Page 400 - Sociology and You

370 Unit 4 Social Institutions
Technology and the Family
According to many experts, the influence of technology is just as far-reaching in the home as in the office. Activities in the home are changing dramatically because of recent technological innovations.
Because more American families are living farther from relatives, more are using the Internet to stay in touch with each other. Birth an- nouncements, reunion plans, gift registries for weddings, and funeral arrangements are now being shared with families and friends on-line (Bulkeley, 1997). Although somewhat impersonal, these social connec- tions may reduce social isolation and friction in families.
Many, however, see a darker side to new technology for the family. For example, one critic offers this concern: “If we wish to raise our chil- dren as androids who respond to Internet packets rather than parental guidance, I can’t think of a better way to do that than to put computer networks in homes” (Wingfield, 1998:R23).
Another critic believes that high-tech home equipment like cable television, the Internet, and video games increasingly rules the lives of American families. Children who spend a great deal of time alone with these technological wonders are deprived of frequent and intense so- cial contact with other children, their parents, and other adults in the neighborhood. Consequently, the current generation of children could very well be the first to grow up with highly deficient social skills. Offering indirect support for this conclusion is the fact that almost three-fourths of Americans say they do not know their neighbors. The number of Americans who admit they have spent no time with the people living next to them has doubled in the last twenty years (Quintanilla, 1996).
Technology can also separate, socially, those family members who use the new technology from those who do not. For example, some cou- ples who depend on web pages to inform their relatives of family news have found that some family members cannot share in this information. Older members of the family who do not have ac- cess to the Internet often feel cut off from the rest of the family (Bulkeley, 1997).
Analyzing the Trends
A dark picture of the Internet has been presented in this feature. Think of some positive conse- quences of this technology for the family. Discuss two of them.
The computer, to an even greater degree than the television, is being credited with isolating family members.