Have Smart Phones Destroying A Generation Analysis

    (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. Twinge discusses the effects on “generation i” through rising smartphone and social media usage. In the article, she provides many 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 Twinge’s article I find myself truly thinking about what smartphones have done to us as a growing generation. I have witnessed firsthand many downsides to having a smartphone that Twinge reports on.

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

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”.

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

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.

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.

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,

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.

No, I feel like smartphones have not destroyed a generation because the graphs do not specifically say smartphones it just says the release of iPhones. First, the decrease of not hanging out with friends. Although I think smartphones could have possibly played a role, the graph never said only smartphones there could be other variables such as, computers, gaming systems, and other electronics that could have played a role in the decrease. Second, No dating, this could have been the cause of social media or dating sites. The graph says “The percentage of teens who ever go out on dates”, I don’t think dating has necessarily gone down it’s just going out physically and go restaurants, movies, and etc. Have gone down.

Ask your local teenager or “millennial” their favorite accessory, companion, or resource, and you will most likely receive a common answer: their cell phone. Confusing and recent changes in social interactions have led our devices with access to the internet into becoming an extra limb. Because of the reality-altering effect of social media and the ever-growing availability of information, a quick search or refresh leads to an abundance of answers and outlets through tabs on tabs of various websites. In response to the “digital age” enveloped by social media, “connectivity”, and open information, adolescents with easy internet access are attracted to the availability and secrecy the internet has

Are smartphones destroying our generation? In certain aspects I believe smartphones are the downfall of our generation. However, in my opinion our generation is not ruined because of the excess amount of hours people spend on their phone. For example, in the article by Jean Twenge, she insinuates the idea that anyone who is on their phone longer than three hours a day is more unhappy than a person who spends less than three hours on his or her phone per day. Also, she states that phones have caused people to be generally less active and social around others. In addition, she points out the statistics on how the suicide rate has majorly and rapidly increased because of how our generation is so reliant on our phones rather than on people. Psychologically,

Children who have been born since 1995 have never known a world without smartphones and a constant social media connection. “Theirs is a generation shaped by the smartphone and by the concomitant rise of social media” (Twenge). Smartphones have caused rapid shifts in the latest generation, affecting happiness levels, mental health, social development, and academic performance; therefore, parents need to recognize the negative impact and reduce the accessibility.

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.

In January 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone and declared that “this will change everything” (Planet p1). This tautology, as it turns out, may have been more prophecy than mere introduction and begs the question of whether those involved in its infancy critically and judiciously thought through all potential ramifications of the technology on our society. Today, approximately 77% of Americans own a smartphone, an increase from 35% in 2011 and in the 18-29-year-old age group, that statistic soars to 92% (Smith p3-4). Interestingly this age-group encompasses the Millennial generation who are often thought of as “digital natives,” those who grew up with this kind of available technology. Among this age-group, over 80% use texting as their first choice in contacting friends (Hyman p5) and approximately 90% have one or more social media accounts (Meyer p5).