Positive and Negative Effects of Mobile Phones for Teenagers

    (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 world has changed greatly in the last few centuries due to remarkable inventions. In the article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?,” Jean M. Twenge argues that the smartphone in particular has made a significant impact on the world, specifically in adolescents growing up at this time. Twenge’s argument that cell phones have drastically changed the way today’s adolescents think and behave is not entirely effective because she overlooks certain aspects in her claim that teenagers are physically safer than ever. She also only includes one piece of evidence that somewhat contributes to her claim that smartphones are decreasing the mental health of teenagers. Additionally, her substantial presumptions that decreased social ability results

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.

“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

Cell phones are affecting the lives of people in a negative way. People have begun to rely solely on the technology that has been created rather than picking up a book or finding answers the old-fashioned way. A major issue that has occurred because of cell phones is the lack of social skills in most nearly all individuals. Cell phones have greatly shaped society and destroyed face to face social skills. People pick up their phones and send a text rather than going to speak to a person. “According to an article in the Huffington Post, children do not know how to handle face-to-face conflict because so much of their interactions occur through some sort of technology…. Cell phones are now preventing these social skills from being taught because children are too caught up in technology than the real world.”(Hyman) When growing up, most children are taught how to make friends, but now children are growing up with the access to technology which has a great impact in shaping the social skills of children. “Young adults also use text messaging as their primary method of contacting friends – over 80 percent report texting as their preferred method.”(Voegeli). Young adults and even older adults have developed an addiction to their cell phone. Cell phones do make it easier to contact people, but they make social skills in individuals dissipate. People are attached to their phones like it is a part of their body. Technology like the cell phone has taken a toll on everyday life events. People cannot even sit in a room with their family without being on their phones. In most cases, they would rather text one another instead of having a conversation. Society needs to

“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.

According to Lenhart, in 2012 three quarters of teens, ages 12-17, owned cell phones. Of those teens, twenty three percent of them indicated they possessed a smartphone. With the technology advancing in cell phones, it has become yet another classroom distraction and a serious concern for cheating. With cell phones on hand, it has created an easy way to become distracted during class. Assistant Professor Campbell from the University of Kansas brought to attention, “one study found that a third of university students in the US play video games on their mobile phones and laptops during class (Gilroy, 2004 as cited in Katz, 2005).” The majority of researchers have found that mobile phones have lead to problematic use in the school environment

In the past few years cell phones have become an object of need rather than want. Everywhere you look people are on their cell phone either texting, calling, ‘facebooking,’ or emailing. The cell phone is the smallest most convenient connection that nearly everyone has. The idea, of course, is fantastic.The ability to communicate wire-free from anywhere is perfect. Cell phones have their advantages, like most digital devices. Parents have the luxury of calling up their children to know that they are safe, but, what are the consequences of that cell phone?

Whether you’re getting directions, calling a loved one to let them know you’re running a little late, or checking Facebook to catch up with an old high school friend, cell phones have began to dominate our technology based society due to their easy accessibility and endless uses. While “nine-in-ten Americans own a cell phone and nearly two-thirds own a smartphone,” the cell phone is has become one of the only things the vast majority of people deem necessary in their life (Rainie et al., 2015). “Ch 1: Always on Connectivity,” written by by Lee Rainie and Kathryn Zickuhr, explains how dependent adults really have become of our cell phones. “8 Fascinating Facts About How Teens Use The Internet And Social Media” elaborates

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.

Technological advances have increased dramatically in the past 40 years. Martin Cooper invented the first cellular phone in 1973, which was called the Dyna Tec, while working for the famous company Motorola. The first cellular phone did not sell well because it was as large as a brick. So now knowing how technology has advanced, it is obvious to see why it is advancing. Although technological advances have affected both the generalized public and society’s teenagers, it seems to have had a larger effect on society’s teenagers, specifically the advances in cellular phones. Not only does cellular phone usage affect a teenager’s social life and literacy, but it also affects their health. Cellular phones have a great impact on a teenager’s social life. The following solution would also be in their best interest without them even realizing it. The over use of cell phones by teenagers will have a negative effect on their academic, social, and mental development.

Teens have many different uses for phones. In the article "Teenagers and New Technology " it says that cell phones offer teenagers "new worlds of opportunity." The article also says that new technology are essential to success in Today's world. It says that tools like texting and social media can help needs to all teenagers like defining personal identity and establishing independence. Cell phones are new and exciting avenues for teens to do what they want to do, for example flirt, boast, gossip, get news, complain, and tease. As well, cell phones today can take and share pictures, play games, listen to music, swap videos, and access the Internet

Mobile phones are an entertainment source for many. As well as holding music files, as some phones today are able to do, it will work with a home entertainment system to find programmes of similar interest to files already on the phone and download them as a podcast. The Mobile Life Youth Report, one of the biggest ever social studies to examine how mobile phones have changed the way young people live, was published on 19 September 2008 by the London School of Economics and Political Science. The report discusses how the intimate relationship between user and phone is most pronounced among teenagers, who regard their mobiles as an expression of their identity. "Texting is often used for apologies, to excuse lateness or to communicate other things that make us uncomfortable," the report says. "It offers intimacy of a particularly controlled form, useful for its discretion ... but valued by those who find it difficult to express their emotions more discursively." (19 September, 2008). This is partly because mobiles, unlike landlines, are seen as being beyond the control of parents. But the researchers suggest that another reason may be that mobiles, especially text messaging, were seen as

With all the advancements in technology taking place there has been a lot of good that has come with it. Modern medicine, automobiles, and the cell phone which allows people to connect instantly. However with all the good things that have come with technology, there have also been bad things as well. One such thing would be cyberbullying and the addiction of smartphones. Smartphones have affected adolescents in ways previously not thought possible, such as causing poor social skills, addiction, and being used to cyberbully. Adolescents must be educated about the responsibility that comes with owning a smartphone. Smartphones should not be given to kids until they reach high school, because

Many teens refer to their phone as their “baby”. Fifty percent of teenagers think they are addicted to their phone. Only twenty percent of parents believe they are addicted to their phones. Statistics show that forty three percent of parents know what their child’s password to their phone is. Family relationships are being harmed by technology, for teenagers and parents are not socializing as much as they should.