By Jasmine Pascual, Staff writer
Ever look around and discover that almost every individual is looking down at their 
smartphone?
It gets exhausting after awhile.
We’ve all experienced it. The whole family is at the dinner table and almost every individual pulls out their phone to take a snap of their food, like anyone cares, or texts their friend to find out how Bobby is doing after the breakup.
It’s rude and inconsiderate, but we’re all guilty of doing it. If someone were to disrupt them from their Snapchat streak or Twitter feed, I think they might just have a stroke.
Say you’re in line with your friend at the local frozen yogurt place. Your friend walks away and for that split second, your first reaction is to go for your cell phone.
“Look busy,” our minds say. Instead of using the time to patiently wait for our friend to walk back, we pull out our phone to fit in or look like we have something better to do.
I’m no hypocrite to indulging in my phone, believe me. As I’m writing this article, I’m checking my phone constantly, waiting for the next message to beep. As ridiculous as that sounds, we all unconsciously check our phones way more often than we should.
People get so invested in their phones that they’re losing sense of their surroundings and might even be losing touch with those around them. Although interacting with people on our phones is a way of socializing, it may be interfering with the relationships with people we might not see outside of the classroom.
The rhetorical question, “What am I supposed to do without my smartphone?” is something I find myself asking all the time.
I go into sudden panic once I hit 15 percent battery. It’s a silly question to think about because God forbid we go another hour or two without a screen to glare at. But it’s a harsh reality in our generation. Once our phone dies from low battery, it feels like there’s a piece of us missing. And we’re left to stare at the floor or count the ceiling tiles like we lost all purpose in life.
Our smartphones are basically an extension of ourselves, like a third arm. It’s usually the first thing we reach for in the morning and the last thing we hold before heading to bed.
Whatever happened to living in the moment and enjoying life without staring blankly at a screen for countless hours? Ever go to a concert and spot a couple hundred smartphones killing your already not-so-great view? Yeah, it’s the worst.
But humor aside, is technology actually ruining our humanity? Are we slowly but surely becoming the undead?
Generation Z forgets to live life in the moment. Six Flags Great America has a container full of broken cell phones from idiots who think it’s a great idea to record themselves on a rollercoaster. First, live in the moment. And second, it’s never a good idea to think that you’re able to hold onto something while going 128 miles per hour.
When is it time to put the breaks on how innovative technology becomes?
It’s an important question to ask because one day robots or something else may take over the little things in life. For example, automatic toilets that flush after you go. That’s strange and helpful and all, but I’ll never get to flush the toilet on my own. Not that I enjoy handling the bacteria-filled toilet handle to flush. I’m just saying, maybe I like to do stuff on my own. When I can do it myself, why would I want some invention to do something so small for me?
Okay, so maybe Generation Z isn’t full of technological zombies yet, but that still doesn’t diminish the possibility of it actually happening. The majority of teens already see their smartphones as a drug or a reliever to keep themselves occupied. Sooner or later, technology may try to take over our lives completely, and I hope we’re mature enough to handle the changes with caution.