SAT practice essay #2

Evenings in my household generally look identical from one night to the next. Once homework and dishes are out of the way, we settle down to amuse ourselves. Fifty years ago, this may have involved gathering in the den, reading books, playing games or watching the Ed Sullivan show together. But in this glorious modern age it overwhelmingly involves individual, mindless entertainment. My Dad might be back in his study, watching a television show on his computer. My brother might be in his room, watching something on his television. In the living room, my mother and I can be found on two separate computers, checking Facebook or writing our friends or just lazily browsing the internet. On the upside, we are each caught up on what is happening in the world, whether it be the real one, or a fictional one we choose to lose ourselves in. On the other hand, we are wasting precious time.

The advances that make such high-tech entertainment options widely available, have stolen time which we should be dedicating to worthier investments. As a junior in high school, I will be leaving home in two years to go to college. I should be working hard to enjoy every last minute with my parents and brother before I leave them: I have a feeling I will regret giving up time to goof off with my brother so I could watch the latest episode of Psych. It is too easy to find that you have wasted hours on nothing when you could have spent it on the people you love.

Another drawback, for me personally, is the lessening value of the written word. Words are cheap nowadays. All you have to do is open up Google and you have millions of options at your fingertips. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I love the experience of going to a library or a bookstore, holding a book in my hands and pouring over the rich storehouses of literary treasure. Who would have thought that turning a page with my own fingertips would be a sensation missed. Books are personal; the time and emotion put into them by the author is more tangible. Along the same lines, technology has made letter writing obsolete. I am proudly of the generation that pioneered texting, instant messaging and email but I still get a thrill when I read a note someone wrote with their own hand.

Technology is cold. It has made our lives easier, but it has encouraged frigid individualism. Family time, book-reading, and letter writing are things which we should not let die. Technological advances are wonderful, but our lives would still be good without them.