Analysis Of Growing Up Tethered By Sherry Turkle

    (Introduction) “Put down the phone, turn off your the laptop, and do something-anything-that doesn’t involve a screen” (Twenge 63). It is astonishing the amount of time teens spend on phones. Jean Twenge discusses the effects smartphone usage has created among the younger and past generations in the article, “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation”. The purpose of Twenge’s article is to aware readers about the many consequences the smartphone usage has impacted generations.

Many times our fears of what is unknown to us are often the strongest fears we hold as human beings. However, what if it was the fear of things we already know that were the most powerful and influential in our lives? In modern society, many hold within themselves a deep-seated fear of the technology that the world has become so revolved around. Additionally, it has recently become debatable whether or not this technology has become a hindrance to members of the so-called iGeneration, born between 1995 and 2012, who have grown up in a world surrounded by technology. Truly, the members of older generations, including millennials who have had themselves split off from the apparent technology obsessed generation of the youngest millennials, have expressed their concern as to whether or not these vast differences in generations have to do with the unhealthy use of technology. Among those to have analyzed this phenomenon is writer Jean M. Twenge who in her article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?,” utilizes the study of a modern 13 year old girl named Athena to exemplify a plethora of determinants that technology has imposed on young people and the slow deterioration of everything from independence and social skills to a decline mental health due to technology use. Many of Twenge’s statements reveal the belief that many members of iGen are unequipped to handle adulthood and are even less happy because of the technology that has played a significant role in their lives

“We didn’t have a choice to know any life without iPads or iPhones. I think we like our phones more than we like actual people,” (Paragraph 2). The upcoming growing generation Mrs. Twenge discovers that they are growing up with a smartphone within arm’s reach. She talks to this little girl she calls Athena and asks her if she goes to the mall with her friends alone. Athena tells her no, that when she goes to the mall with her friends its always with her mom and brothers, but they stay a little behind. She says that she had to check in every 30 minutes with her mom and let her know what they are doing. As Mrs. Twenge is talking to Athena she starts to find out how teens today communicate. She finds out that snapchat is one way they communicate and according to Athena it’s also another great way to blackmail someone to. Jean M. Twenge paints a frightening picture of how smartphones are destroying the upcoming generation.

“The arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect of teenagers’ lives, from the nature of their social interactions to their mental health” (Twenge). In her article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, Jean Twenge discusses how the new generation of teenagers is becoming highly dependent on their smartphones. Twenge calls this new generation born between the late 1990s and early teens “iGen” after a recent survey found that the majority of teenagers owned an iPhone. She argues that with every new generation, new habits form, both good and bad. The technological developments that have occurred throughout the last ten years, Twenge argues, is not a bad thing; it is how the “iGen” teenagers are becoming reliant on their phones and use them to avoid social interactions. According to her article, teenagers choose to stay home alone in their rooms and talk to their friends virtually on social media versus actually leaving the house and doing something face-to-face with their friends. Twenge argues that if teenagers decide to leave the house, phones still have a strong presence, often not leaving the hands of its owner for longer than a couple minutes with social media like Snapchat and Instagram tagging along. Twenge worries that the strong dependency on smartphones and increasing rates of obsession with social media are a couple of the largest contributors to the rise of depression and suicide among the teenagers of “iGen”.

Within the decade, people can agree that technology has gradually impacted lives every day. Whether people believe it is progressive or destructive, it is established that for some, the impact of technology is quite concerning. An ongoing topic is whether teenagers are in fact addicted to their smartphone devices and social media. In Sherry Turkle's’ piece “Growing up Tethered” she provides student testimonials that only proves that teenagers from the ages sixteen to eighteen feel the need to be on their smartphones at all times. Although, technology does have positive outcomes and uses, Turkles’ points that teenagers are too tethered to their devices and are not as safe while using their device is correct because society is able to recognize

Ever since smartphones were created, they have changed teenagers’ lives entirely. The article Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? by Jean Twenge, shows the ways the invention of the smartphone has changed recent generations. The article mentions the rise in teen depression and suicide, cyberbullying, and teen safety. It also mentions the decline in our social abilities, dating, and sleep. Smartphones have had both negative and positive affects on teenagers, but the negatives significantly outweigh the positives, which points to the need to put down the smartphones, as the article suggests.

In the article “Growing up Tethered”, by Sherry Turkle, she argues that technology today plays a major role in everyday life. Youths do not have the ability to branch off and have their own independence because of their reliance and attachment to technology. They also use technology to develop who they are as people and create an online personal identity of what they think is a perfect life. In comparison, their own life seems boring, pale and unwanted. Turkle also talks about how teenagers think of their phone as a “friend’s” and cannot live without it. When feeling a strong emotion, teens want to share their feelings with their friends and phone. I agree with Turkle’s opinion that technology is changing and will never be the same, which will be hard to improve this attachment to technology because too many teens are tethered.

Sherry Turkle’s primary argument in her essay, “Growing Up Tethered”, is the current generation of

In her article “Growing Up Tethered” Sherry Turkle explores how the constant connection to the Internet is negatively affecting the development of adolescents, and postulates that growing up “tethered” to their cell phones, is interfering with their normal psychological progression into adulthood. Referring to the idea that the ubiquitous cell phone allows teenagers to contact their parents’ at any time, she states that “adolescents don’t face the same pressure to develop the independence we have associated with moving forward into young adulthood” (Turkle 431). Additionally, the author touches on aspects of the lack of privacy and time adolescents have for themselves, asking “When is downtime, when is stillness?” (Turkle 430). While the

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.

Can you imagine life without your cell phone? Does the thought give you anxiety? These days, technology plays a huge role in our everyday lives. You can do just about anything on the web and a smart phone provides instant access. In her article “Growing up Tethered,” author and founder of MIT Initiative on Technology and the Self Sherry Turkle discusses the attachments people have with their cell phones, the web, social media, and technology all together. Turkle speaks with numerous high school students about the relationship they have with their phone and the issues that arise from being tethered to it. We learn that communicating through mobile devices and the web takes the personal emotion out of the conversation, and real life interactions

In the section titled The Dumbest Generation, “Digital Nation” lays out a haunting narrative describing technology’s negative impact on students today. This section draws from an interview with Mark Bauerlein, a professor and author of book titled “The Dumbest Generation.” Bauerlein claims that reading, writing and math skills of students have all already began to deteriorate. It seems that constant interruption and attempts to multitask are at the heart of this deterioration. I received my first smart phone just before the beginning of this semester, from my own experience I can only agree with the assertion that technology puts a damper on the educational experience. The issue does not come with the technology itself, rather, the desire for constant connection distracts from the learning experience. As the first generation of persons who grew up with technology become parents, I hope they can teach their children the skill of moderation and the importance of education – skills often not taught to kids today by their parents born before the technology boom. These ideas will solve the deterioration of reading, writing, and math that Bauerlein speaks

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

Everywhere you go teens seem to be glued to their phones, tablets, or computers. Technology is an addiction that does not seem to be going away any time soon. According to the Washington Post, teens can spend up to seven or more hours on their digital devices a day and the usage is still increasing. Not surprisingly enough, more than a third of all teenagers own a cellphone, ranging from a smart phone or just a plain old-school flip phone. But can spending all that time on their computers and smart devices be such a bad thing? Today’s easy access, always on world presents a wealth of opportunity for teens as students, but also challenges them to retain them essential humanity and unique personalities.

Politician Christian Lous Lange once said, “Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master.” Even though Lange spoke these wise words over a hundred years ago, their truth translates into today with ease. To better understand today’s interpretation, Sherry Turkle’s essay “Growing Up Tethered” acts as a useful tool. Her use of qualitative evidence is easily relatable creating plenty of opportunity for discussions. As a clinical psychologist, Turkle brings in a perspective unfamiliar to most STEM students. For exploration of how recently developed technologies affect our lives, “Growing Up Tethered” by Sherry Turkle grants an intriguing first step towards lively classroom discussions.