Technology Is Destroying Youth In America

Can you name a friend or family member that does not have a smart phone or computer? If so, they are likely much older and have not partaken in the mass technology boom of the twenty-first century. In recent years, technology has been engraved in America’s culture where the younger generation has been born and bred around media devices. Due to the advancement of technology, computer literacy is important now, more than ever. “Sixty percent of American homes with children ages eight to seventeen have computers and most of these computers connected to the Internet” (Wartella 32). Computer technology has ushered in a new digital era bringing with it the ability to reach everyone’s hand’s young or elder. This will bring change to the future, including job stability and child development. Early exposure to digital media devices will give children competitive advantages in the educational system and the future job market.

Technology is an advanced program on a computer or even a cell phone that can do anything from discovering what you want. However, children remain the most human beings that use technology. Since they have been given a cell phone or a tablet at a very young age, their mind is used to the technology moving their fingers yet when parents give a child technology devices they don't know how enormous they are hurting the child's education. Since children have become more dependent on technology they have become careless in doing their own work, having less communication with others, loss of attention in class, and easier for them to cheat on their online assignments.

New technology is going to be added everyday and it is only going to keep moving forward. If technology is moving forward shouldn't we aspire for our children to move forward as well and have a firm grasp on technology and not fall behind. Technology is being implied upon every professional field therefore we need to start preparing the younger generations coming up for this widespread of technology. This would be teaching the younger ages more about real life situations

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

“Technology is the young people’s downfall”, says a 65 year old woman named Loyce M. Vinson. Vinson was born in Arizona and raised in Oklahoma, where she currently still lives. Vinson is a mother of two and a has eight grandchildren with myself being one of them. After many years of watching her children grow up and now her grandchildren Vinson feels that her view on technology has completely changed. Vinson told me that she has three problems with technology: it makes kids have no clue what is going on, lazy, and emotionless bullyng.

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.

Most of the time when parents give an electronic device to a child is just to entertain them, not to educate them. Now days children develop many disorders before they enter school; some of these disorders can be obesity, lack of self-control, and poor ability to speak, and the reason is the technology overuse. If parents keep using electronics to raise their children, our society will be doomed. We will have isolated teenagers with no interest in being outside in nature, just sitting in front of a big screen, playing online with long distance players whom they will never meet, and others who immerse themselves in Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, seeking “friends” and looking for social approval, but never making a real relationship with anyone.

Imagine a world without technology. It is almost impossible to do and might even cause the average Millennial some major anxiety. Every day we use it whether it is our cars, phones, shopping, games and most importantly in the education of students. Homework, class assignments and grades are accessed via blackboard for students as early as kindergarten. Most elementary aged children have no idea what is like to do research the “good old fashioned way” with books from a library that they found using a card catalog. The days where children came home did

These are only a few of today's modern marvels. I have not even mentioned high-definition television, Wii video games, or satellite radio. These are just three that affect everyday communication. All can be huge time savers, and when used properly and not abused, powerful tools to access knowledge. They do come at a price, access to these tools and features is not cheap, monthly service charges for high-speed Internet and cell phones with text messaging can be quite pricey, this should be taken into account when using. Like anything else, when used wisely and in moderation, these are great luxuries to have to make everyday life easier. Children and adults alike should appreciate how far technology has come and

Whether one is team iPhone or team Android, it is highly likely that one has a cell phone of some type. Technology has taken over our world as we know it. Michelle Ybarra did many studies on whether or not technology negatively impacted ones children (2011). She found that technology is increasing at a fast rate among children and teenagers (Ybarra, 2011). Many parents and other adults are automatically tying children’s access to technology to things such as sexting, bullying, and other violence. While these may be correlated, this does not mean technology is the sole cause of these outcomes. Ybarra did many studies that showed the number of kids bullied and/or harassed is very low compared to those that are not bullied (2011). The majority who said they were bullied said it was physically in person and not via technology (Ybarra, 2011). Her studies on sexting had very similar results. Very few children said they had ever engaged in any sort of sexting and for those that did, they said they were still finding out about it the old-fashioned way in things such as television and movies (Ybarra, 2011). Despite all of the negative opinions on technology, technology actually has many positive attributes as well. Many video games promote exercise and movement. Cell phones and social media provide an easy way to communicate with friends whether it just is socially or for things such as homework and group projects. The internet also provides many

This assignment will identify how digital technology has made being an adolescence in the twenty first century is significantly different from previous generations. Young people in many ways are the same as they were over 100 years ago although digital technology has enabled young people to be social in many different ways. Young people are able to engage in face-to-face interactions like previous generations and at the same time they have the convenience and speed this new digital technology have produced. Both the positives and negatives of digital technology will be critically analysed. The Press Association (2014) raises a number of points about adolescence and digital technology. The amount of involvement parents has with their

“Kids are too obsessed with their selfies and not what is going on around them!”

that contemporary society uses not only to entertain but also to communicate and educate, there

Technology is a blessing and a curse at the same time. As we evolve, so does the technology that comes with it. This makes our lives easier and convenient but do we want our children growing up in this easier and convenient world?

Another source of the overdependence of technology in children is school. At school, they are introduced to technology at a very young age, sometimes even in preschool. Children are introduced to calculators at a very young age, helping them with math problems they should be able to do in their heads. The teachers are encouraging it so the students don’t take the time to learn how to do it out and then struggle when they have no calculator. Also, children today are proven to have much worse handwriting than in the past. They are now expected to type English essays and in elementary school; many aren’t taught cursive but rather how to use computers. For example, in 2009, 97 percent of teachers had at least one computer in their room, and out of that, 93 percent of the computers were connected to the Internet (Gray, Thomas, Lewis). Intelligence is continuously decreasing due to all of the shortcuts children now are able to take advantage of. In some aspects, the advancements are really aiding students. They have almost any information they can imagine wherever they go, just by going to Google. Typing is neat and