Mark Cruz
5/31/00
B1

	Like most little children my age I had a set ritual. You see, every Saturday monring, without fail, rain or shine, I would wake up promptly at seven o clock , how out of bed adn run downstairs. I would then proceed to grab a big bowl, fill it with cereal, puor a big helping of milk all over it, and grab the remotge, turn on teh TV and watch My favorite cartoons on a Saturday monring. Now, i , asa kid, didn’t really know any better. To me, that was my fun fo rthe morngint, and that was that. How evident is it that, even then, at an early age, the TV had already begun to slowly suck up my time and energy. Subsequent years of this ritual would follow, eventually leading me to become a TV addict.  Yes, as the great Weird AL Yankovitch once said, “I think I’m losign my santiy, I’m addicted to Regis and Kathy Lee, forvever I will always be, glued to my TV. “ How true the man is. You see, AMericans are glued to tecnolygy, jsut as technology has glued itself to America. My little brother has a similar ritual, except his involves late night sspent chatting with his cyber buddies on this new fangled thing they called the Internet. You see America, what have we become? It’s no wodner we rank just below Canada on our nationla test scores. It has become strikingly clear to us as a society that we have become technolyg dependent. Come take A jpurney with me as we examine what lies behind us, what lies before us, and the road that leads to the future. AMerica, technolyg was made for our betterment, it’s about time  we start using it that way.

	The year is 1953. That’s about 47 years ago. Looks like the TV hasn’t sucked up all of my knowledge... YET. Most people thought the TV was jsut the coolest thing sinc eslived bread, sliced bread having been invented the previous winter. You see, little did the Inventor of this wonderful television set know that one day it would steal our children’s minds, causing them to sit and stare like mindless logs. You see folks at the time, America was a more fit nation that we are today. Children didnt’ want to stay inside alll day because there were more things to do OUTSIDE. Also anothe rfact to condsier is that even those families who had   TV would watch it together, watching quality programs to enrich and entertain. Who would have thought years later we’d all be watching a bunch of peopel see who has the fastest figner for an hour.

	We’ve seen where America has been, now where is it headed? Well in 1992, a little thing began to emerge claled the Internet. Have any of you guys heard of it?? Well, it’s funny, you know this new thing called the internet is hooking over 10,000 new people a day. WE have Internet rehabilitation clinics for those who have gotten addicted to it. You see, despite the fact that this great tool was designed for the use of information, we still see that 90% of World Wide Web Traffic on Friday night is realted to Adult materia. It is estimated that all of the text written on all the Tabelts in rome could have fit on a single floppy disk. So how do we use these new ways of media? I’ll tell you how, we go and search our stocks, look on new investmetns, fidn ou thow our local team is doing. WE buy a girft for aunt Neddie. But among all this, do we ever learn. In fact the itnernet is doing opposite, you see the Internet has made palgarasim even easier. You essay is just a click a way at schoolsux.com, the site is really easy to navigate, not that I’ve been there before or anything. Haven’t read a book? No Problem.... jsut go to Book a minute, where they guarauntee to have the book summarized in a minute flat. 

	America, it’s time to use your head. Society will get nowhere like this. Do we watn to end up a bunch of neanderthals haveing the elite majority thinking for us. It’s time to get up of your e-couch, pu tdown that remote, turn off your web TV, and start thinking. Because, isnt’ that what our great country was built on, independent thought??? Now if you excuse me, it’s 5:00 and my favorite show is on. Thank You.