Author: Anchal Verma, I year of B.A.,LL.B. from UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW, FACULTY OF LAW
Change is a process. With the passage of time, change is bound to occur. It may be political, social, economical or technical. The first two decades of 21st century have been densely spotted with these changes. However, the change which directly affected the life of millions is, no doubt, the technical one. Our society has been entirely reformed. Technical developments, on one hand have brought the world on a single finger tip but on the other hand they are alleged to have created distance between the two humans.
No human being can deny the significance that technology holds in their life. The process of industrialization has been revolutionized by the use of modern technology. It has not only changed the medium of education, transport and communication but has also made humans to create another creature working on their fingertip i.e. Artificial Intelligence. Past years witnessed the tragedy due to Covid-19 pandemic. It was the technology that helped the administration and its people to cope up from it within such a short span of time. Education was possible in those days only on the online platform. In the present world, thousands of books could be kept and accessed under pocket. This has not only made the things easily accessible but also reduced the dependency on papers which would ultimately contribute towards saving the trees from being cut down. Even the hospital used technology to treat the patients. From a single Complete Blood Count (CBC) test to the patients on ventilators all is possible due to technology. Further, the agriculture sector is blessed to have it. Nowadays, even the weather can be predicted. It helps the farmers not only in sowing their crops but also in harvesting and finding a good price value for their crop in the market. If we could talk to our friend living in another country and travel long distances within a few hours it is all possible only by the grace of technology. There has been a transition from paper notes to the cashless phrase. UPI technology enables you to make online transactions of day -to -day use without involving the use of real money.
Continuous efforts are being made to further ease the process of education, health, transport, communication and other fields by the use of technology. The news of 5G shaping into reality in upcoming years is an example of this.
However, looking on the other side of the coin it is evident that the technology is not devoid of any drawbacks. On one hand it facilitates easier access of information to the children but on the other hand spending long durations on the electronic gadgets has caused health issues relating to eye disorders, obesity etc. to them at a tender age. Online games have replaced the outdoor physical ones. Also, online education can hardly replace the concept of schooling. Schooling involves interaction with the teacher; etiquettes, mannerism and social relationship that the children learn in his school cannot be developed in the four confined walls. This hampers the physical as well as the mental growth of a child as well as of an adult. The online game Blue Whale (which is now banned) took life of many innocent children. It will not be incorrect to state that Technolgy creates patients and then cures them. Observational studies have also revealed that greater screen time is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors more broadly, including hypertension, elevated cholesterol levels, insulin resistance, elevated inflammation, and the metabolic syndrome[1].Social media and mobile devices may lead to psychological and physical issues, such as eyestrain and difficulty focusing on important tasks. They may also contribute to more serious health conditions, such as depression[2].The overuse of technology may have a more significant impact on developing children and teenagers. Also, the deadly wars fought for the sake of selfish interest in the name of nations have further become more dangerous by the use of modern technology. The incident of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the victims of such wars.
Furthermore the negative impact of technology on social relations cannot be ignored. Despite converting the world into a village, it failed in achieving what was the need of hours. Modern world has witnessed a decrease in the social relations. Busy schedules of the people and spending more time on electronic gadgets have caused people to dedicate lesser time to their family.
One of the major concerns raised against the use of technology is the threat to privacy. The rate of cyber crime (incidents per lakh population) increased from 3.3% in 2019 to 3.7% in 2020 in the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data[3]. Malware, Ransomware, Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, Spam and Phishing, Corporate Account Takeover (CATO), Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Cash Out etc. techniques may be used to for committing such crime.
In order to match up with the world one cannot deny the use of technology. Online education is at its pace and may replace the schooling system in near future in order to save time and resources. Also, technology is a boon to the medical sectors. It has even revolutionized the agriculture sector as evident in form of Green Revolution. Industries have flourished. Today, world is at our finger tip. The transparency in the administrative system has increased. No doubt, use of electronic gadgets creates mental and physical disorder but this could not be the only reason to exclude it from our lives. A proper balance needs to be maintained between the physical workout and spending time on the electronic gadgets. Possibilities of parents become more serious in observing their child’s surfing to avoid incidents like BLUE WHALE. Even the government needs to make laws to administer such content on the Internet. Technology is in fact a necessary evil which has become an integral part of human life.
[1] Strasburger VC Council on Communications and Media. Children, adolescents, obesity, and the media. [published correction appears in Pediatrics. 2011;128(3):594] Pediatrics. 2011;128(1):201–208. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]. [2] MedicalNewsToday, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/negative-effects-of-technology#:~:text=Social%20media%20and%20mobile%20devices,on%20developing%20children%20and%20teenagers. , (last visited on 16th August, 2022). [3] THE HINDU, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-reported-118-rise-in-cyber-crime-in-2020-578-incidents-of-fake-news-on-social-media-data/article36480525.ece , (last visited on 16th August, 2022).