Cell phones are the most prominent tools used today for communication, though they are not necessarily used for having conversations. Many students wait in their cars before school, eyes glued to a lit screen.

Face-to-face conversations are rare. Often, many people use social media to communicate even with people who are right next to them.

“It’s pathetic, but I also have a tendency to prefer to talk to people through electronic communication,” senior Derek Cross said.

Teens are portrayed as creatures unwilling to carry on conversations with others in person. Yes, in many cases this is true. However, teens are not the only guilty party as many adults are not immune either.

“My parents will have their friends over,” Cross said. “They will turn on a movie and tag each other on Facebook that they are watching that movie, then have a conversation on Facebook about the movie.”

Another surprising group using technology in excess is children: the next generation.

“I see kids around with new iPhone 6s and they can use [them] better than me,” Cross said. “It’s impressive because their minds have developed simultaneously with technology and they are entwined together. However, there has to be a point when it’s not good.”

It is not uncommon to see children at the dinner table or at a restaurant with an iPad in their hands. This concerns me greatly. These children are losing touch with humanity, the “normal” things that my generation grew up with. Some of these little children know how to work Apple devices better than their parents.

Sure it will be helpful that these children will grow up and use this knowledge to help others become more experienced with technology, but what price are we as a society paying? Senior Rohan Savoor voices his concerns.

“If direct communication isn’t emphasized enough, then people will lose that skill of direct communication,” he said.

The current young generation is most at risk of this as a result of their total immersion into an abundance of technology. It is happening so insidiously, no one notices.

“I think people are starting to become over-reliant on technology, but they become less aware because they are enjoying themselves,” Savoor said.

Most young children use devices not for communication but instead for playing games, which I must admit can be fun. It is an easy babysitter to occupy their attention, but they are losing the opportunities to interact with people. In fact, their interactions may only be with others who play the same games in the isolated realm of online gaming.

Society as a whole should realize the sensibility and shouldn’t succumb to the trap of technology. We must realize the importance of putting down the cell phone once in a while.

     Oh, but that tantalizing chiming of an incoming text!