I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interactions, the world will be a generation of idiots,” Einstein, the world’s famous inventor in science once said.

Einstein’s words remind me of an incident when a car almost hit me. Sadly, such scenarios are now common place, most especially with the youth. Reason? In my case, it happened when my eyes were so glued to my phone. The distraction was so much that I could not realise that my life was in danger. After the incident, I felt a twinge of fear and wondered where technology was blindly taking us.

The dictionary defines  ‘distraction’ as anything of any kind that may prevent us from concentrating on something else and in most cases such things are less productive than those we were supposed to be doing. A ‘disastrous distraction’ is that which puts our lives at risk such as these shocking accidents that are taking place nowadays, which makes it an issue we all need to address.

Social media makes a compilation of various websites and apps which are consistently serving the social field of our communities. These include Whatsapp, Facebook and many others. Yes, having access to these social media platforms boosts and expands our sacred social circles, by keeping us connected and updated about the world around us. Through constant chatting with our friends and relatives we attain and maintain these influential networks and relationships. Although this is the case, one can say that our lack of appreciation for such inventions is outweighing the supposedly power we should have over them. As a result, we tend to be blindly led by their influence on our lives.

Similarly, to what the famous scientist once mentioned, these social media networks are meant to serve us well in raising our human interactions and relations, but this is hardly the case, which is a hindrance towards fulfilling our other responsibilities such as jobs, parenting and studying.

It is true that development has been and remains our daily focus, but we should not be slaves to the emerging trends. Using these apps in the appropriate time would certainly be a more profitable option in our day-to-day affairs. Our lives should be our first priority, and not the luxuries associated with it.

By Juliet Giraso, S.5 student, Gashora Girls Academy