Imagination takes backseat to technology

by Amelia Gonzales, feature editor

Losing imagination through a world of technology

Imagination is something that is instilled in us as children. It is something that leads us to believe there is more than what has been provided to us. It gives us power to venture out, seeking and working for what many people call the impossible.

As a child, my imagination as a child took me to places such as enchanted forests, which in reality was just my backyard. It took my younger brother and I to Disney World at a time we knew we could not go. Without my imagination, my childhood would have trapped me in a world with limited opportunities.

A day without my cell phone is what started me thinking about how much technology has changed the minds of so many. I was in a state of panic when I showed up to school and realized my cell phone was not on me in my possession. For those who know me, they know that my phone is usually glued to my ear. I even considered skipping a few classes to drive back to Lubbock to get it.

I finally gave up on the idea of going back to go get it, but the itch to check my text messaging was driving me crazy. The constant vibration and the sounds of “Baby Got Back” were truly being missed. I wanted nothing more than to know who hooked up with who, and who had to deal with drama that would never seem to come to an end.

When lunch finally came around, I decided to try to find the closest computer check my email. But instead, ventured out on a voyage to what has been labeled by some of my classmates as “the three bears park.” While there, we talked and talked, losing track of time and the outside world. Nothing mattered, and the conversation was so in depth that I must have thought about at least 100 ideas for an opinion article in that one moment.

This made me realize that I, along with millions of others in this world, have forgotten how to live life and to appreciate the simplicity of life without technology by our side. Conversations at the dinner table are slowly dissipating throughout the years and children are becoming lost in a world where they are jumping across rivers, slaughtering bad guys, and robbing old women of their vehicles to get away from the cops.

My brother and I did have the newest gaming accessories, along with cell phones, at early ages, and computers were available to us for our schoolwork. Life was not always easy though. There were times that English essays were typed on typewriters, with me trying my very best to avoid any mistakes, since my reverse button did not work. There were times that I had to shed crayons in order to make confetti for my Barbie’s weddings, and going to Pistol Pete’s Pizza was the most entertainment we would have all week.

Getting in trouble meant that our TVs, phones, games and computers got taken away. That was considered big punishment for us. In reality, and my parents may get angry for me writing this, but that was probably the best thing my parents could have done. I found myself thinking and wondering how I would communicate with the outside world without my parents ever finding out.

Yes, it did lead me to bad things, but it did provide me with an opportunity to use my imagination. Just because some of situations led me into bigger trouble does not mean that it was necessarily a bad thing. These were situations that I learned from, lessons that I would carry throughout my life. I would not have those memories or the mindset to survive dangerous situations if I had technology by my side to keep me occupied.

I do agree we did have it a lot better than a lot of people we knew, but one big difference was that we appreciated it. Today, I see kids as early as age 6 with cell phones, and my little 13-year-old cousin is on Myspace. Every time I ask parents why they allow their children to own cell phones or to be exploited all over the Internet, they justify it by saying it’s for emergency situations and a way to communicate with others. So what exactly happened before all this technology came into play? Emergency accessories have just turned into another form of a must-have and are used for entertainment rather than emergency situations, thus taking away imagination.

People no longer allow children to develop an imagination, they just hand it to them. Where minds once worked, the microchips are spinning and the world is literally turning into a computer-dominated world.