Blame Society Not The Screen Time Analysis

In the United States, there is an ongoing debate that’s been discussed for decades. The debate is on whether too much time around technology can harmful to a young teen’s behavior, social skills, and attention to school work. Recently two article have been released, “Blame Society, Not the Screen Time” by Danah Boyd and “Don’t Limit Your Teen’s Screen Time” by Chris Bergman, that take similar sides to the debate, but two very different approaches. Bergman explains that technology should be allowed often to take away the hunger for time in front of a screen, while Boyd demands that parents give their children more freedom to interact in order to lessen the desire for technology. Regarding the ongoing debate on technology’s effects on children,

Boyd states that “they aren’t addicted to the computer; they’re addicted to the interaction, and being around their friends.” She believes that by keeping children so busy with work and chores, and not allowing them to socialize; they turn to technology to get the interaction that they crave. In an attempt to build credibility with the situation, she contradicts the very purpose of her article by giving her experience as a young teen who spent countless hours behind a screen. She states, “…the Internet was the only place where I didn’t feel judged. I wanted to go virtual, for my body to not matter, to live in a digital only world” (Boyd). She also uses fairly simple logic in her article; for example, when she says “If Americans truly want to reduce the amount young people use technology, we should free up more of their time” (Boyd) I believe she grabs the audience’s emotion in a negative way; telling parents that they are raising their kids incorrectly is not always the most effective tactic. To close the article, she states that “we’re raising our children in captivity and they turn to technology to socialize, learn and

Boyd states that “they(videogames) taught me how to tell stories, create worlds and even how to save and spend money.” It’s clear that he holds a strong belief that videogames are beneficial to a child by giving knowledge through situations that games present. He holds credibility in the fact that he is the founder and chief executive of ChoreMonster. Also, he does his own study that determined that his children, who did not have TV restrictions, were a lot more interactive than those who did hold such restrictions; due to the fact that they were finally given the opportunity to watch TV, it held their full attention. The study is based on how the children react during a trip to “grandma’s” house, which is something that a lot of people who have had similar experiences can relate and have an emotional appeal to. Bergman makes a very simple statement that “technology is not going away or becoming less popular” (Bergman); while this not a very complex thought, its holds truth and should be considered in the debate continuing to circulate in the United