Americans and Dependence on Computer (Essay Sample)

Are Americans Becoming Too Dependent on Computers?
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Abstract
The paper briefly reviews the dependence on computers in contemporary the American society. Providing three examples, the paper highlights justifiable indicators of Americans’ over dependence on computers. To begin with, American children become overly dependent on computers from a very early age, becoming computer-game addicts, who are emotionally dependent on computers. Secondly, the dependence has triggered a reliance on computer-based healthcare, where even clinicians cannot deliver health care without using the indispensable computer. Finally, according to the paper, the overdependence on computers has changed the American society to replace direct communication with computer-based indirect interactions of the social media. Essentially, therefore, as demonstrated by these three examples, a similar trend of overdependence on computers is characteristic in politics, education, family life, military, and law practice among many other areas of life in modern America.
Are Americans Becoming Too Dependent on Computers?
The use of computers has transformed the way of life for every American, in the last two decades. Today, regardless of the age bracket or gender, social class or education background, Americans largely rely on computers in every facet of life. The computer has now invaded every area of life as a basic essential. Consequently, according to Cash, Rae, Steel and Winkler (2012), overreliance on computers is today "causing neurological complications, psychological disturbances, and social problems" across Europe and in the US (p. 292). Courtesy of computers therefore, we now have young computer-game addicts, computer-based healthcare, and a society anchored on computer-based interactions. In the paragraphs that follow, this brief essay will critically evaluate how the average American has become overly dependent on computers.
To begin with, Americans’ overdependence on computers is emphatically illustrated by the use of computers by children. American children start playing computer games while still very young, but the availability of a computer at home means that, within a few years, they mature to be computer-game addicts (Poon, 2012). According to Poon (2012), these young computer-game addicts have an emotional dependence directly related to their overdependence on computers. Weinstein (2010) concur with the foregoing conclusion, asserting that that, American adolescents have fallen prey to computers and the net result is video-game addiction. Matters have worsened to the extent that, clinicians are now recommending a pharmacological treatment for people with computer-game addiction, a craving that often starts at a young age and matures to addiction among young Americans (Han, Hwang, & Renshaw, 2010). Unfortunately, over dependence on computers is not only a trend among American children.
Computers have become an essential digital platform in entertainment, shopping, health care, education and many other areas of modern American lifestyles. The health care sector amply exemplifies this trend. Caplan, Perse, and Gennaria (2007) provided a theoretical review of computer-mediated technology adopted in modern lifestyles. The researchers conducted a study on overdependence on computers in the health care industry. According to Campbell, Sittig, Guappone, Dykstra, and Ash (2007), health care is now administered using such clinical systems as the Computerized Provider Order Entry. The outcome is health care provision that is overly reliant on the computers, creating false expectations on data accuracy among patients and health care providers, and most importantly, enabling clinicians who "cannot work efficiently without computerized systems" (p. 94). Similarly, as in health care, overdependence on computers has become the norm in social interactions, as argued below.
Thirdly and finally for the present discussion, computers have inspired, shaped and anchored the social media as a necessity of the American society in the Information Age. Young and old Americans now have multiple and active social media accounts in Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others. There has been a notable social change mediated by the computers, by triggering a novel mode of indirect social interaction (Caplan, Perse, & Gennaria, 2007). The social media requires a consistent daily usage of the computer to communicate, interact with others, or simply following up on friends and peers. The resultant reality is what Young (1998) describes as "internet addiction," which had emerged as "a new clinical disorder," nearly two decades ago (p. 237). A decade after Young’s (1998) prediction, Shaw and Black (2008) conducted a study and affirmed that social media has triggered an unprecedented internet addiction.
In conclusion, therefore, the foregoing examples only highli...