Ricardo Marrero Harmon W131 G5 Summary August 27, 2017 In Jean Twenge’s article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, Twenge claims that the heavy use of technology, combined with social media, have had a huge negative impact on this current generation in comparison to the ones before. Twenge has been researching Generational Differences for 25 years prior to the article, and she noticed a strange difference in the latest generation in comparison to the generations before. Twenge argues that the main difference between the current generation and the Millennials is the fact that they both have different outlooks on life; while Millennials go out and interact with their friends, their predecessors sit in their rooms on their phones all
In her article, ¨Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation¨, Jean Twenge introduces the idea of how iphones and advanced technology available to kids at all times has affected our behavior and emotions. Although technology is a step in the right direction for person to person connection, she describes it as almost the exact opposite for kids in their teens, known as ¨iGen¨. Twenge discusses how iphones have negatively affected teens’ behavior and mental state and I tend to agree on most of her points. Twenge points out the fact that iphones have created more isolation among teenagers in society. Due to the lack of person to person contact, opposite to that of the previous generation, the Millennials, more and more teenagers tend to develop
In “Growing Up Tethered,” Sherry Turkle argues that many of today’s young people are growing up bound to their technology and online presences, from which they are unable to escape. To illustrate this point, she uses many different types of evidence, ranging from personal stories to the theories of renowned psychologists. I believe that “Growing Up Tethered” makes strong, but more importantly, valid claims and supports them well. In addition to the aforementioned personal stories and expert opinions, Turkle interviews many teenagers to learn how they viewed their connections to things like social media, phones, and the online experience. Thus, the reader receives a variety of different opinion that range from MIT professors to high school students.
Both articles implicate evidence that teenagers are being harmed due to the daily overuse of technology. Having the ability to scroll through social media all day, to scroll through the internet, and so many other countless things that can be done with technology is destroying not just teenagers but all humans, no matter what age, when it comes to their thought processes and emotions. The negatives of our smartphone-mediated culture drastically outweigh the positives, primarily due to the harm that technology is creating for teenagers and for every human who is using technology daily. The way our mind thinks, processes and overall functions dictate what type of life path someone takes. However, these paths are being altered due to the drastic increase in technology use among teenagers and, generally, humans.
To add on, the website Teen Addiction, proves one of the element why technology is horrendous for kids for a long period of time is, "FOMO," or "Fear of Missing Out," is a commonly described phenomenon for teens and young adults, in which youth increasingly feel the need to stay connected to the Internet, so they aren't the last to know of a news story or social happening.” This demonstrates my claim by displaying that when you don't limit your technology it badly alters your name. This proves my claim by proving that the parents didn’t limit their technology usage. This caused the kids to alter their feeling and kill their
The article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” was written by Jean M. Twenge and published in The Atlantic. The article analyzes how Millennials are on the brink of a mental-health crisis due to the increase usage of smartphones. The differences that define generations have always been prominent, however, there has been an abrupt shift in teen behaviors and emotional states since the Great Recession in 2009. The millennial generation, referred to as iGen, has been shaped by the advent of smartphones and the increase usage of social media. Today’s teens are physically safer, however, they are on the brink of a devastating mental-health crisis.
In Jean Twenge’s article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” Twenge paints a picture of a generation so obsessed with their phones that it’s leading to disastrous consequences. Twange argues that the negative changes in teens today are directly caused by their cell phone usage and fails to recognize the many different factors the go into these issues. And while some of Twange’s issues are valid, they are not necessarily issues with smartphones, but issues of a changing society.
The omnipresence of the smartphone affects adolescents in every section of the United States, regardless of social class and ethnic background. Jean Twenge established ethos when he stated,“he had been studying generational differences for 25 years and that he started when was a 22 year old doctoral student in psychology”(2). Since he has been studying different generations for many years he knows
In recent discussions of smartphones, a controversial issue has been how the excessive use of smartphones are affecting the adolescents of this generation. Jean M. Twenge argues in her article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” that the redundant use of these gadgets along with social media use is in fact detrimental to the current and upcoming generations. My experience using Snapchat, Instagram, and other applications on my smartphone supports Twenge’s stance because the excessive use of these applications has caused me to feel melancholic. According to Twenge, “Psychologically, however, they (iGens) are more vulnerable than Millennials were: Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011.
The article, ‘Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?’, author Jean M. Twenge discuses how smartphones have changed the lives of many in a lot of negative ways. The reason for Twenge writing this article was because Twenge talked to a 13-year old girl about smartphones and realized how things have changed greatly over the years. Twenge informs the reader how about ¾ American teens own an IPhone in 2017. The author then goes on to compare recent years to earlier years.
Let Kids Run Wild Online by Danah Boyd demonstrates how technology has become more important over the past few years. Not only adults are addicted to the new technology, as well as teens who are obsessively addicted to social media and smartphone apps. The internet is a whole new world for children and adults who can explore or find something that people can enjoy sharing their life story with friends. However, technology has become the “new field for the age-old battle between adults and teens,” which has taken their freedom away from socializing outside their bedroom walls.
“Adults have always looked with fear at new technology and what it’s doing to young people-from the invention of writing to the invention of Snapchat, there have always been people bemoaning changes in culture,”(AVID Weekly, Palder and Sameeha). This shows that the millennials are seen in a negative way towards the adults since many are seen as self centered people. Moreover this shows that the technology, and programs of a phone don’t necessarily benefit the world at all because most millennials, or teens, don’t necessarily use them. In conclusion, millennials are not more informed due to the fact that most of them have the advantages to become more involved with the
The adolescent generation’s use of social media can be seen as controversial because some believe that it is consuming their lives, however adolescents may view the issue as irrelevant. The generation in college is most affected by this
The article “The Me Me Me Generation” by Joel Stein mentions how Millennials are a self-centred generation who have been raised with many participation awards and parents who mistakenly believed that strengthening their self-esteem was they key to success rather than focusing more on strengthening up their character and skills. Stein mentions that the younger generation lives mostly through screens, whether those on phones, iPad’s, or computers, and believes someway that it is entitled to success without experiencing the rough situations in lifetime. Stein also presented studies showing that the incidence of narcissistic personality disorder among Millennials is massive. Stein concludes the article by mentioning that this has not taken him by surprise, because this began with their parents’ generation, the Baby Boomers, or known as the “Me Generation.” Millennials seek to make their own mark on the world.
Globalisation is a key factor in today’s modern society with it spreading to even the most remote and poverty ridden continents of the world. It shows how something as simple as a mobile phone can help spread this on a global scale. Africa is the world’s poorest continent with people earning from 75p to £1.50 a day, after taking a closer look and researching into mobile phone use in Cape Town, Zanzibar and The Gambia it shows how local people’s lives are being changed due to the use of a mobile phone. In Africa alone the use of the mobile phone has increased by 65% in the last 5 years[1], this being the first method of ICT that has actually been adopted by locals due to the low price of a handset. Mobile phones are a technologic advancement that have been around since the early 1980’s, they were first seen as a fashion accessory in countries with good economic climates that could afford the very expensive handsets.
