Use Of Electronic Devices Influence The Way Adolescents ' Communicate And Interact On The Physical Level

“The arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect of teenagers’ lives, from the nature of their social interactions to their mental health” (Twenge). In her article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, Jean Twenge discusses how the new generation of teenagers is becoming highly dependent on their smartphones. Twenge calls this new generation born between the late 1990s and early teens “iGen” after a recent survey found that the majority of teenagers owned an iPhone. She argues that with every new generation, new habits form, both good and bad. The technological developments that have occurred throughout the last ten years, Twenge argues, is not a bad thing; it is how the “iGen” teenagers are becoming reliant on their phones and use them to avoid social interactions. According to her article, teenagers choose to stay home alone in their rooms and talk to their friends virtually on social media versus actually leaving the house and doing something face-to-face with their friends. Twenge argues that if teenagers decide to leave the house, phones still have a strong presence, often not leaving the hands of its owner for longer than a couple minutes with social media like Snapchat and Instagram tagging along. Twenge worries that the strong dependency on smartphones and increasing rates of obsession with social media are a couple of the largest contributors to the rise of depression and suicide among the teenagers of “iGen”.

In her article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, Jean Twenge discusses how the new generation of teenagers are becoming highly dependent on their smartphones and need them alongside them at any given point in time. Twenge calls this new generation born between the late 1990s and early teens “iGen” after a recent survey found that majority of teenagers owned an iPhone. She argues that with every new generation, new habits form, both good and bad. The technological developments that have occurred in the last ten years Twenge argues are not a bad thing, it is how the “iGen” teenagers are becoming reliant on their phones and using them to avoid social interactions. They would choose to stay home alone in their rooms and talk to their friends virtually on social media versus actually leaving the house and doing something face-to-face with their friends. Twenge argues that if teenagers decide to leave the house, phones still have a strong presence, often not leaving the hands of its owner for longer than a couple minutes with social media like Snapchat and Instagram tagging along. Twenge worries that the strong dependency on smartphones and increasing rates of obsession with social media are a couple of the largest contributors to the rise of depression and suicide among the teenagers of “iGen”.

“Boys’ depressive symptoms increased by 21 percent from 2012 to 2015, while girls’ increased by 50 percent— more than twice as much”(Twenge 64). Social media app usage by teens creates intense feelings of loneliness, low self-esteem, and low levels of confidence. Twenge also discusses the topic of cyberbullying and how, “Social media gives middle- and high-school girls a platform on which to carry out the style of aggression they favor, ostracizing and excluding other girls around the clock” (Twenge). This goes to support Twenge’s claim that smartphones are destroying this generation of youth. In conclusion, author Jean M. Twenge accurately depicts the negative effects of smartphones by examining teens’ poor social skills with one another, lack of independence, and poor mental health.

In “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” , Jean Twenge presents the negative impact smartphones have had in this generation. According to her, the rise of technology has shifted the way teens live and interact with other people, ultimately leading to self-destruction. Twenge’s thesis is supported by statistics that may or may not be completely linked to the use of smartphones.

Teens have an addiction towards electronic devices. Many people spend hours a day on these devices. Lasn states, “living inside the postmodern spectacle has changed people” (Lasn 171). Technology has changed the way people spend their time and also the way they feel towards family members. People have a sense of connection when they are on their electronic devices, but when it comes to family time there is a sense of disconnection.

Ever since smartphones were created, they have changed teenagers’ lives entirely. The article Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? by Jean Twenge, shows the ways the invention of the smartphone has changed recent generations. The article mentions the rise in teen depression and suicide, cyberbullying, and teen safety. It also mentions the decline in our social abilities, dating, and sleep. Smartphones have had both negative and positive affects on teenagers, but the negatives significantly outweigh the positives, which points to the need to put down the smartphones, as the article suggests.

In today’s world, most young people are not self-reliant. We conform to societal standards, not being our true selves. Many factors contribute to this, the most powerful one being social norm. Emerson says, “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against of the manhood of every one of its members.” (Emerson). Technology goes hand in hand with the influence of social norm. With social media and our handheld technology, we stare at the ideals and expectations we have to live up to, all day every day, discouraged to go against these standards. Consequently, 91% of teens aged 13-17 go online from a mobile device like a cell phone or tablet. Lastly, traditions hold people back from being self-reliant, including myself. Often times, I find myself trying

“Put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something-anything-that doesn’t involve a screen” (Twenge 63). It is astonishing the amount of time teens spend on phones. Jean Twenge discusses the negative effects smartphone usage has created among the young and past generations in the article, “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation”. The purpose of Twenge’s article is to aware readers about the many issues the smartphone usage has created on generations. Twenge narrates different stories about young teen’s experiences with phones and social media. Twenge also provides readers with statistics and some studies of many effects caused by smartphones. Twenge gives emphasize to differences between generations. According to Twenge, today’s

Cell phones and the computers are similar to each other in many different ways. One of the most common similarities is the internet aspect. With everyone connected to the internet, the adverse effects can spread throughout like a virus. “A Nielsen study released in 2010 indicated that texting was the primary reason for purchasing mobile phones and that text communication had become a "’centerpiece of mobile teen behavior.’" The modern smartphone of the 2010s is a powerful computing device, and the rapid and ongoing development of new applications provides users with a growing number of ways to use mobile phones for recreation, productivity, and social communication” (Issitt 2016). In the following Issitt states, “however, as smartphones have become more common, concerns about the detrimental effects of smartphone use have also increased.” (Issitt 2016). Issitt expresses the large growth of people with smartphones has its positives and negatives. The positives being the ability to communicate, but the negative being the effects on relationships with one another. An example of the negative side of things is the lack of interaction with people. People are more likely to call or text instead of interacting with one another. The lack of interaction can ruin relationships, or make people feel unwanted. In the article “Eurasian Journal of Educational Research,” the writer states that the internet, “can transform into an addictive instrument in excessive usage situations.” (Gunduz 2017). The statement explains the issue of the unnecessary use of the internet as a growing addictive process that is taking over more and more

I feel that this is a relevant issue in this society. Most teens like me are born in a society that is used to electronic devices. Kids that are younger than me are definitely given some sort of device sice they are young. I think some teens are too adicted to their phone. As I read through the article, I noteced the article is dedicated to the fact that teens spend too much time on their phone. I agree with that, but I also think being accicted to a phone is normal. There is a quote in the article by the digital detox expert Holland Hails saying, "Technological addiction can happen to anyone," in her book, she even discribed technology as, "the new 21st century addiction." I strongly agree with these quotes indicating that an technological

Another negative effect caused by cell phones is people’s declining interpersonal skills. In" Is Social Media Destroying Teen’s Interpersonal Skills? Experts Say It May", Sekinah Brodie pointed out that though the widespread of cell phones increases the quantity of interpersonal communication, the increase is at the sacrifice of quality. As it is widely acknowledged, interpersonal communication plays a vital role throughout one’s life, both in relationships and career, consisting of written, verbal, and non-verbal communication (9-12). In face-to-face communication, people focus more on verbal and non-verbal communication, during which different and even opposite meaning can be conveyed through the same words due to a mixed use of tone, eye contact, body language, gesture and even different dressing. However, when people base most communication on cell phones, they tend to merely apply written words and some simple emoticons, ignoring the effect of other important communication components like eye contact, body language and so on. Consequently, when needing to deal with others in real life, those appearing highly active online may turn out to be awkward, embarrassed, and even confused. In the meantime, it is found that the abuse of cell phone is hindering kids’ learning language and interpersonal skills. In Papa, Don’t Text, Deborh Fallows, the author believed that parents today spend more time on talking on the phone while pushing babies in strollers, leaving negative

Everywhere you go teens seem to be glued to their phones, tablets, or computers. Technology is an addiction that does not seem to be going away any time soon. According to the Washington Post, teens can spend up to seven or more hours on their digital devices a day and the usage is still increasing. Not surprisingly enough, more than a third of all teenagers own a cellphone, ranging from a smart phone or just a plain old-school flip phone. But can spending all that time on their computers and smart devices be such a bad thing? Today’s easy access, always on world presents a wealth of opportunity for teens as students, but also challenges them to retain them essential humanity and unique personalities.

“According to a recent poll, 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day.2 Seventy-five percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25% use them for social media, 54% use them for texting, and 24% use them for instant messaging.3 Thus, a large part of this generation’s social and emotional development is occurring while on the Internet and on cell phones.” (O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin)

Technology caused various of changes in this world. In the article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” the author Jean M. Twenge discuss how technology has caused a different effect on teen. “I called them iGen. Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this generation are growing up with smartphones...” Many teens now are dependent on texting then having a group conversation as compared to generations we can see the differences. The generation after 2012, which Twenge calls iGen, rely more on smartphones than earlier generation. iGen use of social media, like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, began before they even started going to school. These kinds of uses have caused health issues, and teens are going out less to parks and using less outside resources. While it be safer that kids stay inside, they are more likely to go into depression. Smartphones have made teens less able to communicate, caused a higher risk to their health, and become too much in a iGens life.

Today’s abundance of digital technology is corrupting our youth. Digital technology is preventing the full development of cognitive, social and communication skills in children and adolescents. Electronic devices are introduced to babies and toddlers. Adolescents are glued to their smartphones and tablets. Games and social media have become the primary concern of adolescents and teenagers to the exclusion of real social relationships. Parents often do not intervene and are grateful that their children are being entertained and supposedly not getting into to trouble by engaging with their electronic devices. Research conducted on the internet by adolescents is often haphazard and sloppy. Digital technology which has many positive uses is being misused by the younger generation both academically and socially. The misuse and overuse of technology is causing basic developmental problems in terms of social interaction, cognitive development, attention spans, and emotional stability. This growing trend is being addressed in California legislation, which will be discussed at the end of the essay.