Paper Topic:

Social Interaction: Enhanced or reduced by technology?

Technology and Social Interaction

April 23 , 2008

Technology has granted us many beautiful things in the last century From the computer , to the Internet , technology has granted us the opportunity to network with people worldwide . Although technology has given us many great things , social interaction has been reduced in some respect . Many think that social interaction with others has been replaced with computers , and video games . With the recent advances in technology , many young people stay at home , work at home , and even go to school at home . Some would disagree

, and say that social interaction is taking place even more so now than ever . With the power of the Internet people are able to chat with one another from anywhere in the world Although people may stay at home more often , social interaction is still taking place , in an intangible sense . Social interaction is taking place 24 hours a day seven days a week over the Internet , with many jobs offering online employment . Medical transcription , for instance , is a job that traditionally had to be done at the hospitals , but now can be done from the privacy of your own home . Many people have found that modern technology has made their lives easier , and at the same time allow them the chance to speak with people in places they would never have the chance at speaking to . According to a report titled Tech Tonic ' issued by a nonprofit alliance for childhood , feels that immersing preschool and school age children in electronic technologies can actually have long-term harmful benefits . According to the alliance for childhood , increasing numbers of children are spending hours each day sitting in front of screens , instead of playing sports , reading , and getting needed physical exercise and face-to-face solve social interaction (Strauss , 2004 . Many argue that when children do not get a certain amount of exercise and it and lack of proper diet , they are far more likely to come down with serious physical ailments

On the other side , researchers in Britain studied six boys and five girls , ages 13 to 15 , in to see how many calories per hour they would burn , playing two separate gaming platforms , the Nintendo Wii , and Microsoft 's Xbox 360 . Studies have shown that children expand an average of about 72 calories per hour , playing the Xbox increase the average to 107 , while playing the Nintendo Wii tennis games consumed 179 calories per hour , both significant increases over the Xbox system (Bakalar 2008 . Although , when comparing calories burned using gaming platforms to those to those burned with outside activity , the amount of calories children burned per hour nearly doubles at 318 calories on average per hour . The Nintendo Wii is a step in the right direction when trying to mix physical exercise , with the fun of playing a video game . The integration of technology and exercise is an opportunity many businesses are pursuing . With modern technology , users are able to customize their workouts , and compile fitness data on their home...

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