Computers the Effects of Heavy

¶ … Computers The effects of heavy computer use Computer usage has become commonplace. The home, school and the work place are inundated with computers and there is little thought as to how they are used. It is almost inconceivable to imagine the modern life without computers. This widespread infiltration however is a double-edged sword. The use of computers comes with a cluster of benefits and deleterious effects. Whether the computer is beneficial or deleterious depends on the level of use.

The inordinate use of the computer results in multiple debilitating effects on the individual and ultimately on society. An immediate drawback of immoderate computer use is the atrophy of critical social skills, Staples (2004) notes that modern teenagers are "more cut off from the social encounters that have historically prepared for the move into adult life." (70) This childhood social deficit is not easily overcome as an adult. The individual is therefore, ill prepared for the complex social interactions that comprise the adult experience.

This lack of preparation becomes a hedge that delays the movement into adult behavior. This results in a number of persons who may engage in adult economic behavior but socially they are children. Additionally greater usage increases the potential for isolation. Not only is the individual cut off from social encounters but they are also ensconced in a world of their own creation. Goldsborough citing Dr.

Johnson further comments "that if you replace important social, occupational, educational or recreational activities by sitting in front of your computer, you've gone too far " (304). This latter situation is potentially more destabilizing than simply having poor social skills. The avenue to develop better skills through the socialization with family members is nonexistent because of time spent in chat rooms and other virtual experiences. This time cannot be regained and the opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue and interaction with the family are lost.

Tragically, much of this occurs without the teen giving thought to what is happening or believing that online experiences can compensate for a failure to interact in a face-to-face manner, it cannot. There is also an insidious and unnoticed problem developing with online use and it is the devolution of civility and courtesy. Coffee (2002) pointedly addresses the issue when he posits, "using computers deconditions our habits and practices of courtesy" (302).Engagement with other humans forces the consideration of feelings and thoughts, before and while action occurs.

This interaction is governed by norms that have become second nature by virtue of social conditioning. As interaction with the inanimate computer increases, individuals gradually become deconditioned. The appropriate responses to social stimuli move to the recesses of the mind and require deliberation to engage them. Thus, the constant interface with the computer places this social norm in jeopardy. Further to that, there is the development of a demand perspective. The demand perspective is developed as the individual continuously receives what they demand from the computer.

Thus "we become accustomed to demanding rather than requesting, and we unlearn the skill of making someone feel good about doing what we need" (Coffee, 2002, p. 302). The experience of continuous demands from the computer runs counter to what is required for interaction with people. The inanimate object is there to satisfy all the cyber desires at the press of a key. A person will not function in the same manner. Interacting with flesh and blood requires a different attitude, which is not engaged when the computer is interfaced with regularly.

The net result of that practice is diminished civility and a boorishness that impresses demands on others. To get services from people requires politeness and at times social grace; these are not involved in the digital interaction with the computer. Perhaps the most damning element of excessive computer usage occurs when the virtual confuses the real, and this happens at times with deadly consequences. Horsburgh and Dodd (2003) forcefully recount a scenario where a young man dies while his virtual friends look on.

They quote John Perry Barlow who says, "What makes this different is that the edge was blunted by being virtual" (p.306). There is a blurring of the virtual and the real. This blurring benefits the virtual world at the expense of the real world experiences. Persons who spend immoderate amounts of time in a virtual environment begin to interpret all life as virtual. Even the sight of an individual engaging in a self-destructive act does not have the kind of forcefulness it would have in the real world.

The distance imposed by computer interaction serves as a barrier to assistance and even responsibility. This is blurring can have disastrous results even when the action.