Smartphones And Hand Held Gadgets

    (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.

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”.

Within the decade, people can agree that technology has gradually impacted lives every day. Whether people believe it is progressive or destructive, it is established that for some, the impact of technology is quite concerning. An ongoing topic is whether teenagers are in fact addicted to their smartphone devices and social media. In Sherry Turkle's’ piece “Growing up Tethered” she provides student testimonials that only proves that teenagers from the ages sixteen to eighteen feel the need to be on their smartphones at all times. Although, technology does have positive outcomes and uses, Turkles’ points that teenagers are too tethered to their devices and are not as safe while using their device is correct because society is able to recognize

EVIDENCE : Half of teens now feel “addicted” to their mobile devices – and 60 percent of parents agree with

Teens have an addiction towards electronic devices. Many people spend hours a day on these devices. Lasn states, “living inside the postmodern spectacle has changed people” (Lasn 171). Technology has changed the way people spend their time and also the way they feel towards family members. People have a sense of connection when they are on their electronic devices, but when it comes to family time there is a sense of disconnection.

Addiction is not the only downside of smartphones in today’s world. As society begins to spend more time in the digital world, they spend less time in face-to-face interactions. Three out of four people believe cell phone etiquette is becoming worse. It is not uncommon to notice many individuals on their phone while someone is trying to have a conversation with them. It is also becoming normal to see two people at a restaurant looking at their phones instead of interacting with each other. Phone usage is linked to higher levels of anxiety, depression and an overall lower satisfaction in life. Excessive phone usage may lead to impaired social skills and poorer relationships in the future. Not only are social skills being affected, these devices make it incredibly easy for children to access adult content which can leave a

“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

When people think of addictions, usually, drugs and chemical substances come to mind. A frequent trend observed in today’s age is not being able to go anywhere without one’s digital device and being addicted to that device, especially one’s cell phone. Adopting a cell phone separation anxiety, is a type of behavioral addiction that is seen more and more today. On average, people are spending about three hours on their phones each day. Alter states, “‘Behavioral addictions are really widespread now...risen with the adoption of newer more addictive social networking platforms, tablets and smartphones’” (Dreifus). As new technologies that cater to people’s wants increase, addiction to these technologies will increase as well. People become so attached to their phones that they will perhaps get distracted from their current situation. In the article “Hooked On Our Smartphones”, the author Jane E. Brody talked about how sometimes commuters or drivers put themselves in a dangerous position when they pay more attention to their phone instead of what surrounds them. The almost

Study’s made by AVG shows that fifty four percent of children think their parents check their smartphones too often and thirty two percent of children ‘feel unimportant’ when their parents are on their smartphones. The constant use of the smartphone is a bad model of parenting, but it does not mean that parents have to stop using smartphones because parents can give hundred percent attention to their children without giving hundred percent of their time. In fact, it is healthy for children and they will not see the smartphone as more important than

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.

Imagine being forced to go without your phone for a week and losing the ability to conveniently text your friends, check what’s going on Twitter, and scroll down your Instagram feed. In modern society, our lives have become utterly dependent on technology and social media to where if we spend even a few hours without our phone we feel incomplete. It seems everywhere we go, we encounter people walking around aimlessly while looking down at their phones rather than engaging with the actual world around them. This growing issue proposes the question: are cell phones hurting our ability to communicate with others in person? Communicating face-to-face, the alternative to using cell phones, offers many advantages because an audience will be able to detect and respond properly to the speaker’s facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. These nonverbal forms of communication are extremely important aspects of forming connections with others. Cell phones were intended to make contacting loved ones and performing online tasks virtually effortless, but even when we have the ability to speak face-to-face, many individuals fail to take advantage and continue using technology to communicate. Cell phones hinder face-to-face communication because they serve as a distraction and ultimately isolate the user when they are with others.

In today’s modern society whenever you see a teenager or any aged human in the streets, at the train station, on a bus, what is something they all have in common? Most would be staring at a smartphone. This may seem like an un-significant issue as on the surface it is depicted harmless. But I have accumulated 4 articles that thoroughly reveal the dangers of frequent smartphone use and the way it negatively impacts an individual’s social skills. The 2 articles I have chosen to discuss provide an excellent insight on the topic which will provide enough support to commence an academic discussion. In these 2 articles they release studies that were performed to test the emotional and social skills of individuals who used smartphones frequently and how this impacted certain abilities such as reading emotions, communication skills and even reading and writing abilities.

A study conducted in 2004 found that around 45% of the children in the U.S possessed a cell phone and in 2010 those numbers rose to include 75% of the population (Hofferth and Moon 108). As of today, according to Fox 28 News, around 96% of children now don a cell phone, practically doubling the amount of child cell phone users in the year of 2004. With this increased amount of cell phones among children, one must wonder what kind of effects these devices can impose on these children. From the time the cell phone was first introduced to society, it has served as a communicational device. However as time has progressed the cell phone has become more than a mere device of communication, it has become a tool in which to escape reality and to enter a world of social media. As this device grew in its new capabilities—such as the Internet, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook—the owner of the device only grew in his/her attachment. Now this attachment, this dependence on technology, is being passed down amongst the next generation. In fact in today’s day and age it would not be uncommon to see a child under the age of five holding a cellular device. This image, which at one time was considered to be a faux pas, has now become an image of normalcy. Without knowing it, parents are likely altering a child’s wellbeing when they grant them with a gift-wrapped cell phone and an unlimited data plan. By

We often find ourselves glued to a television or phone screen. We all have wondered what life would be like without our phones. Today`s society has painted the image that we need technology and that we cannot live without it. We have this conception that we have to constantly check our phones. Furthermore, that our phone screen has to be just inches from our face. Today’s teenagers have been living in a world where technology is a daily tool. We are constantly using technology. In 2015, an article was written about teenage use of technology. It was based off a study that was done. In this article, it explained to us that on average 13-18 year old teens spend 9