By Bill O'Reilly

Things are getting serious. In 2011 3,300 people were killed in vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers according to federal stats. At least 385 of those died while actually using a cell phone in the car. An astounding 69 percent of all drivers in America ages 18 to 64, report they have talked on the cell phone while driving.

And there is more; 70 percent of sex addicts report having a problem online. The National Council on Sexual Addiction says there could be as many as 20 million people. Also a study led by the University of Michigan says the more Americans use Facebook the worse they feel about themselves. And a study by Oxford University found that too much social media damages interpersonal relationships.

So there is no question that this machine, this machine is causing an immense amount of damage all over the world. So how are you dealing with tech? Here are some questions. Do you text while eating? Do you text while talking with another person? Do you spend more than two hours a day on the net? Do you use computers for purposes that you don't want anyone else to know about, that is, would you be ashamed if other people knew what you were doing in cyberspace?

Are you thinking about the Internet when you're not using it? Do you talk to strangers on the net? If you've answered yes to any of those questions, there might be a problem. And that problem is most severe among children.

Right now millions of kids simply want to play games on the net. That's all they want to do. They don't want to play sports, they don't want to go outside and run around. They don't want to do activities that separate them from cyberspace.

Most American parents and grandparents know what I'm talking about. The cyberspace addiction rate among American children is off the charts. And the implications for the country are staggering.

If an American citizen is not interested in the outside world that person will not be able to make intelligent decisions in life. Those are the so-called low information voters. The main problem here is that the net allows people to create their own worlds. They can lose themselves in a vast array of distractions therefore, they don't learn coping skills. They don't compete and their national curiosity is stifled. Simply put, millions of us are wasting a huge amount of time pursuing trivial things.

"Talking Points" believes cyberspace is as addictive as any narcotic. Human beings are becoming dependent on these machines and that is going to change the world forever.

And that's "The Memo."

- You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com.