Poll: Worries about technology use, kids

The vast majority of residents on Long Island and in other New York City suburbs use cellphones and computers regularly but worry about the negative effects, particularly on children, according to a poll released Monday.

The Siena College Research Institute found 95 percent of people living in Nassau, Suffolk and other counties near the city either own or have access to cellphones. More than half said they use them frequently each day.

Fifty-one percent of suburbanites have or use smartphones such as the iPhone or BlackBerry. They primarily send text messages, take photographs and check email.

Almost 90 percent of those surveyed said they use a desktop computer, iPad or laptop; 69 percent, a GPS system or flat-screen television; 59 percent, MP3 player, and 26 percent, an e-book reader such as the Kindle or Nook.

Still, many expressed concern, and in some cases frustration, at behaviors spawned by electronic gadgets.

Texting while driving was the No. 1 complaint cited by 100 percent of those polled on Long Island and in other suburbs. Talking on the phone while driving was a significant problem to 96 percent; cyberbullying, 92 percent, and identity theft and other criminal activity, 89 percent.

"Cellphones, smartphones, computers and the Internet have become part of everyday life," said Siena pollster Don Levy.

"But feelings are mixed. Despite most concluding that all the new technologies have improved our quality of life, nine out of 10 say we now spend too much time with machines and buttons rather than with people or nature," he said.

Levy stressed the embrace but worry over the impact of technology that was seen on Long Island was also prevalent in New York City and upstate. The poll of 830 adults statewide was conducted July 27-Aug. 22 and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.4 percentage points.

Regardless of what kind of computer they use, 51 percent of suburbanites said they cannot imagine life unplugged. But many are concerned about the prevalence of electronic devices among the young. More than 80 percent said kids spend "too much" time on the gadgets.

Access to pornography and sending explicit text messages or photos was cited as a significant problem by 82 percent and 85 percent, respectively.

Despite these fears, 96 percent said smartphones, computers and other devices had changed life for the better by increasing access to information.

On the Long Beach boardwalk Monday, people were upbeat about technology.

"There's always going to be abuse, but overall I think it's a good thing," said Joshua Weiss, a retired salesman from Rockville Centre. "What would you have done during the storm if the cellphone hadn't been invented?"