Technology Limiting Creativity

In the article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” Jean M. Twenge she argues that a generation has been taken over by smartphones. I agree with Twenge's theories, but I feel that she was over-exaggerating when she states that teenagers are on a "mental-health crisis". Smartphones differ with everyone some people know how to manage their time and still have a social life, but others are certainly more comfortable online than out partying as stated in the article. She is a professor of psychology who research's generational differences, work values, life goals, and also speed of development. She had been researching generational differences for more than twenty-five years. It all started when she was twenty-two years old and a

The author of the book The Dumbest Generation is concerned over young Americans and what the digital age is doing to them. Throughout the book he cites many percentages of young Americans who are dropping out of high school and college and he blames the digital era for it. The author loves the idea of traditional values and routine and he believes that due to the amount of technology that is rising, it is killing off those core values that students need in order to grow and stay productive. He also claims that younger adults abuse their time, and their priorities compared to the older generation have changed significantly. The reasons that he gives because of these changes are due to the digital media and the advances of technology that have gone up quickly within a few years. This results in adolescent teenagers who are abusing their time over the web. Instead of trying to study and learn they are on Facebook and other social networks.

In the article, “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation,” Jean M. Twenge uses rhetorical devices and appeals to build her credibility on how smartphones are destroying this generation's teenagers. The author presents several pieces of evidence to prove she’s correct, and shows how teenagers of this generation think and behave differently than their predecessors.

Today's generation is more connected to technology and are living faster paced lives than any other generation preceding them. In the generation of the millennials the presents of technology is everywhere from the time they wake up till the time they go to sleep; they are influenced by technology in all aspects of their life. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “Children 11 to 14 spend more than 50 hours a week in front of a screen” (qtd. in Egan and Egan). This connection to technology consumes a lot of their time and leaves little to no time to concentrate on the physical world around them. Technology hinders a millennials ability to have a sense of connection and responsibility for their natural world.

Technology has advanced a lot more in the past century than it has over a million years. There is millions of new advancements found every day, however, this is making the younger generation a lot less knowledgeable. In the book The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerkein, it states that the teens today are the dumbest generation to live on the planet. It is commonly believed that the young generation is the least knowledgeable generation because of their great reliability on technology, constant distraction by technology, and negative media influences. Although technology helps to make one’s everyday life a lot easier, it is taking away one’s intelligence.

This specific generation has changed severally from past generations. Today’s youth have become attached to technology and can’t seem to let go of it. People have become dependent on technology; they make sure they check social media before they proceed to do anything else. Past generations focused on having a social life, getting out of the house, and having good relationships with friends. Twenge (2017) says that “the allure of independence, so powerful to previous generations, holds less sway over today’s teens” (p. 5) which is alarmingly true. Teens today spend more time at home interacting with their friends through social media rather than in person. Today’s teens have also let meaningful relationships slip away, many have put themselves in depressing states and end up feeling lonely because the lack of interaction and quality time with other individuals has gone away. Young people now focus on their likes and views rather than a significant other and being in relationships that could bring them joy. This newer generation lacks the independence past generations had. Past generations thrived to be on their own and have the ability to do what they wanted when they wanted. Past generations freedom came from having jobs and making money; teens today have lost the vigor to get jobs and make money. Many eligible young people have lost their strive to get jobs and have an income, many rely on their guardians to take care of them and pay for all of their necessities. However, Twenge mentions in the article, “Independence isn’t free – you need

Imagine you were ten years old. What were you doing? Were you in a park? Were you playing with toys? Now look around at ten-year old’s today. There seems to be a noticeable shift. Most of them have some sort of electronic device of their own, whether it be a smartphone or a tablet. That shift becomes even more apparent if you were ten years old, 30 years ago versus if you were ten years old only eight years ago. In the essay “Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen,” Kay S. Hymowitz suggests that tweens are growing up too fast. She states that while there are complex causes for this, “two major and fairly predictable themes emerged: a sexualized and glitzy media-driven marketplace and absentee parents” (Page 203). This and, “peer group form a vicious circle that works to distort the development of youngsters…,” according to Hymowitz (Page 203).

Although following the brief acknowledgement of outside influences, Twenge quickly recapitulates that teens are spending more time at home (and therefore less time working or hanging out with friends) because their social lives are on the internet. Technology has undoubtedly had an impact on the generation of kids who grew up with it, but it does not necessarily mean they are taking longer to mature than previous generations. Later on in the article, Twenge explains how iPhones are affecting the lives of the new generation in another way.

With the recent increase in the use of technology, adolescents are unable to become self-sufficient. Always having their phone in hand invades the right for children and teens to discover themselves. Parents expect their children to always

“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots” Albert Einsteinʼs once said. Even though he lived in the 1900s, he predicted our predicament that we are heading to. Ray Bradbury did the same thing.

The fact that teens of this generation are being more antisocial than in the past is vividly shown throughout society. This claim is mainly stated while Twenge is talking to a 13-year-old girl named Athena. Much like any other average American teenage girl, Athena enjoys pastimes such as watching Netflix, going to the mall with friends, browsing the internet, and much more. Although these all sound like fun things to do, they all have one thing in common: teens are not spending quality time with anyone while doing these activities. Now, going to the mall does require you being with someone face to face, but the majority of the time that teens spend with each other is on their phone. They’re usually on some social media app, capturing the entire event of being together, or they’re talking to other people that are not there instead of speaking to people face to face. As Athena states, “I think we like our phones more than we like actual people” (pg.2). This rings true to prove the fact that to some teens, there is no need to wonder outside of their comfortable beds to socialize; their friends are just one quick text, Snapchat, or phone call away. The more we stay in our bed on our phones, the more we will want to spend time alone than with other people, which can

1) The novel “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury and “The Case for Boredom”, a podcast by Manoush Zomorodi, are both perfect examples of the way technology could be preventing people to grow and learn about themselves. 2) Technology prevents people from being alone with their thoughts, and as a consequence lose touch with their emotions, which Zomorodi and Bradbury point out in their works.

The older kids who were born in 1998 through roughly 2002, so between the ages of 18 and 14, seem to have much less of a dependence on technology for interaction, because they can remember a time when technology was not always right there in their pockets. This is something that you can see just in walking down the street, and interestingly enough, the iphone came out in 2007, and that is when technology really took off. But for that younger age group, they have never known a life without all this technology. They all have phones, most of them have smartphones, or ipods which today are almost the equivalent of a smartphone. They are all constantly connected to their friends, always posting, snapping, sharing, liking, revining, commenting, they never have to be alone. It also seems that every other time you turn a corner, a parent is telling their kid to get off of their phone, or take out the headphones. And when they finally put them away, they are still distracted, wondering who might be texting them, or who just posted a picture. Parents are suggested to let kids do their thing on their phone, but it is a good idea teaching them how to be safe (Social Networking), because there are all kinds of stuff out there that children probably shouldn't be exposed to. But what does this say about the future? When the kids finally look up from their phones, are they going

Whoever reads Sven Birkerts’ Into the Electronic Millennium, can see how much the author hates technology and states that people will become dumb. Birkerts states,” The complexity and distinctiveness of spoken and written expression, which are deeply bound to traditions of print literacy, will gradually be replaced by a more telegraphic sort of plainspeak." He also assumes that technology will make people dull and boring which I totally disagree on.

This generation has obtained a tremendous amount of accessible information through technology. Technology has progressed during this generation which has corrupted the minds of teens everywhere.