If I were to bet someone a million dollars that 90% of American teens use Snapchat, I’d probably win. Don’t we all just love the new update? Whether you love it because it hides your best friends from your significant other or you hate it for the exact same reason.

Modern technology has made it easier to cheat in relationships, because of the apps created to make information hidden. Some social media apps even allow you to customize the certain people that can and can’t see your posts.

Even though your partner could be the only person physically next to you,  that doesn’t mean they are theonly ones really there.

Let’s face it, some teens can admit that they have met their boyfriend/girlfriend online or through that “hey!” message on Facebook, so what makes it possible that they’re not doing that again with someone else?

People can argue that they can stay away from those things or that they can use them without feeling the need to cheat, and I do not disagree with that, but the way today’s technology is set up makes temptation so much worse. Come on now, people swear that they can handle using them, but if they could then why are so many relationships ending because of cheating?

Technology not only makes it easy to hide things from others, but also makes it easy to get caught up in a mess. Whatever is posted on the internet can be saved, screenshotted, or reposted and stay on the internet for more and more people to see. That’s why you’re told to be careful with whatever you post, because it could stay on the internet forever. Something that you posted from years and years ago could pop up later in your future and ruin your relationship.

Furthermore, Technology not only makes cheating in relationships easy, but also makes cheating at school easier.

Students use their cellphones to send answers to each other from the last test they received or from last nights homework. Instead of actually giving the paper to another person to copy off of, they send a picture or text the answers, which makes it easier to do it without getting caught.

Some people may not know this, but benchmark or copyrighted tests are frequently posted online with questions and answers for people to use as practice, not to get answers and cheat.

Some students also use google or other websites with essays and articles from other people and copy and paste what they’ve found and use it as their own, which we know as plagiarism. It’s unfair to me, because if someone were to take my hard work and credit it as their own, I’d be furious, because it’s my work, my writing, and my effort that I posted for others to read not steal.

With all of the different scenarios of cheating through technology, I think trust is included with it. If a person wants to be in a relationship with someone then they should be with that specific person. Why cheat when you have the person you claim you want to be with?  If you want more than just one person then you shouldn’t be in a relationship at all until you’ve found someone that makes you want to be loyal to them. Most of the time when there are trust issues in a relationship are because they were given a reason to have trust issues. Don’t give your significant other a reason not to trust you.

When texting or using a phone at all in a relationship, it should be for family, friends, work, and emergencies, and your partner that you claim you are with. Making an effort to cut time from the internet and your phone and actually spend time with your significant other and having trust is the key to actually fixing these problems caused from cheating through cellular devices and being online.

Also with school, studetnts go to school to learn, do the work, and then show their knowledge of what they have learned, not what someone else has learned. Teens in junior high or high school should be responsible enough to know better about when it’s time to have their phones out. Also they know what they should be using it for as well. The internet has so many different sources that you could be answering a lot of different answers for just one question.

Some teachers let students have their phones out, thinking they’re listening to music or looking up words, but really they’re cheating. Teachers have trust and faith in their students to know better and to do well, but I think what some students are doing is giving them more reasons not to trust them.

However, what happens when they wake up and realize that the phone isn’t going to be there with them on test days. What are they going to do then? Their phone and internet will help somewhat, but what will they gain from it? What information will they obtain? Nothing, because their phone is doing all the work for them. It’s best to be responsible, be trustworthy, and know what to use your phone for in school.

Technology has only become more ingrained in our daily lives and doesn’t look to be going away.  Don’t let it get the best of you and take your dignity just because it makes things easier in a negative way, let it impact you in a positive way.