Digital Devices

Essay by sch907872College, UndergraduateA-, September 2014

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Erika Schafer

Mr. Frischkorn

English 093

Take-Home essay #1: "Digital Devices"

Monday, September 24, 2012

Digital Devices

Susan Mushart conducted a six-month experiment where she unplugged her teenagers; taking away Internet, TV, I Pods, cell phones, and video games. She began the experiment by turning the electricity off completely for a few weeks, then slowly introducing her family back into every day life without electronics. As a result of the experiment Susan's children's grades improved her and her family re-discovered "small pleasures" like family fun night, old photo albums, and Sunday drives. Maushart decided to unplug her teens because they were so attached to media. Like many other teens they couldn't walk to the bathroom without having to carry their phones along with them. Susan Mushart knows this is not possible for many families in the world, but she encourages families to unplug once a week.

After carefully reading the article about Susan Mushart unplugging her teenagers, I have realized that many people are becoming, if not already are, fully dependent on technology for everything we do.

I agree with what Susan Mushart decided to do. As stated in the article, "her girls had become mere accessories of their own social networking profile, as if real life were simply a dress rehearsal for the next status update". This quote really stuck out to me because this is honestly what our world is coming to. If families could unplug periodically, we would all soon realize how our world is now fully dependent on technology.

In David Carr's essay "keep your thumbs still while I'm talking to you", David Carr attends south-by-south west. People travel long distances to see this presentation. Everyone at the presentation is using his or her phones. As Carr put it, the presentation was "merely companion media".