Recent advances in technology have made communication between people a lot easier. However, these are negatively affecting family relationships as people spend less time together. Discuss the causes and suggest some solutions.

As a result of the rapid development of technology in the past few decades, people are able to communicate with each other more easily. However, it is also argued that this increased use of technology is likely to have negative effects on families. In this essay, I will examine various possible causes and suggest some ways to solve this problem. It is certainly true that technology is responsible for damaging relationships for many reasons. First of all, it allows instantaneous communication which can mean that people working in competitive businesses have heavier workloads, resulting in stress. Consequently, family members usually feel the impact of longer working hours, which often causes a huge strain on relationships. For instance, families having dinner together on a regular basis is a thing of the past due to parents returning home from work at irregular hours. Another point to consider is that the internet is currently one of the most popular pastimes. Not only it is a source of up-to-date news and educational information but it also provides hours of entertainment, especially chat rooms, on-line game and networking sites such as YouTube and Facebook. These factors contribute to people spending large amounts of time on their phones and less time together as a family. A common example of this is when children rush home to play on-line games, and often ignore their parents or their siblings. Furthermore, this damages the development of children’s social skills and they can become introverted due to them not having direct contact with others their own age. Regarding the solutions, it is not always easy to reduce the problems caused by technology because each family’s situation is different. One way to address this issue would be for parents to encourage less time spent in front of computers and more quality time communicating with other family members. It is also important to have healthy relationships with friends by playing sport or joining a club in the local community. Last but not least, working parents should find a way to manage their time more effectively with the aim of placing more emphasis on the quality of life instead of financial pressure. For example, they could dedicate one day of the week to ignoring work completely and spend the time doing outdoor activities on family outings. In conclusion, while it is apparent that modern technology has had a negative impact on social relationships, the solutions are increasingly difficult because of current work practices. In my opinion, it is unhealthy to be over-reliant on technology and people should make an effort to maintain close relationships in their family.