There are many noises heard in everyday life: the loud humming, the gusts of wind, the continuous buzzing. In other words, the constant notifications, the texting thumbs, and the endless vibration of one’s phone takes over people’s attention. Everybody, kids and adults, is always glued to their phones these days. At dinner, at family events, at school, people are always checking for updates, playing games, texting their friends, and checking social media. Have these small devices taken over our lives? Or have they given us a new reason for living?

There are many opposing arguments based on this new lifestyle. The instant messaging and the multiple social media networks have given people a new way to communicate and see what is going on in the world just by the swipe of a finger. Although, it has consumed people’s lives as well.

Every day, rather than talking in class or chatting at the lunch table, kids and teens will now sit on their phones and scroll through the hundreds of posts on social media. Does social media cause a communication barrier between people? Some believe that social media allows kids to communicate more and allows them to see different opinions of people all over the world, but is it causing kids to lose respect for the personal connection that comes with communicating?

Kids are not only to blame. When stepping into a restaurant, there are multiple tables full of adults on their phones and Bluetooth devices. When driving, millions of adults are seen texting and talking on the phone as well. Phones are constantly being checked. In uncomfortable situations, people pull out their phones as safety devices rather than learning how to talk and relate to others.

However, phones have given people a new capability as well. The access people have to information these days is incredible. It allows people to learn things they would’ve never been capable of learning before. Phones are used to communicate with old friends and family, to gain information, to warn people of issues around the world, and they are even used as defense systems in dangerous situations.

The humming, the gusts, the buzzing, and the ups and downs each phone brings affects everyone. The question is whether or not this newly advanced technology is worth the loss of communication skills that have been used on this earth for millions of years.