Technology gives and takes in 21st century | Dale Miller - Grand Island Independent

Technology gives, and technology takes away.

That lesson could be reinforced for many of our nation’s students — if they can pull their eyes away from the latest memes or Instasnap posts.

Maybe the young whipper-snappers will finally listen to the old fogies who warn about the dangers of all of this modern technology.

There are those of us who have noticed the rapidly shrinking attention span.

Even worse than the effects that technology is having on our brains is what it is doing to our bladders.

There used to be consequences to forgoing that bathroom break between the third and fourth quarters of your favorite football team’s game on TV. You’d risk your eyes starting to water if your team gave up an 8-minute touchdown drive, and it wasn’t solely because of the score.

Now, with the ability to pause and record anything at all on whatever device you are watching, the need to plan well-timed bathroom breaks are a thing of the past.

This makes me long for a simpler time, like those shown in the classic series “The Wonder Years,” which is currently paused on my television while I finish typing this.

Now it is time for the kiddies to feel the pain that modern technology can bring.

Technology may bring an end to the sacred, beloved snow day before climate change.

Five South Carolina school districts have eliminated the snow day from existence, relegating it to a footnote in some e-history book.

In case of bad weather, students from kindergarten through 12th grade will still receive their lessons via Chromebooks.

At least wearing shorts to school on a 5-degree day will finally be appropriate for those boys who refuse to thrown on a pair of jeans no matter how cold it is outside.

As an adult who still occasionally benefits from snow days since my job requires school athletic events to take place, the thought of never being able to root for bad weather as a child is depressing.

While attending a small-town school and living eight miles away, I enjoyed my share of snow days growing up. It was great when that snow would stop and you could head outside on a bright, crisp afternoon to take advantage of the wintery landscape.

Of course, since many youngsters now would prefer to stay inside and be on their phones or other devices, then maybe the spread of the elimination of snow days to areas where they are more likely to occur than South Carolina could be welcomed.

But there is technology that can help our students learn both in the best and the worst of weather conditions. There is no debate about whether this is a positive or negative development.

Forget your feelings about The Ohio State University, college football fans. This educational institution has provided its students with a bacon vending machine.

Located appropriately enough in the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, this 21st-century breakthrough provides bacon strips or bits for $1. And who can put a price on the benefits of consuming the best food known to humankind?

I can imagine the GPAs soaring upward with each $1 inserted into the vending machine, which obviously has to be restocked several times a day due to demand.

The only negative associated with bacon is when it is all gone — or, even worse, is stolen.

But once again technology is providing a positive solution to the problems for the modern student.

A college student in Taiwan couldn’t get any of her five roommates to confess to who had consumed her yogurt and left the empty container in the trash.

So she did the reasonable thing for 2018: Go to the police and insist they do a $500 DNA test on the container after fingerprints couldn’t be lifted.

The culprit was identified and now faces charges for theft.

Whether charges will be brought for technology stealing snow days is yet to be determined.

Dale Miller is a sports writer for the Independent. Once a week he wanders away from the sports department to offer his take on non-sports related topics. Email him at dale.miller@theindependent.com

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