So it has been about a week since I've moved into my new house for university. That also means I have survived about a week without internet. Our internet provider is coming this Sunday to install it, but until then, we are internet free. My phone plan is already expensive enough, so I never got data as part of it. Those of you reading this may be thinking "life without internet isn't that bad". But this is kind of one of those things you actually have to experience life without before actually making a judgement. I'm in the library using the university's internet right now.In my new house, I live with five other internet hungry teenagers. It is quite interesting to see the reaction and behavior of my housemates without internet. It feels like we are slowly growing a disease and each day without internet it just gets worse.
For the first few couple of days in the evening after dinner, we just sat around on the couch and pretty much stared at each other. I'm not even joking. We did try to have some small talk here and there, but even when it felt like hours and hours passed by, it was usually only ten or fifteen minutes the next time someone checked the clock. School recently just started so there aren't really much assignments or homework we can distract ourselves with.
I guess each night we get more used to having nothing to do after dinner. At the very start, we didn't know what to do with ourselves. I know that is a very silly first world problem, but I can't help it. It's like feeding a baby calf milk all its life then suddenly taking it away. If someone was walking past our house and looking into our bare window, they would think it was some kind of teen psychiatric institution. We were jumping up and down, dancing to no music and pretending to do the big clock on the floor like Loonette from The Big Comfy Couch. By now, we have calmed down and tired ourselves out and just resorted back to staring at each other.I've always wondered how my parents could go to sleep so early at only 9 or 10 at night. Now I know exactly why. Every long, stretched out night, we would check the clock and it barely be 8pm.
Life without internet has made me realize how much time I actually spend surfing the web. I usually end up going to sleep at like 4 or 5am with internet. Now I go to sleep at around 10 or 11pm. I guess that is one of the pros that came out of this. I wake up feeling energized, instead of feeling tired and dreadful.
Although internet is a great tool and advancement that us teenagers are fortunate enough to have and often take for granted, we should definitely not bury ourselves in it or live through it. These past few days, I've gotten to explore my new neighborhood and be more active at school, which is something I never would have done if I was still able to access Tumblr at home. I definitely will not stop using the internet, but I've realized how much of an in-person introvert this genius invention is turning us all into.
I don't know if this exists, but if it doesn't it should. There should be an experiment conducted on teenagers to see their reaction and behavior once internet is taken away from them. If not, at least make it into a reality TV show. I would totally watch that.
