Growing Up Tethered Analysis

    (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.

The article states, “Fifty percent of teens feel they are addicted to their mobile devices...A larger number of parents, 59% said their teens were addicted. The poll involved 1,240 interviews with parents and their children, ages 12 to 18.” Wallace and other parents interviewed for the story, are convinced that teens are practically attached to their phones, even the teenagers admit this statement it true.

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.

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 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

As much as I regret to admit it, I’m attached to my phone. I’m constantly reaching into my pocket to check the time, make sure I haven’t gotten a new update, or to send a message. I do this even when I’m not talking to anyone! It’s become an addiction, having to make sure I’m not missing anything, and I'm not the only one who has this problem. Seventy-five percent of the world population has a cell phone, and that number will only increase. With the creation of new technology portions of life have become easier. Technology has changed the way we go through life. It’s made talking to people easier, as well as keeping up with the lives of others. However, the effects have affected the aspects of our lives that don’t include technology.

“Put down the phone, turn off 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 negative effects smartphone usage has created among the young 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 issues the smartphone usage has created on generations. Twenge narrates different stories about young teen’s experiences with phones and social media. Twenge also provides readers with statistics and some studies of many effects caused by smartphones. Twenge gives emphasize to differences between generations. According to Twenge, today’s

Being tethered to a phone, as opposed to simply having and using one, has become the norm and does more harm than good at times. People, especially teenagers, cannot seem to put the phones down. Some even admit to being addicted to their smart phones and experience anxiety when they are without it. According to Ellen Gibson, author of “Sleep with Your iPhone? You're Not Alone”, more than thirty-five percent of adults in the U.S. have a smart phone; two thirds of those people actually sleep with their phone due to the anxiety they feel from the thought of missing something such as a text, phone call, email, or social media posting. Gibson states “…being away from their phone will almost certainly cause separation anxiety… some people have become so dependent on being able to use their smartphones to go online anytime, anywhere, that without that access, they ‘can no longer handle their daily routine’”. To some, being addicted to a phone is like being addicted to a drug; there is a strong dependency that makes it hard to focus or concentrate on anything else. After speaking with a group of students from Cranston High School in Connecticut, Turkle says “These young people live in a state of waiting for connection. And they are willing to take risks, to put themselves on the line. Several admit that tethered to their phones, they get into accidents when walking” (236). This is an issue that will

“Turn off the phone(and the Tension)” is an article written in 2012 by Jenna Wortham. On a summer day, Wortham and a friend decided to take a trip to their local pool. Upon their arrival, they noticed a sign stating that all electronics were to be kept in lockers. Flabbergasted, Wortham did as instructed and put her phone away. She spent a while lingering by her locker, desperate for social media and for the feeling of typing underneath her fingers. However, she soon got over her need for electronics. Wortham realized how technology impacts one’s life, she could barely go a day without her phone. As the author said, our phones have become our lifelines. When the majority of society has a smartphone and can’t take their hands off it, we know that our lives are run by our phones. We, as a society, suffer from the Fear of Missing Out, FOMO, we are afraid that we might miss a tweet from our favorite singer, actor, or role model and that will drive many insane. The day at the pool relaxed Wortham and she realized that not everything needs to be recorded, photographed, or snapchatted. Wortham’s article proves that we as a society cannot properly function without access to social media, technology, messages, emails, and phone calls.

    Sherry Turkle, a professor and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, wrote an essay called “No Need To Call” to talk about her research on cell phones and social life. She goes in depth into a few lives of those who use their cell phones frequently and those who avoid it. Turkle starts off her essay by talking about Elaine, a seventeen year old. Elaine acknowledges the use of texting within her generation, she states “It’s only on the screen that shy people open up.” (373). Elaine then follows this by speaking of the ability to pause and think before you send a message. You have more time to think before you say something, unlike in person or on the phone. Turkle then reflects on this teen’s analysis, she says, “Elaine is right in her analysis: teenagers flee the telephone. Perhaps more surprisingly, so do adults.” (374).

Have you ever seen what social media is showing your kids? Well it could be the cause of many dangerous things your kids do today. But it shouldn't be social medias one to blame. Kids do stuff thats dangerous all the time even when it’s not from social media or if there doing it for social media. There is more to social media than showing dangerous things.

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.

People have cell phones everywhere, especially teenagers. Teenagers are glued to their cell phones; they need cell phones almost everywhere they go. Today teens are depending on their phones for everything. The number of cell phones users has increased and as of 2010, there were more than 303 million subscribers in the U.S., according to the cellular companies (Hanna). As a result of teenagers over using cell phones, teens are being impacted emotionally, socially, and physically.

Are we addicted to our cell phones? This is a common question that has arisen in the past several years as our phone technology and capabilities continue to increase. According to recent statistics, 85% of the U.S. population are cell phone users (Chen).We Americans use our cell phones to do just about everything. We talk, text, check our E-mail, surf the Internet, and interact in social networking, all on our phones. Because our phones have become so resourceful to us in our everyday lives, many say that cell phones have become addicting. Cell phones in today 's life have become very addicting to many people, and there are many ways in which to show how they are addicting.

A world where every action, feeling, and thought originates from what people interpret on a screen is the result of society’s obsession with the Internet. Turkle starts exposing how severely attached, or “tethered,” teenagers are to their cell phones and the digital world. This leads into a discussion on privacy, or the lack thereof. Expanding on that idea, Turkle writes about how teenagers are not able to claim independence due to the tie to their cell phones and thus those who pay for them, their parents (Turkle, 238). This lack of growth stunts their identity-forming process and further agitates their obsession with the world online. The accessibility of instant validation from peers, or strangers for that matter, on the Web entices people away from the real world around them. Turkle