is impacting our daily lives? We no longer have a need to write checks, that’s what debit cards are for, and we don’t need to mail letters because we use email. Children type homework on computers now, they seldom write. That brings us to today, where everyone is turning away from past generations of how things used to be, and the debates are becoming stronger all the time as a result. Most of what I hear about now is that the adults are against how the younger generation is lacking in language and grammar skills.

As a manager in my profession, I too look at handwriting and composition skills when interviewing, and I actually use a questionnaire so that I am able to see more of their writing ability which would be required from time to time. I am guilty of being judgmental in that respect, but I fully expect to be able to read hand written post-it notes; they must be legible.

Let us know what you think, and if you can also see the argument both ways. Have any of you run across situations where you see evidence of total laziness in yourself or others, and who do you feel should be blamed for it, or do you view it as technology is wonderful, and thanks for making it easier for us?

Well Technology for me makes me lazy but not often. When i have to do something important i have to do it.

I barely go outside during Winter/Summer vacations now, but its more because I don't like physical stuff.