Life Without Facebook [Teen Article]

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Rachel is a 16-year-old born and raised in NYC. She enjoys singing, debating, traveling and writing. Her favorite subjects are English and Science; she wishes to pursue a career in either of them in the future.

A little history lesson: Facebook started to become popular right around the time I was going to start High School three years ago. I just finished a summer of volunteer work and my coworkers and I became like family. I created an account so I could keep in touch with them. By the time I started my year as a freshman, all my classmates I had on Facebook.

All parents wonder “What’s so special about Facebook? Why must you go on it SEVERAL times a day?” We need to feel connected. It’s becoming an instantaneous world, where everything can happen. You can speak to your pen pal across the world, share pictures with your family in different countries, even break up with your boyfriend in a click. You can “buy your friends” or cut old friends out of your life. The reason is plain and simple: this new generation hates to wait.

So I was grounded from the computer because I kept sneaking on my Facebook while doing my homework. That meant no Facebook, no instant messaging, no cell phone. After even the first 8 hours of grounding, I felt like an alcoholic that hasn’t gotten his habitual drink. I couldn’t update my status; how would anyone know what I’m doing? I couldn’t reply to my wall posts or retaliate on my bidding wars over my friends. I couldn’t even visit my friend’s Facebook group he made for help in math class. I felt cut off from the world. I mean, I got 15 notifications MINIMUM each day. How was I supposed to reply back?

Let me tell you, that was the longest week I had. Cold turkey was hard but after I couldn’t do anything else, I became more focused on my homework. I still visit Facebook more than I should, but now I know how to better prioritize my life.