Born in 1950, my grandma didn’t know technology. Typewriters and rotary phones were the way to communicate outside of a world that was majority face-to-face interactions. Today, she uses technology every day.

I have heard many people from my grandma’s generation talk about how invested my generation is in their technology. I use my phone as much as my grandma uses her phone. While I understand that a lot of my grandma’s generation is still technology-free, any technology that my generation uses is considered to be “too much.”

According to the World Economic Forum, about 42% of people 65 years or older report owning a smartphone. My grandma being one of those people, she has never told me that I was using my phone too much.

She doesn’t give me the look of disappointment when I use my phone because she understands how useful technology can be. In the right hands, technology can be used for good. Rather than assuming that because I have a phone and use it, that I automatically misuse it, my grandma understands the positive uses of it.

I feel like those people who belittle my generation because of phone use think that we are always playing games or are doing unnecessary things. What they don’t realize is that because of how relevant technology is, I can now have access to more than what is immediately around me.

When someone comments on me being on my phone for a minute and assumes I am just checking social media, they could also consider that I am doing something for my educational benefit such as checking a grade for a class.

My generation is much more comfortable with the use of digital devices because we have been exposed to it longer. We have heard the variations of comments. Some that state how bad technology is and others that state how useful it is.

My grandma and I think that technology is useful. A point that my grandma made is that people who don’t agree with the use of technology may not have used it and have only heard the negative sides, or they are closed off to learning new things.

These people who are closed off to learning new things often disregard the positive uses such as modern medical technology. Technology can be used for wonderful things. Don’t be so quick to assume the worst.

Karena Ozier is a freshman elementary education major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at kmozier@eiu.edu.