Effects Of Cell Phones

In “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” written by, the Psychology Doctor, Jean M. Twenge, she presents the results produced after twenty-five years of research (Twenge para3). Her research was carried out to understand the new generation and explain how it differs to the previous generations (Twenge para9). Although her style is indeed formal, she utilized a heavy amount of credentials, logos, emotional appeal and a factual tone, to enforces her appeal on the parents of the kids of this new generation. Furthermore, she underlays her stand on the topic throughout her analysis, rather than having a direct approach and states actual percentages to compare previous generations to the new one, which leads to a sense of validity. It is not until the very end, that she finally states her stand in a more direct sense, since she has now gained the trust of her audience.

In her article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, Jean Twenge discusses how the new generation of teenagers are becoming highly dependent on their smartphones and need them alongside them at any given point in time. Twenge calls this new generation born between the late 1990s and early teens “iGen” after a recent survey found that 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 in the last ten years Twenge argues are not a bad thing, it is how the “iGen” teenagers are becoming reliant on their phones and using them to avoid social interactions. They would 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”.

In the article, “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation,” Jean M. Twenge uses rhetorical devices and appeals to build her credibility on how smartphones are destroying this generation's teenagers. The author presents several pieces of evidence to prove she’s correct, and shows how teenagers of this generation think and behave differently than their predecessors.

In “Have Smartphones ruined a Generation” the author Jean M. Twenge compares 2 different generations and determines that smartphones have changed many aspects in this generation and how people communicate. Jean M. Twenge is a professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, in her past articles she wrote about “how people were happier back then” suggesting that she is more biased towards generations before. And after connecting both articles I believe that she thinks people were happier before, because technology was not as big as a problem as it is now. The main reason that compelled the author to write this argumentative essay is because she believes that millennials do not have as much face to face communication due to technology and being able to communicate through smartphones.

Since 1975, the telephone has altered the way youth communicate with one another, and after decades of development it has ultimately led to touchscreen mobile phones which are known as ‘smart phones’. The versatility and convenience of mobile phones has revolutionised lives of all ages, surging across generations of X, Y and Z. However, despite mobile phone technology advancing to the stage where enough is never enough, constantly changing the way people live, learn, work and think. In addition, there is a massive social change between both generation X and generation Z, because of a vastly different methods in communicating via telephone, languages that are distributed, teenage behavior and relationships with others. In addition, Mrs. Nguyen part of the generation X, growing up in Vietnam, was interviewed to explore her youth and her thoughts on mobile phones.

In American author and psychologist, Jean Twenge’s article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” Twenge argues that smartphones have seriously taken a toll on Millennials. She claims that smartphones are wreaking havoc on Millennials’ mental health, as this generation is apparently “safer than ever” physically, they are “seriously unhappy” with life in general (Twenge 4). According to Twenge, children who see their friends on social media more than they do face-to-face feel lonely and excluded. I feel that with a majority of my generation, this is accurate to an extent. Many fights and arguments between younger people stem from Instagram and Snapchat posts. For example, innovations like the SnapMap now allow people to view their friends’ locations. Various viral memes, a humorous image, video, etc. copied and spread rapidly throughout the Internet,

Smartphones have affected nearly every aspect of our lives. If you have one, it is likely in your pocket or at your fingertips most of the time. Jean Twenge, psychologist and author of the 2017 article Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation, emphasizes how smartphones have brought about alarming side-effects to an entire generation’s behavior and emotional state. Twenge writes, “More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.”

    (summary) In the article “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation?”, Jean M. Twenge discusses the effects smartphones have created on younger generations. Twenge is a psychologist who has been researching the differences in generations for 25 years. In accordance to Twenge, smartphones have significantly increased the rates in teen depression and suicide. Twenge describes the generation iGen (born between 1995 and 2012) as being on the verge of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Twenge’s research shows statistics on many factors that are affected by social media, smartphones, and the internet. For example, the number of teens feeling lonely or depressed has increased significantly since 2011. The number of teens that do activities outside of home is another example. According to Twenge, the number of teens that go out with their

In her article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, Jean M. Twenge discusses the effects on “generation i” with rising smartphone and social media usage. In the article, she provides multiple statistics to support her claims on what’s happening with the “i generation”, and generations past through social media use. She concludes that while smartphones have some positive social impact on the generation (like lower teen pregnancy rates), there has been real damage to the generation as well. I have concluded that, our generation has been more negatively impacted through smartphone usage than positively impacted. This is a strong point to make but, through my own experiences and, after reading Twenge’s article I find myself thinking about what smartphones have done to us as a growing generation. I have witnessed firsthand numerous downsides to having a smartphone that Twenge reports on.

According to Twenge, the number of teens that go out with their friends has decreased by 40 percent compared to earlier generations. Twenge compares iGens to different generations such as Gen X (born between 1965 and early 1984), baby boomers (1946-1964) and Millennials (born around 1982-2002). Twenge emphasizes on the time teenagers spend on their phones. Social media plays a huge role in this. In accordance to Twenge, different forms of social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are what teenagers spend more time on. According to Twenge, the more time teens spend on smartphones the greater they are at risk for suicide, depression, and loneliness. Twenge also explains how teens are not receiving an adequate amount of sleep, many teens now sleep less than seven hours. Twenge concludes the article by sharing her own experience with her children and technology, she recommends parents to limit the time their children spend on phones. (59-65)

After the postwar era of World War II, many people eagerly anticipated a bright and prosperous future and were anxious to start a family. As a result, children were born in remarkable numbers, thus the Baby Boomers. Generation X and Millennials followed, with the latter making up a large part of today’s population. The current generation is one that has never known life without all the conveniences of technology. Dr. Jean Twenge of San Diego State Univesity refers to this generation as “iGens”. In her article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation,” she explores the influence smartphones have on iGens specifically. Twenge does not spend time reflecting on what some would call “the good old days”, but emphasizeS the seriousness of the ramifications teens are likely to suffer because of the smartphones, while alluding to the fact there are also some positive aspects that cannot be ignored. The implication of a generation being destroyed seems an extreme view, but there is evidence to support how cell phones are defining iGens.

Jean M. Twinge proved that showing the bar graph of using smartphones during the day and night; they found lots of impact. Smartphones have defined the characteristics of the millennials; this is why it has led to changes in the society. The author has been researching the use of smartphones with this generation for 25 years and has found that this characteristic has come to define this generation. This generation has been increasing since the “baby boomer “era that occurred after World War II, which started in 1939. Twinge was interested in studying the millennial generation to find as much information as she could. She explains that she found out that the excessive use of smartphones changes teen behaviors and emotional states. She also showed us her analyses data to show us the differences. She explains there is a big difference between the millennials and the predecessors like the way they view the world. It is not about only their behavior they had that was the difference but also how they spent their time. “In 2012, Americans

“Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” by Jean M. Twenge on The Atlantic in September 2017 are changing people generation by generation. Twenge's thesis is that smartphones are changing the way teens act. Twenge is comparing baby boomers when they were teens to teens now. Teens now are shaped by phones. Smartphones are affecting teens by changing their personality and the way they look at themselves. She is stating that because of smartphones, teens are becoming disconnected from the outside world. In addition, smartphones are making teens less social and less independent. Also, another effect with smartphones is that they are making teens depressed and suicidal. In 2012, 50% of people had smartphones after 2012, is when suicidal and depression rate kept rising. The only good things Twenge states about smartphones, is that teens are more safe now. If there is an emergency, they can immediately contact someone. Furthermore, teens now have more individualism than millennials did. Twenge interviews a “13-year-old” girl and pulls her audience in by telling the girls story with phones. Twenge pulls back to the question, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”. Teens today do not see the bad affects a smartphone has on them. They are too attached to their phones and also blinded to see it from another person's perspective.

This generation in particular is facing huge difficulties in the way we communicate with one another, the way we feel about ourselves, and with how much we are being exposed to and this is all because of what we know as cell phones. These problems began to shift around the 1930s but weren’t brought to the public’s attention until recently in 2012. These cellular devices that we use on a daily basis are taking effect on how people socialize and act towards each other and is negatively affecting our minds. The decrease to face to face interaction, the increase in social anxiety within children and teens, and the increase of availability for sex offenders all can be tied to the dependence of cell phones.

Technology has helped develop many important things that are beneficial in today's society. Phones, for instance, make it easier to communicate all over the world. As of 2012 according to (Mobile Fact Sheet, 2017) 77 percent of Americans own a smartphone. Each year new features are being added to smart phones to make them more advanced. Many people rely on their phones but I don't think we should depend on our phones as much as we do because their use has many negative consequences.