Computers and Family Life :: Technology Essays

Computers and Family Life Computers have had both positive and negative effects on family life. As more and more families are beginning to own there own computers, the effects of computers are becoming more recognized. Negative effects include the separation/isolation of family members, and parents bringing their work home instead of leaving it at work. Linking extended families together is one positive effect that computers have had on family life. Overall computers have had a negative effect on family life. One negative effect of computers on family life is less human contact between family members. In my family, all of us have our own computers that are kept in separate rooms. So if I’m checking my mail on my computer, and my sister is in her room on her computer, we are isolated from each other and cannot talk to each other face to face. This results in less face to face human contact between family members. But just having one computer for a family can still cause less face-to-face contact. If one person is using the computer no one else wants to just sit and do nothing while the computer is being used, so they will go to a different room and each person will end up doing their own thing. Causing less family time, and less human contact within the family. The use of computer games is another thing that has caused less human contact between family members. Before computers were used in the home, if someone wanted to play a game, they usually had to find at least one other family member to play a board game or card game with them. That forced families to send more time talking to each other. Now if someone wants to play a game that requires more than one person, they can just go on the computer and either play online against another person, or they can play against the computer. Playing games on the computer makes in easier to be isolated from physical contact with other family members. Now that you don’t have to ask person in your family to play a game, most families don’t spend as much time talking to each other and learning about each other. Another negative cause that computers have on family life is that many people now bring their work home with them instead of leaving it at work the way they used to.