Without first understanding oneself, understanding others is nearly impossible. Understanding oneself leads to a deeper understanding of emotions and different ways that emotions can be expressed. “Kids are using these phones during what once would have been idle time, when they would be alone with their thoughts”(qtd. in Porter). Children and teens need time alone to process their own feelings and to reflect on how to better handle challenging social situations. I personally have two younger brothers, ages six and seven, that both already have smartphones, tablets, and gaming systems that take up a vast majority of their time. Looking back eleven years ago to when I was in their shoes, I can tell a huge difference in the way that my time was spent. Even though technology had already begun its take over in my youth, I did not spend as much time with tangled up in it as my brothers do. As technology gets even more advanced it will draw more of the youth further into isolation until social skills are …show more content…
In one study “people who had conversations in the absence of mobile devices reported higher levels of empathetic concern, while those conversing in the presence of a mobile device reported lower levels of empathy”(Drago). Many people try to multitask by having a conversation, face to face, while also trying to accomplish things on their electronic device. This has a negative effect because it takes the focus away from the conversation or can even kill the conversation altogether. Both men and women lose focus when trying to multitask, but the effect is greater in men due to the difference in the way men’s brains function. I have been involved in multiple conversations where the other person was so distracted by their electronic device that they did not notice when I stopped talking and walked away killing the