Technology – Boon or Curse to Mankind

Written By Saisha Mehra (Grade 5)

God has given us so many things like plants, trees, flowers, beautiful creatures and of course one of the best brains with which man can do almost anything. As we all know we have created many new electronic gadgets, each having their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Man has become so intelligent that he has invented aeroplanes and spacecraft to fly in, trains, cars, ships and boats for every other mode of travel from one place to another, and mobiles, telephones and the Internet for communication and many other gadgets useful in every aspect of life. There are hundreds of inventions which have revolutionized human life. Electronic gadgets are prominent among these inventions. They play a vital role in our lives. The electronic gadgets which we use daily consist of lights, televisions, computers, fans, A/Cs, refrigerators, telephones, cell phones, etc. I feel life would have been very difficult without these inventions. My grandmother tells us the stories of her childhood where her mother used to do all the household work on her own daily with no grinders, there was no vehicle in the house so how they walked to bring water from the river and many more stories of theirs without these modern gadgets which almost every household has now.

No one can deny the fact that gadgets have not only simplified our lives but also made them more comfortable and luxurious. But on the contrary man’s dependence on them has increased so much that we just cannot do without them at all. We cannot even dare to imagine our life without a laptop or a smartphone. We love our electronic gadgets so much that we drop everything else we might be doing.

Though electronic gadgets have made learning concepts easier by providing interactive videos, graphical interpretation and more, they have adversely affected students’ lives. The young generation gets manipulated easily with upcoming trending gadgets. We can see a lot of aggression in kids these days as they watch a lot of violent stuff on television and the internet. Young kids don’t show interest in playing outdoor games as they are stuck on mobiles and tablets. Along with this, kids tend to eat a lot of junk food without being conscious of the amount of intake. This can lead to obesity. Students are so addicted to mobiles and laptops that they spend the whole night playing games, watching videos, chatting and so on. This can be dangerous as the rays emitted by screens can lead to loss of vision.

Thus, we come to the question if technology for better or the worse.

According to me, technology is surely a boon for mankind if used properly, one such example of proving this is the current pandemic situation where most of the students in the country are able to study because of the technology. It is all the more important for the economic growth of a country. Modern technologies have in fact succeeded in reducing human effort and the risk in doing a lot many things. But, still, it is for us to see how best we make use of the technology available to us as it is an undeniable truth that gadgets eased up our lives a lot, but they should not affect us adversely. We must avoid the extreme use of gadgets. We shouldn’t allow electronic devices to spoil our lives. After returning from work, adults need to restrict their use of gadgets in the home and spend more time with family. Additionally, students must be encouraged to play outside rather than playing games on computers or watching cartoons on TV for a long time. On applying this practice initially, the kids will themselves learn to use the gadgets in limits.

Featured Image Courtesy – Home Care Insight