There’s good, but a lot of bad, in technology

I’m a student at Caroline Bentley Elementary school, and we recently researched technology’s impact on our lives. I feel that electronic devices and online access could be helpful, but are equally harmful.

I think this because our class read a blog “The Black Hole of Technology,” written in 2015 by a teenage girl who explains how technology is consuming most of our everyday lives. People nowadays do think that technology is a way to connect, yet we are relying on it way too much to do this. I have talked to multiple people on why they use technology, and almost all of them said to text or call others.

Now I see why this is a great accomplishment for humanity, but many of the people use this as an excuse not to go out. I have even used this as an excuse.

In her blog, author Leena Khan wrote of a time she spent with friends: “We were 15 friends sitting inside under artificial lighting, and with our hands glued to our phones on a Friday, when the enticing warmth of the sun and delicate breeze were begging us to run around outside.”

Many people point out that technology gives us endless information and resources. That may be true, however, a lot of information on the internet is false. Many internet users can edit websites to their liking (adding random or untrue information). I’ve seen information about stuff that is really not true, and was just made up by a random person. I’ve even had a professional (I think it was a doctor) explain and correct a piece of false information, which others thought was true. A lot of people are spending time looking at useless information instead of going outside or hanging out with friends. That’s why I think that even though technology is seen as helpful, a lot of the stuff on it is equally harmful.

Evelyn Gilliam, Caroline Bentley Elementary School, New Lenox

Electronic monitoring isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card

Yes, Ms. (Lavette) Mayes, when you were shackled for five months, your children also spent five months on electronic monitoring, as you wrote in your letter arguing to keep the two furlough days allotted for arrestees on home confinement. Your family was forced to pick up your load. Your relationships were strained. Your entire family was impacted. That’s what happens when one breaks the law.

That’s why people need to use good judgment before taking actions that could be detrimental to their families, if they care about their families. It’s really a fairly simple concept. More sheriffs, like Tom Dart, are needed for a well-functioning society, which we certainly do not have now.

Sherry Szilage Stoffel, North Aurora