After a long and difficult 5 minutes of working, it becomes really easy for us to take a quick 30-minute break and watch anything else with any device at hand. What’s worse is that once we are done with our break, we go back to our homework to repeat this cycle, thus using way more technology than we should.

One clear indicator of such would be having your eyes increasingly tired of too much screen time and intense headaches throughout the day. Another side effect would be having difficulty going or staying asleep.

Now that we’ve discussed possible temporary problems when using too much technology, we must also asses the possible long-term effects. Such impacts are seen more in physical side effects, for example, spinal and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and vision issues from gazing at the screen. Not to mention the dreaded loss of sleep.

What is clear is the more time we spend in self-quarantine, the easier it is to gravitate towards the use of electronics even more so when we as a school moved towards technology-based education. We truly miss out on what’s happening on our surroundings, although it may be limited to our property’s perimeters.

So let’s take time to appreciate those who are quarantining with us and spend time together doing an activity that you both share. Maybe you can learn something for a family member that you never thought you’d know.

I understand this doesn’t really appeal to us as a Hispanic community, but maybe, just maybe, you can catch the whole family in a willing mood.

So maybe the whole family thing doesn’t work out. There are so many more things to do.

First of all, we should constantly be keeping up with proper hygiene. Second, we should try to implement any kind of physical activity. After this, you can take up a new hobby, for example, reorganizing your room. Many feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment right afterward. Or maybe you’re not having the best day, take time for yourself. After all, there are many things to do instead of relying on our devices.

One thing that we could conclude is using too much technology is not only bad for one’s health, but it’s bad in that it hinders your chance of interacting with your surroundings.

As a child, there’s only so much one can do. We have no choice but to accept that we are never in control of what’s happening; in fact, many of us were too naïve to ever even think of the possibility in which we are in control. Throughout these years, she never really knew what or how things worked, within her childhood, all she did get to know was nothing more than her very own feelings and emotions.

Her parents are very kind and driven individuals. They both share a deep passion for work because it was implemented at a very young age. As far as she can remember, she too grew fond of it and soon after the age of four played the -at the time super cool- role of a promoter at a family business they owned at a local flea market. Because of this workaholic-like structure, her family as a whole became stressed. This and many more “adult” topics arose a series of altercations between her parents. Of course, for young, little Laura, this meant to distract her little brother with blasting music meanwhile she cried at a corner where he wouldn’t notice.

Throughout her early years of school, she had been the main target for a cheap laugh. Anything you can possibly think of, she’s pretty sure she has been called before. After that, she had no more room in her brain to think of anything other than these incidents all together. It felt as if every step she took was out of place. As she grew older, she learned that the anguish and disgust felt within herself were very much validated and were far from wrong. Up until the medial part of last school year was she granted the opportunity to share her story as a whole, along with other problems, for the very first time. It was through her former English teacher that she entered the first step of recovery.

Although this newfound path ensured success, she was filled with this sense of uncertainty and fear of neglect. This became the problem when diagnosing her with Mild Depressive Disorder and continued until she forced herself into a hospital for the fear of her own actions. After her discharge, she became quieter about her feelings because it felt as though they either did not matter or were always misunderstood. 

Later then she received monthly therapy and was visited twice a month by a social worker in order to learn coping mechanisms and really heal. Her parents too were educated about what was going on and helped her in whatever way possible. It was until then that she took this blindfold, that she had created herself, off and really looked at the bigger picture. There were all these people gathered that love and care for her deeply. The misunderstanding was all of her own, and this helped take a major part in helping overcome that fear and take time for herself this past summer break.

She knew then that her life was worth living because of all these reasons. She is worthy of living because she’s been independent since such a young age. She is worthy of living because being bullied created confidence in loving herself. She is worthy of living because she chose to rise above “scary” or “crazy” words like Mental Disorders. All of this makes her so much more worthy of living, and she hopes others can find their reasons too.