A Response To Growing Up Tethered By Sherry Turkle

may grow up thinking that it is the normal way of life for everyone. They may think this

There are few places on this Earth, if any, where the possibilities are truly endless. However, if you detach yourself from the physical world and emerge into the “online” world, you find that this just might actually be accurate in this realm. The World Wide Web has had so much to offer to us since the early 1990s, but with this comes controversy. Unleashed onto a plane of seemingly immeasurable freedom of anonymity, was the world ready for such responsibility? Since those early days when new emerging technology changed our lives immensely, have we at all become a better place, or have we bitten off more than we can chew, and doomed our human relations forever? Exploring these concepts are three in-depth articles, including: “Growing Up Tethered” by Sherry Turkle, “The Loneliness of the Interconnected” by Charles Seife, and “Cybersexism” by Laurie Penny. Although it is thought that the Internet brings the world together, it actually does not help us politically, culturally, and economically like one would believe, as it makes us unable to be independent, isolates us from different points of view, and encourages real-world violence against women and other minority groups.

The use of technology has increased rapidly as time has gone by.  In “Growing Up Tethered”, Turkle proves that the young generation need to be connected at all times by relying on their phones a lot. Reality is now based on technology, which people now live off of. Turkle’s argument in “Growing up Tethered” was used in the form of a book, with a well-organized smoothly transitioned article telling of the disconnection of the world we live in today, due to technologies such as cell phones, and social networks. We are slowly becoming a society of distance amongst each other with face to face conversations being limited to 20minutes phone conversations, and on social network sights we are making a portrayal of a person who we are

I felt as though many of my expectations going into this assignment were different than what I actually witnessed. It is probably due to the short observational period, rather than an indicator of “the new-norm” in adolescent behavior, or profound luck at observing the only two well-behaved teenagers in the state. Therefore, my take-away from this assignment is that I have preconceived notions of expected teenage behavior, that I have constructed from my time with my own children. I expected too, to see more activity than I did.

An increasing number of teens often feel isolated every single day. This feeling is triggered by many factors that are experienced in the teenage years and has a variety of negative impacts associated with it. Throughout all aspects of a teen’s life, whether it is school or relationships, the fear of being isolated is often present. Isolation often causes many other negative emotions to bundle up inside teens which causes them to take extreme measures to get rid of these feelings. One’s unique physical appearance and society’s unrealistic standards, the fear of branching out from their families, and not having their opinion heard are all factors that contribute to a teen’s greatest fear, isolation.

Many people view the internet as an ultimate resource for anything they desire. The people who say that the internet is a brilliant invention for the best have reasons backing up their idea. For example, Sherry Turkle writes about such ideas explaining how the internet is an excellent tool for the better in her essay, “Can You Hear Me Now?” Turkle believes strongly that the invention of the internet is an innovation for the better and emphasizes to her readers how important it is in everyone’s lives nowadays. On the other hand, some believe exactly the opposite of Turkle’s invalid inquisition that the internet is a tool that is most definitely not for the greater good. The internet is a

Sherry Turkle was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1948. She is a professor of Social Studies and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has written many works, such as Alone Together, and this article, The Flight from Conversation, was published in the New York Times in April of 2012. The claim she makes in the article is that communication technology is causing society to lose its ability to have a meaningful conversation. She presents several strong rhetorical strategies, and some weak ones, through logos, ethos, and pathos.

Sherry Turkle, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, acknowledges the effects media possesses in her book Growing Up Tethered. Today’s adolescents have an excessive want to feel connected, and not alone, which is why they turn to the connections they feel media provides. Roman, eighteen, so badly wants to stay connected that he will actively be on his phone while driving and doesn’t even care about all of the lives that could potentially be in danger just because he needs to read a new Facebook message. Kids will do everything in their power to not feel alone. Cell phones can stunt an adolescent’s maturity by providing too many opportunities to stay connected and never getting out on their own. Other kids use their cell phone

If we are not careful, technology may take over our lives, more than we want it to.

Also, people cannot see how long it took you to write the messages. After Turkle’s first example, Turkle argues that “not only teenagers but also adults are using text messages more often than phone calls since it does not require their whole attention”(374-75). Turkle supports her point by giving examples of people who think that “… A phone call asks too much …”(375). Randolph is a forty-six-year-old who believes that “Now that there is e-mail, people expect that a call will be more complicated…People expect it to take time – or else you would not have called”(375). After making her point, she shows that the same reasons that brought benefits to people they have been affecting others. For example, when Audrey’s mother picks up her daughter after school, Audrey’s mother is always busy looking at her phone. Also, she explains that texting affected the relationship between Audrey and her mother. However, she makes another point which is about digital media. She shows that on digital media you can create and be your ideal person. For example, Audrey uses and posts a lot of pictures on Facebook. She says about her Facebook avatar “It is your little twin

In doing this she is providing accurate facts on a problem that has and still is existing right now. Recognizing certain logical fallacies such as confusing cause and effect, technical jargon, and appeal to fear, Sherry could incorporate less of it because she’s taking away from what she wants to inform the readers about. Turkle style of writing is informative, because she inform us on how adolescents is letting technology control their lives and she is also making us aware of a problem that needs to be solve. She integrates sources to help effectively explain her claim by using sociologist David Riesman, Erik Erikson, and psychiatrist Jay Lifton. She also effectively supports her argument by incorporating testimonials of students who use technology

To begin her argument, Turkle refers to our relationship with computers by stating we’ve become a “tethered self”. Someone “self wired into social existence through technology.” She continues by saying, with this dependency, it seems to be a part “of a larger trend in media culture for people not to know what they think until they get a sense of what everyone else thinks”. Thus, leading us to “need others in order to feel out feelings in the first place”.

In a world for teenagers, there is high school. Attending these high schools are millions of students who are all so diverse. In the U.S. today, the adolescents are more isolated from adults and children outside of their age group than ever before. Age segregation has created a youth that is different from adult culture in its values and attitudes. Society is constantly changing from generation to generation causing teenagers to rely on one another to teach them things that adults cannot. Adolescents have survived using many different mechanisms; by creating groups to cling to, the use of drugs, and any other outlet that they can find.

“In establishing the difference between the two, Turkle shows the reader that conversation is more important and meaningful than connection by presenting an example of how her students tell her “about an important new skill: it involves maintaining eye contact with someone while you text someone else; it 's hard but it can be done.” (49) In other words, showing that even when people are having face to face conversations, they may not be fully engaged and still be on

Teens in todays society are often at risk of abusing substances, getting into trouble, and causing violent scenes. They also are still trying to discover who they are, what interests them, who to hang around with, and just discover themselves. But an issue people debate about is the actions that teens choose to do. Many teens often hangout in groups at a variety of locations such as houses, parks, the mall, and other places such as a recreational center. Although teens may not see harm in being out and about with friends, adults may think otherwise. Some parents may be worried where there kids are or what they're doing, other parents may just say, "Let them be kids", and others