Stephanie J.
The International School and Community College East Birmingham
England, United Kingdom

There are lots of reasons why technology can be both a good thing and a bad thing. I am going to show the pros and cons about new technology and then make a decision on whether it is good or bad.

One example of how technology has advanced is genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is a subject with as many good points as bad points, and consequently has many debates and arguments on the subject. Scientists use genetic engineering to change the DNA of living organisms, and genetic engineers say they can improve our food using this newly developed skill. For example, tomatoes have got a short growing season because they are sensitive to the cold. Fish, however, live in cold water and scientists have found the gene in flounders (fish) that gives resistance to the cold, and using the technology of genetic engineering have given tomatoes the gene to resist the cold. Now because of this new technology, the growing season of tomatoes can be extended. All of this might seem like a good and promising idea, but there are serious dangers, as well. For example, there is a risk of failure in the crops on a massive scale as it can happen if a virus, pest or fungus attacks a crop. This is because the genetically engineered seeds all have the same genetic structure. That's not the only risk, they don't yet know enough about the subject to perform DNA surgery without risking harm to the patient's health, the environment or even causing mutations. Also, because genetic engineering is done by moving genes from one organism to another, no matter how precisely the gene is cut out, inserting the gene into DNA is overall a random procedure.

Cloning also has its benefits and let-downs. There is a hope that cloning will, one day, give us the ability to reproduce organs for transplants. It will be done by taking DNA from the patient and put into an egg. But the downside is, things like cloned animals have been shown to have things like a compromised immune system, more risks of infection, tumours and other disorders.

As a population, we probably do rely too much on technology to do not only answer questions like climate change but in our every day lives as well. It's true, that without technology we wouldn't even know about the risk of climate change, but then again without technology we wouldn't have the risk of climate change in the first place. Another point is how can we rely on technology like computers that can only give us answers that are as accurate as what's been programmed into them?

No one can predict the exact type of technology that will be invented in the future. So there is no way we can 'fit into' it. The only thing people can do is ad-aped. Like we have done with things like computers and mobiles, and so on.

I would say that everybody is not so much scared, more nervous towards technology, and more so adults because they have to get used to a relatively new style of life. But it's more the unknown that scares people. Technology also tends to de-personalise things which probably also scars people. There isn't much nowadays you can't do without logging onto the internet. You can buy food, furniture, presents, insurance, you can see and talk to people around the world and even get dates. So things have become more impersonal and technology is forever changing and improving so if we can do all this now, and more, what is it going to be like in the future?

People coped just as well without the internet in the past as people cope with it today. Its true things would be more inconvenient and hard without the internet, but if it was gone it wouldn't be the end of the world. It would be a hard adjustment but it wouldn't be an impossible one. If people needed to look up or advertise things there are other ways to do it like libraries, which is what people probably did before. But it would again be a hard adjustment to make if it wasn't there, as I and many other people have got so accustomed to having the internet there whenever we need it.

In my opinion, computers are now more important than books simply because of all the thing they are now capable of doing. But books are still an important part of our society and shouldn't be dismissed, ignored or overlooked.

I think teachers should be allowed to bad things like you-tube if they think it is necessary because school is a place to learn and sites like that can be an un-necessary distraction.

To a certain extent I think mobile and MP3 players do help concentration when working. However if that luxury is taken advantage of then they should be restricted because again people concentrated long before this new technology came out.

Overall, I would say that technology is a promise with everything we can do nowadays, but it is border lining on being a threat.

New technology: a threat or a promise?

Rhian M.
The International School and Community College East Birmingham
England, United Kingdom

Over the years, technology has come on. It has started to take over, for example, the internet. Technology can be used for both good and bad but the bad things should not turn people against technology.

I personally think that genetic engineering and cloning should be allowed to take place as they can help cure people with diseases and it can also make, for example, farmers a living as they can clone the perfect animal. However, I don't think genetic engineering should be allowed to be used for own experiments when it don't have to be done, for example, putting an ear on a rat's back or making it glow in the dark. Technology can help answer some of the world's problems as it can make us more prepared for things, for example, earthquakes. Technology can be used in many ways, it can save lives, for example, we can now make buildings that will not be affected by earthquakes so if we know a week in advance that there is a earthquake coming, then we can get everybody into these buildings, or even better, because of another type of technology they can be flown over to the other countries. I think technology can help us a little bit with climate change, but it won't stop it from coming eventually, we need to stop emitting so much CO2 which is something technology can help but not completely get rid of. Cars have now been made that run of electric, not gas, which means we will be emitting less CO2 so climate change will be slowed now but not completely stopped from happening.

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