Summary Of What's The Matter With The Kids Today By Amy Goldwasser

Youth’s reliance on the digital world may do some harm, but its benefits outweigh any drawbacks. Information is now readily available and much easier to access. Writers like Nicholas Carr of the Atlantic magazine speaks of the Web as a “godsend,” capable of reducing research from long days of gathering and shifting through physical resources to mere minutes searching online (Source 4). Technology not only make learning easier but also more personal. According to a 2008 study on the effects of digital media, the large library of information provided online “lowers barriers to self-directed learning” (Source 3). The current generation with some simple Google searches has the ability to indulge in their curiosity, free from traditional limitation in learning. Because of this, the young are developing new interests and skills to go along with

“If you do what you always did, you get what you always got.” This quote has been attributed to many different persons, but regardless of the origin, this statement has never been more applicable than to the current state of education and the use of technology in today’s classrooms. Mark Weisner stated, “We live in a society in which technology is so pervasive that we do not notice it anymore when used for everyday tasks such as information retrieval, communication and entertainment” (cited in Swan, van t’Hooft, Kratcoski, & Unger, 2005, p.99). Many middle school age students have never known a time when daily use of technology has not been as common as

According to multiple studies, adults and teens spend more hours using technology than they do asleep. On average, adults spend 8 hours and 40 minutes per day using laptops, phones, and other electronics. On the other hand, teens spend about 9 hours using various forms of media. Mark Bauerlein, a social critic, professor, and author of The Dumbest Generation claims the under thirty generation is the “dumbest” generation in modern history due to technology. He says there are two differences between past generations and the under thirty generation, general knowledge has gone down and reading habits have vanished. The under-thirty generation is the dumbest because people squander the opportunities technology provides, which proves having an abundance of resources doesn’t assure success.

The New York Times published an online article on January 9th 2010, which later appeared in print on January 10th 2010, titled “The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by their 20s” on the impact of technology on the future behavior of children and adolescents. This article focuses on the distinctive behavior of children and adolescents depending on mini-generation gaps with the world of technology. Director of the PRC’s Internet and American Life Project, Lee Rainie, talked about how children and adolescents in the modern world, being only two, three or four years apart, have completely different experiences with technology which has accelerated the generation gap. Thus the results of these increased gaps between generations have caused younger generations to have a more peculiar, but unique way of creating expectations about and of the world. Although many believe this to be false, there has been much research on the long-term effects of modern technology on the intellectual and social development of children but nothing has yet to be proven since the modern technological era is still beginning, thus being able to say that the source doesn’t exactly influence the information.

Ever since the early 80’s, there has been a rise in technology. From the first Macintosh, to the latest iPhone, technology has evolved to fit nearly any environment. However, not everyone agrees with this rise in the techno age. Psychologist Susan Pinker claims that technology is stripping down student education. She addresses her reasoning in The New York Times editorial entitled: “Can Students Have Too Much Tech?” She argues that, “...mounting evidence shows that showering students, especially those from struggling families,will not shrink the class divide in education. If anything, it will widen it.” Pinker informs parents and educators that having too much technology in and out of the classroom will ruin a child’s education, especially

She writes, “They’re connected, they’re collaborative, they’re used to writing about themselves,” referring to the new culture created by teen internet users (Goldwasser 1). Goldwasser continues to argue teens to have an exponentially wider grasp on the world. She cites their ability to watch famous speeches, read award winning novels, share their opinions, and share their own stories as proof of the usefulness of the internet. Nevertheless, fear of the online world persists. Teenagers now have access

The article “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” written by Amy Goldwasser and published on Friday, March 14, 2008 is an article about how the internet influences a teenagers choices and lifestyle. Goldwasser stated that some teenagers never knew what role Adolf Hitler had in history. She also stated that teenagers have complete control over what becomes popular from mentioning it on social media. Lastly, adults in this generation should start to accept teenagers using the internet, because it is not necessarily a bad thing for them to be exposed to.

The current generation of children is completely different than the preceding ones. They are living in the digital age. “Technology has blended in with daily activity to become a way of life and children today take for granted all of which is automated. It is hard for kids nowadays to imagine a world that existed without all of the gadgets, electronics and seamless operations that computer technology provides.” (3) “Children in the United States devote some 40 hours a week to television, video games and the Internet.” (12) Many psychologists and researchers are concerned about the impact that technology has on children. Children, tomorrow’s future parents and leaders, are being consumed by the negative effects that technology had on their

Perhaps that makes the 55-year-old teacher sound like a dinosaur. What he discovered is, after all, one of the most obvious realities shaping education policy and parenting guides today. But, as Loewy will clarify, his revelation wasn’t simply that technology is overhauling America’s classrooms and redefining childhood and adolescence. Rather, he was hit with the epiphany that efforts in schools to embrace these shifts are, by and large, focusing on the wrong objectives: equipping kids with fancy gadgets and then making sure the students use those gadgets appropriately and effectively. Loewy half-jokingly compares the state of digital learning in America’s schools to that of sex ed, which, as one NYU education professor describes it, entails

In Jennifer Fisher’s article “Living and Learning in a World of ‘White Noise’: Technology, Youth, and the University” the article mentions two opinions of scholars on either side of a debate, on the impact of technology in youth. The first extreme is, that the current generation is the “dumbest generation” made up of illiterate, self-absorbed people, who do not care about the history politics or culture of their society. The opposition is a romanticized version, where youth are literate intellectuals, who are “connected , publicly minded, sociable and contributing members to the digital world”. Regardless, both ideas depend on the adoption of information communication technologies, and the internet, a place where anyone can be free to learn

Imagine being a kid in the 1980’s. Kids back in those days would run around outside all day, using their imagination to create imaginary worlds to travel to imaginary places that made way for creative ideas and inventions as they grew older. One of those inventions turned out to be the tablet, the iPhone, or the netbook. Basically anything that made everything easier. Everything is now easier. One can simply look up an article and read it on their computer or phone, or research the latest fashion trends without having to keep updated on the latest magazine. Easier is okay. Let’s make things easier, but it’s when the easier starts finding its way into school systems. Easy technology usage becomes a problem when it creeps into our school, when the unreliable, and brainwashing abilities of technology creep into the minds of the young to hurt their ability to actually truly learn and experience life for what it should be.

Amy Goldwasser first comments on Doris Lessing's, a Nobel Prize winner in literature, take on teenagers today. Lessing states that today's kids have created a fragmented culture, and know a limited amount of information. Amy Goldwasser responds to this is a sarcastic and humorous way, mocking Lessing. "Kids today --we're telling you! -- don't read, don't write, don't care about anything… Or is it the older generation that the Internet has seduced...". Goldwasser sees the Internet as a communication tool, something that has created creative writers, reviewers, and journalists. Goldwasser also brings up the fact that 33 millions Americans take part in this act of communication. “They’re connected, they’re collaborative, they’re used to writing

The use of technology in our academia and households is an ever-growing controversial issue in this modern era. There have been many advancements in the area, new ways to access and manipulate it, such as smartphones developed to be as complex as computers. As a society, we are now exposing youth to the vast database of knowledge and information which they might not know how to properly use. In this TIME magazine article, Eliana Dockterman strives to persuade her parental audience that technology is beneficial to children by using her credibility, anecdotal and statistical evidence; however, her bias on this topic diminishes her credibility, leaving the audience in a state of confusion.

In today’s world one cannot function without the use of technology. We use technology daily to decide where to eat, what events are going on and to connect with our friends. With it becoming such a necessity one might wonder if what we’ll ever know will only revolve around a bright screen. Mark Baeuerlein an english professor argues that today’s teens are incapable of answering questions that a few generations ago would be deemed common knowledge. Baeuerlein’s opinions and information simply do not tell the whole story. I believe that technology has improved our minds as we have such easy access and make our lives not only easier but more efficient. .

Innovations seen in the characterization of technology have swept their influence over the growing generations. Its mere presence has permitted the young to grasp onto quick accessed information and communication. The increasing presence of virtual interaction and technology among the lives of teens raises the highly controversial issue revolving around the levels of intelligence possessed by today’s generation. Many bounce the question of intelligence back and forth, asking whether today's adolescents have been able to maintain the brainpower compared to older generations or have let the virtues of cleverness plummet. The argument is further complicated by the unresolved question to whether being categorized “dumbest” signifies “holding the least knowledge” or lacking the capacity and ability to think critically. Despite the claims that the presence of technology has affected today’s generation by molding “dumber” and more uneducated people through the emergence of illiteracy and other incapabilities brought about by its presence, people under thirty are not the dumbest generation as they have utilized the presence of technology to their advantage in various aspects.