What’s more stressful than keeping up with emails, texts and Facebook? Pulling the plug, according to a poll released Thursday.
The Associated Press and mtvU polled and interviewed 2,207 students enrolled in four-year colleges in order to draw conclusions about the relationship between students and technology use.
According to the survey, 57 percent of students polled indicated that “unplugging” from cell phones, computers and television would cause them stress.
Twenty-five percent of students said they would be relieved to have no access to those same devices, the poll stated.
At Boston University, some students said their dependency on staying connected can be a mental burden.
School of Management junior Thomas Alberini said the Internet stresses him out when he receives emails about upcoming assignments or schoolwork. Nonetheless, he said he checks his email every time he sits down at a computer.
“Overall, I’d say it’s half stress, half enjoyment,” he said. “I much prefer being in a personal interaction with someone.”
The poll also showed that the speed of communication technology can induce stress. Almost two-thirds of students said that after sending a text, they analyzed why they did not receive an immediate response.
College of General Studies sophomore Catherine Hendry said she sometimes feels stressed when she does not receive an immediate response via text or Facebook.
“That’s why I find it easier to call people, because if you call them, then they have to reply,” she said.
Student Health Services Behavior Medicine Director Margaret Ross said she has never personally encountered students who report technology-induced stress.
Ross said she was concerned about how technology can negatively impact human interaction.
“I do see that the whole concept of “friend’ is now distorted by the Facebook phenomenon,” she said. “Will we really still know what it means to be a good friend, sharing close and important details of our lives, with one other person we trust?”
Only one percent of students in the poll who used Facebook said they knew all of the friends they had on the site.
The poll revealed students generally do not deal with serious personal problems by text or the Internet.
About half of those surveyed said they were extremely likely to ask for help with a serious problem in person.
Despite this, however, 92 percent have used technology to avoid having a face-to-face conversation with another person, according to the survey.
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