The Documentary, Digital Nation, Directed By Rachel Dretzin

Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.

Have you ever wonder “Do Video Games Kill?” Well, Karen Sternheimer, the author of the essay who focuses on the youth and popular culture has explained it very well in the essay. Sternheimer addresses the wide spread idea of how video games are the cause for killers at a young age. She believes the influence of video games may have a little on the youth being out of control. Sternheimer puts most of the blame for the youth of being out of control on the media. She also writes some about politicians and the Juvenile Justice system. She also points out that the youth not only is influenced by video games, but also the home life. While it may be that juvenile crimes have declined and personal

The ideas of video games and computer entertainment are often met with a concern for children or society. The belief that a violent computer or video game could have negative everlasting effects on individuals has coexisted since their creation. All across the globe many forms of computer entertainment have been blamed for the alleged increase in aggressiveness, violence, and addiction in both children and adults. While those who are in closely related fields may see the benefits from such technology many still forgo the positive applications of this so-called entertainment. Since the mainstream appearance of computer entertainment multiple organizations have devised beneficial methods in order to help educate parents and end-users on the material

Children are exposed to all sorts of content online ranging from educational content, to aggressive and sexual material. Violence and cyberbullying have been linked to spending too much time on electronics (“Pediatricians,” 2013). Palo Alto Medical Foundation, too much screen time has been linked with children engaging in more aggressive behaviors such as fighting with their peers and arguing with their teachers. Furthermore, according to an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University by the name of Douglas Gentile, “Teens with mental health issues may turn to video games for relief, but then become addicted to playing, causing social, academic and emotional problems that may last well into adulthood” (Roberts, 2015). In other words, addiction to electronics may lead to depression and isolation, when there are other options for the relief these children need. By taking preventative measures and keeping a closer eye on screen time, the child will not be as prone to becoming more

She argues that “One of the reasons people are interested in video games and related technologies is because they put you into words where you have to solve problems.” She is totally right because people enjoy games and other technologies to solve all their problems and wasting time to full boredom. Other expert argues that “Learning in a connected, technology-rich environment enables young people to undertake meaningful experiences as they engage with peers, celebrates, relatives, and experts worldwide.” I agree with him learning new things on technology that we don’t know and communicating with the world and getting to know new people is a good thing. Whatever the environment we live in and how much people are addicted to technology it will affect us and becoming addicted to

The writer Gerald Jones, in his narrative essay, article, “Violent Media is good for kids,” recounts his dormant childhood and how it was changed by playing video games. Jones’ purpose is to convey the idea that video games are a game changer in kids’ lives. At a very early age, he was timid, he was not associating and was not recognized by other kids. The writer adopts a sentimental approach to tap into the similar feelings once experienced by adult readers. Jones begins his article by throwing a flash back to his childhood days at age 13, a period which he described as sensitive, fearful, insouciant, nervous and apprehensive being part of the social spectrum of other kids. Jones writes “At age 13 I was alone and afraid”. He identifies to his readers the difficulties of a child lacking confidence to grow into adolescence, and how he found violent video games an essential tool in childhood development.

In her essay “Screen Addiction is Taking a Toll on Children” Jane Brody argues the fact that modern technology is negatively impacting our youth by her use of logical appeals and evidence from outside sources. Brody believes that teenagers are becoming so addicted to video games that they will not stop the game for anything, even a bathroom break (1). With the rapid rate that technology is advancing screen addiction is beginning at a remarkably young age. The increase in technology use is only going to continue to rise and with the negative effects it has on todays children, such as violence and isolation there must be some way to reach a solution to this rapidly growing problem.

This summative assessment is in formal essay format. Students were required to select one of the four essential questions about technology that we have asked throughout the unit, take a position on it, craft a claim, and write an essay using evidence from the documentary, Digital Nation, to support their claims. Using an argumentative writing style, known as the Toulmin Method, students are required to prove their claims using at least three subclaims, evidence, and warrant statements (or analysis) to fully explain why their ideas are true.

The purpose of the research article from the scholarly journal Childhood Education (2014) is to discuss the arguments currently surrounding the topic of media, technology, and screen time (MeTS) and its use with young children, and create an international dialogue on what steps should be taken in the future on how to responsibly use MeTS in a way that is productive and developmentally appropriate. The authors first discuss what global issues currently stand referring to MeTS, citing statistics of television, video game, and computer exposure among young children (children younger than 6). It is described that in the United States alone, “83% of children under 6 years old use…two hours with a television and DVD player, 1 hour with video

Technology is an important aspect of change in our world. As time goes on, we are introduced to more and more technology every year, which includes media such as video games. The increase of technology has also increased and improved the world including ways of communicating and distribution of information. More often used outlets of media are those used for entertainment purposes, like television, internet and video games. The ones who are most likely to engage in these media outlets are millennials and the most recent generation Z, because they have been introduced to these outlets from a young age. In fact, a study found that children spend around 9 hours a week playing video games (Polman, de Castro, & van Aken, 2008). It is evident that video games are progressively becoming more violent in nature, and with children spending as much time as they do playing video games, there are questions that must be asked, is the violent nature of video games effecting today’s youth? And if so in what ways?

The rising generation is notorious for absorbing their lives with all things virtual. With the coming forth of new and advanced technology in recent years, the world has seen a shift in the trends and behaviors of the rising generation. In association to these advancements, we have seen improvements in things like medical care and worldwide communications, but we have also observed a sudden disinterest in human interaction as well as obsessive gaming addictions where users waste countless hours online. In a speech given to the students of Brigham Young University-Idaho, David A. Bednar addressed this topic as a means of guidance and direction for these young students. Bednar uses allusion, imagery, and specific word choice that taps into the

Over the course of the advancement of music, there have been many technological changes that have made it so that music is improved and widely spread. This biggest change was brought on by the digital revolution that introduced the CDs to the market so that music could be easily spread between people. Additionally, radio had expanded with FM radio that gave rise to many new genres of music that initially were very niche. Each of these following singers is able to exemplify that aspect with their styles of music that had not been possible before the wide distribution of this new technology.

Many young children and teenagers have heard their mother’s incessant plead to get away from the screen and to go outside or pick up a book for once instead. The urge to play “just one more level” before starting that homework or doing those chores can be quite distracting. But are video games really as awful as Mom exclaims or as brutal as those TV ads depict? It turns out that video games can have a strong impact on participants’ lives in both positive as well as negative ways.

The film “ Digital Nation” is an exploration of diverse people's views on digital media, in today's world. Some of the most important topics were on the virtual world, and the pros and cons of technology within different groups like gamers, students, families, teachers, administrators, children, military and businesses, as well as the experience of general people. In the movie, Prof. Sherry Turkle said, “Technology challenges us to assert our human values. Technology is not good or bad, is powerful, and it is complicated which means first we have to figure out what they are”. Currently, technology has taken over, wherever one, goes one will find it. Over the past years, social media in particular have spread worldwide; from Facebook to Instagram. There is constantly something new, extra advanced and creative. Overall, the technology has evolved the way humans interact with each other. In particular, technology influences by motivating students towards learning, saving time, building literacy and communication skills.

The children of this new millennium will be barraged with more electronic media than ever in history. The nature of a child 's curiosity will naturally drawn him or her to a video game or interactive television. The other influence is that cable operators, television networks and video game publishers target children (and their parents) as part of the consumer base. Children will not be able to escape electronic media and in the future may be drawn more and more toward it.