Summary Of Growing Up Digital Wired For Distraction

24% of teenagers say that they go online “almost constantly” everyday according to a study from the Pew Research Center. In our society today, adults, teens, and children are always using some form of technology. Technology can be used for important purposes such as school or work. Other times technology only serves as a distraction from what really matters in life. We get very attached to technology and that can become a problem. In Fahrenheit 451, the main character Montag is a firemen who is trained to destroy books because the society’s government thinks that books are dangerous because they cause conflict. In place of books, many people use parlor wall TVs as their entertainment. The screens on the parlor walls serve as an unhealthy distraction.

Texting has turned into one of the largest distractions in the world. People are constantly preoccupied with their phones, checking social networks, and text messages. Studies say that 21% of teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by cell phones and this statistic

Almost a generation of teens have access to a phone with text messages. They spend so much time shorting words, they lose the ability to be literate. Teenagers today are more worried about their phones, in school or out of school, causing them to drop their grades and get them in lots of trouble.

In the article, Attached to Technology and Paying a Price by Matt Ritchel, Kord Campbell’s family is an example of a family who is addicted to their devices. In the afternoon, the squad all completes in a video game showdown. They all sit around the TV, playing a video game on their Wii. Their youngest daughter has an ipod touch, and all she does is use it. She also has a laptop. Researchers worry that “digital stimulation like this creates attention problems for children with brains that are still developing.” When we start to use the device over and over, it becomes a routine. Not only is it a routine, it could be considered to be a habit to keep checking things over and over again. For example, somebody who relies on their emails for their job checks their email constantly. This could be up to 50-100 times a day, something clearly too much and to distracting from the outside

Katie Hafner’s article, “Texting May Be Taking a Toll,” displays that the rising number of texts sent by adolescents day in and day out is starting to take a big toll on them, their lifestyle, and the people around them. To start off, in the first part of the article Hafner expresses that the point of the first section is that with a growing number of young people utilizing texting and using it nonstop texting is causing serious issues such as anxiety, failing grades, distraction in school, sleep issues and many others. The author exclaims in the section that, “The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to anxiety distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.”

Technology has only recently become apart of life and it is continuously growing and evolving. Generations have become dependent on electronic devices, it is used in everyday life. Though it is not a bad thing unlike commonly believed. The school should not participate in “Shut Down Your Screen Week” because the technological database offers many learning opportunities and has the ability to make students smarter.

The average teen male send about 20 text per day. While a female will pays much more attention to her phone. Teens love their phone on many levels it is such a big distraction in church, school, and even driving. Texting and driving is very dangerous you are putting

We hear a lot these days about texting - the ability to get/send a text message from/to anyone, anywhere, via wireless networks and some kind of portable device, which might be a fancy pager, a digital cellphone or a palmtop computer. The technology is here, though it doesn't work everywhere yet. We could argue about how affordable or reliable texting is, but we can't deny it exists and will probably become more widespread. But is this a good thing? In my opinion, there are certain ways in which texting affects many teenagers.

To begin with, electronics bestows us with social media. We are provided with information like politics, lifestyles, activities, fashion and so many more things with just a click of a button. According the article Social Media as Community by Keith Hampton, “The constant feed of status updates and digital photos from our online social circles is the modern front porch.” Important news is being spread so quickly it's become a necessity to know what's going on. Keeping in touch for people in this generation is extremely easy due to being able to reach in your pocket and text or call your family or friends. Per the same article mentioned before, “We no longer lose our social media ties over our lives.” Family and friends no longer have to be kept waiting or worried, we have electronics.

The author says about Vishal that, “He does not leave his chair for more than two hours, sipping Pepsi, his face often inches from the screen, as he perfects the clip from the cemetery. The image of the crying woman was shot separately from the image of the kneeling man, and he is trying to fuse them. “I’m spending two hours to get a few seconds just right,” he says,” (7). This example from Vishal’s computer life is taking away from his school life since he will spend a long time working on his computer editing when he should be working on his homework that will work to more of an advantage than a few seconds of film. Furthermore the author goes on to discuss that most schools have a lot technology to help them learn/teach and that there is 2 different opinions on the technology at school where one's opinion is that it is very bad for the children, and the other is that they will lose them if they don’t use technology. The author then listens to 2 different opinions, The first one is “It’s a catastrophe,” said Alan Eaton, “When rock ’n’ roll came about, we didn’t start using it in classrooms like we’re doing with technology,” he says. He personally feels the sting, since his advanced classes have one-third as many students as they had a decade ago,” (9). The second opinion is

"The Truth About Video Games And The Brain: What Research Tells Us".Scientific Learning. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.

According to Maas et al., the primary goal of this study was to assess effects on cognitive performance in relation to the amount of TV/video game viewing.

In today’s society, the concerns for the effects of video games have acquired quite a terrible reputation. Worried parents around the world assume video games make their children do poorly in school, and create violent, desensitized, antisocial children. The increase in violent games, usually get the blame for aggressive behavior, shootings and violence in schools and young individuals. Most beliefs about video games effect on the brain and emotions are very common misconceptions. I strongly believe that video games are an essential tool to learning and gaining much-needed skills. When people look at the studies that have been done on video games and the brain, it will be apparent that some myths about video games have been blown out of proportion. It has come to my attention that there are studies that prove the negative effects of video games may only last the duration of game play. Kids can improve in general knowledge with educational video games like Leap Frog. Video games can train specific areas of the brain as well as increase brain flexibility and memory. Gaming actually has more beneficial effects than negative effects. Video games are excellent educational implement used in elementary schools. It is extremely helpful in brain development and helping kids with trouble reading improve. Memory retention can be improved and increased with the use of strategic, thinking games. Video games, as funny as it might sound, even promote

The main cause of the texting craze is the ability to send and receive quick messages. It is simpler than making a phone call and getting caught up in a conversion when your time is limited. It also allows you to share and respond instantly so there is a sense of always being connected to peers. Texting has become more popular than talking on the phone or even face to face. So much so that “texting has become the way that adolescents forge social bonds, and texting between adolescents often serves to promote social cohesion in peer groups”

Playing video games is among one of the favorite pastimes of many people around the world. Some play games to kill time with simple tasks found most commonly on the phone, while others play them to challenge their mind in the form of complex puzzles or to practice management skills, some play them to experience a sense of adventure that they just can’t find anywhere else, and many use them as a way to communicate or have fun with friends both near and far. Whatever the reason someone may have for playing video games, they may not think that games can have an effect on their brains. Some would say that playing video games can lead to negative effects such as harming the player’s cognitive skills or causing them to become much more violent than normal. Others would argue that playing video games quickens the minds of their players, leading to higher mental performance or an increased attention to detail. Thanks to this hotly debated controversy many studies have been conducted over the past years in order to settle the debate once and for all. So what effect can playing video games have on the cognitive skills of their players, and are these effects positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle?