Jean Twenge's Have Smart Smartphones Destroyed A Generation

Lastly, in “Personality Processes and Individuality Differences” Twenge use three studies to help strengthen her case. In each of the studies they give logistical facts as to why this is the real “Generation Me.” The genre for this article is scholarly research. This genre appeals to professors or students studying psychology and sociology. In this case this is a

    (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

The generation growing up in today’s society behavior has changed since the day smartphones have come into play. Mrs. Twenge has come up with a name, iGen, for the generation growing up with smartphones. “The arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect of teenagers’ lives, from nature if their social interactions to their mental health,” (Paragraph 9). For teens, it doesn’t matter what type of background they have, when you see a cell phone tower you are guaranteed there is teenagers who have a

“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”.

Teens today branded as iGen, the generation born in between 1995 through 2012, has grown with smartphones at their complete disposal. According to, Jean Twenge, writer of “Have Smartphones Destroyed A Generation,” the rise and sway smartphones and social media have over teens has negative contributions over the emotions and behaviors of iGen, and they are “on the brink of a mental crisis.” “There is compelling evidence that the devices we have placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy.”

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”.

Besides the cell phone, does technology really affect us in our society? Today’s generation of teenagers are using smartphones much of the time. Researchers also found that many teenagers are using more smartphones. This constant use of technology has had negative effects on today’s youth. Constant use of technology by teenagers is harmful because it causes depression and affects education

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.

clinical psychologist, and author of many books, is concerned about our altered identities, lack 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

“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

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.