Every year, children and parents gather around to put on their double-duty coats, hand out peanut butter rations and wear Ushanka hats together at the local malls and get ready for one of the most unnecessary events of the year—Black Friday.

This popular shopping event, however, is hardly significant with the advent of technology. The Monday after Black Friday is also a special event called Cyber Monday, during which certain online shopping websites like Amazon host bargain sales and deals.

Why go through the hassle of waiting in a line that winds around the entire store, foregoing hours of sleep and enduring the freezing cold when you can quickly browse, click and purchase merchandise for bargain prices all in the comfort of your own home? Let’s not forget that in 2008, an employee was trampled to death and a pregnant woman miscarried as a flood of people broke in and rushed into a Long Island Walmart. In a civilized modern society like ours, these incidences should not be happening.

Most of the Black Friday deals aren’t even worth it. Electronics, for example, that are sold during Black Friday are usually obscure, cheap brands that won’t last long. According to a 2011 Consumer Reports article, Black Friday prices weren’t always lowest for the recommended models like “quality” brands such as Apple and Microsoft.

In fact, according to the article, many of the lowest prices in 2011 were on “secondary and tertiary brands such as Element, Sansui, Seiki and Dynex.” Recognize any of those brands? I don’t, and I wouldn’t want to be familiar with them either.

Most of the merchandise bought on Black Friday just ends up being returned due to their eventual malfunction, at least for me. With these drawbacks, it’s safe to conclude that buying those items isn’t worth waiting in the cold for eight hours or more.

It’s difficult to argue that it’s a “family experience” or “tradition.” It’d be a much rewarding experience for everyone if families just had more family time at home instead of participating in the hectic schedule of Black Friday. Shopping online also gives families the leisure to choose carefully among merchandises and consider what they really need instead of grabbing frantically in the chaos to secure a bargain. After all, do you seriously need that state-of-the-art 10-speed fruit blender?

We currently live in the age of technology, and we need to revel in that fact. Online marketplaces are available for our use, and we shouldn’t waste this opportunity. So the next time you’re groggily waking up at 2 a.m. in order to grab that 42-inch HDTV, stop, turn on your computer and Google it. Who knows, you may find an even better deal and a better TV all from the warmth of your home.