How is technology affecting the younger generations' perceptions of morality and the world? The advent of the internet signaled a revolutionary shift for society, in which participation in massive amounts of information was easily and rapidly accessible to any connected country. This digital revolution gave rise to monolithic digital communities that dominate the web and strongly influence the globe; Twitter helped Belarusian youth organize flash-protests against their authoritarian government in 2006, while Wikileaks continues to serve as a public international clearing-house for whistle-blowers. But despite these resounding stories of success, concern is spreading that there is an underlying problem with our digitally enhanced society – especially in the western world. Widespread debate has been sparked by the digital revolution over modern technology's influence on younger generations, with experts combating each other over whether the internet is dulling or expanding young minds. This debate is not restricted to education, but extends to cover issues of morality and perspectives. Education issues are tied to lacking cultural awareness and political activism, but world-views are a separate and altogether more severe problem for the next generation. As the internet becomes more embedded in our lives, youth are retreating into the isolation of private social bubbles and turning reality into a remote abstract concept. Apathetic, amoral and disconnected youth in the western world are spreading to replace the active socially charged older generations. Thanks to a society that's approaching the utopia (or dystopia) of ubiquitous computing, people can be connected 24/7/365. Ask an average teenager what their digital arsenal consis... ... middle of paper ... ...e in youth volunteers. Again those facts are genuine but invalid as evidence. An increase in teens volunteering is not necessarily the result of technology spreading knowledge. Peer pressure is far greater then before the digital era, because students are now in constant contact with their peers. As a result, trends are very easily spread. More competitive higher education also mandates community volunteer work as an unwritten perquisite for popular universities, which peer pressure forces students towards. As a teenager myself, I know many people that put up the facade of doing environmental volunteer work to help the environment. But upon asking them any in-depth question regarding why they are helping, their facade falls apart and they end up parroting off the goals of their organization. They volunteer because they are silently forced to, not because they want to.
Studies show that opposed to popular opinion, community service has increased and looks to continue that way. The data shows Generation Y and their amount of charitable giving. “Between 1989 and 2006, the share of teenagers who were volunteering doubled, to 26.4 percent from 13.4 percent, according to a report by the Corporation for National and Community Service”. Also, “incoming college freshmen who say they plan to volunteer is at a record high” (11). I think anyone would agree that the rise in community service combats the degrading stereotype placed on the younger generation. As a former social chair of a sorority I can say that I spent a large amount of time doing philanthropic work with multiple organizations including Girls on the Run, Special Olympics, and town cleanups. I believe that millennials bring a new spirit of togetherness that everyone could take away from. With teamwork a common goal of unity and stability is being created amongst the new
In the 2008 article, “ What 's the Matter with Kids Today?”, the author, Amy Goldwasser, discusses that the internet is the omnibus usage of the modern world today. Teenagers are reading and writing on social media, using an informal style. She argues that the older generation is not happy with this technology as they did not grow up with it; they are fearful of and cannot trust this unfamiliar technology. There is a lack of sufficient factual that Goldwasser wants to convince her opinions to their audience. The Goldwasser argument that there is nothing wrong with the kids today, is strengthened through her usage of logos, ethos and pathos.
In the essay “Say Everything” written by Emily Nussbaum, the author presents the argument that young people in this generation do not have a sense of privacy and tend to post whatever they like on the internet. She presents 3 different ideas of what happens when young adults are on the internet.
In Peter Tait’s article, “Preserving childhood innocence” he discusses how it influences the way social media has corrupted the innocence of youth. It is very easy to Google search and find anything in the blink of an eye. But, just because the information is readily available does not mean that it is a good idea to take advantage of it all at once. Parents often struggle raising their children in today’s society in which kids have much more exposure to content that is not age appropriate than the past generation had at their age. Today’s generation can be overstimulated by the kind and amount of information at their fingertips as they stumble upon it. Burdens of adult life are being unknowingly placed on kids who have not yet reached, or are just reaching, adolescence. This often leads to long-term negative psychological and social effects on children if they are prematurely exposed. Most information on the Internet is unfiltered which is often why it is often called “overexposed”. Without filtration, anyone can pull up inappropriate or false information without being aware of its inaccuracy. This includes anything from inappropriate pictures to hateful comments to uncensored language. When absorbed by a child who does not know how to self-filter the material, it can destroy the innocence that comes with being young. The kid no longer thinks like a child and is haunted by the
One of the problems with social contemplation on this subject, though, is that this situation is relatively unknown to history. Though the power structure of the internet has been compared to centralized government, decentralized government and social anarchy, Jess Holbrook, in a discussion on November 24, accurately cited the internet as being "unlike anything else we’ve ever seen." So perhaps time should be taken to evaluate the effects of the internet on not just the nation’s youth, but the nation in general. While the evaluation is taking place, the presence of these social poisons on the internet must be recognized.
Loewy says that the restrictions that kids are getting from the older community about what social media is hindering them from learning how to use digital technology proficiently. He also says that even though it is important to keeps kids safe online that these focuses give kids “a distorted view of the digital world.” Loewy also says that “It is a view that reflects the fears adults rather that the aspirations of youth.” A question that can be answered in this article also can be “How much of a digital age community are we becoming?”. This article gives consistent points and examples of how we are steadily becoming more and more technologically innovated in all aspects of our lives from the classroom to the the work room. Some examples this article provided were that classrooms now a days had iPads assigned to students, ebooks, laptops
...dered invisible to the public domain. A democracy requires seeing things from another person’s point of view, but instead we are more enclosed in our own bubbles (5). The 21st century gave birth to a fast-paced economy where consumers want everything to be clear-cut and simple. Is knowledge of the filter bubble going to stop me from using the Internet for social networking, education, or entertainment? Certainly not, which just goes to show how dependent we are towards technology. Sociologist Danah Boyd indicates, “If we’re not careful, we’re going to develop the psychological equivalent of obesity” (14, Pariser). The future appears bleak and I fear for children who are exposed to the Internet at earlier changes. Our knowledge is often distorted and comes to us second-hand, manipulated, and filtered through a media lens under the control of other human beings.
“Status update on Facebook” signifies the addiction of people to social media’s. Such is the kind of recklessly distracted impatience that makes Mark Bauerlein fear for his country. "As of 2008," the 49-year-old professor of English at Emory University writes in "The Dumbest Generation," "the intellectual future of the United States looks dim.” The problem is that instead of using the Web to learn about the wide world, young people instead mostly use it to gossip about each other and follow pop culture, relentlessly keeping up with the ever-shifting lingua franca of being cool in school. The two most popular websites by far among students are Facebook and Myspace. "Social life is a powerful temptation," Bauerlein explains, "and most teenagers feel the pain of missing out.” being the fact that we use social media’s and other search engines to do our work, this might actually make these a dumb generation. People are not willing to learn a lot now due to the excessive use and addiction to technology. We move towards the path of advancement, and we can’t go back. (Benjamin James, 2002). But amid the sometimes annoyingly frantic warning bells that ding throughout "The Dumbest Generation," there are also some keen insights into how the new digital world really is changing the way young people engage with information and the obstacles they face in integrating any of it
This world has become immersed in online media from socializing on networking sites to seeking information on search engines. People of all ages have become reliant on online media, but the most engaged users are the younger, more easily impacted generations. Although there are many positive uses for online media, there are many negative uses as well. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for these negative effects to impede upon the perceptions of adolescents. Some countries have been trying to reduce this effect by expelling the inappropriate content of online media ("Influence on Children Media...”). However, in the United States, children are thrown in the waves, expected to stay afloat in this massive sea, but many are being dragged under the surface by the nefarious temptations media creates. Content that is not appropriate for the young, growing minds of children are easily accessible; a myriad of devices may be used to access this material, all at the click of a button. Without adult content filters on online media, adolescents of various ages are exposed to dangerous conceptions. A world of pornography, violence, and public humiliation lay in the user’s fingertips.
Teens may be technologically savvy, important in a culture reliant on technology, but have fewer skills in dealing with real people. The economic divide pushes those without financial means further from those with internet access and the latest gadgets. How did we survive as teenagers without cell phones and texting? Increasing reliance on e-communication puts those unable to avail themselves of technology at greater disadvantage as they enter adulthood and the workforce. Nevertheless, these problems are not confined to the youth of the world.
Inside the majority of American households rest the unlimited territory of the internet. The unlimited and always advancing possibilities have unlocked powerful new tools in communication and socialization. Tools such as: long distance visual communication, international circulation of personal thoughts, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) have all led to a closer but more distant community of people. The positive side can attribute to the fact that the younger generation seems more in tune with their international counterparts. Youth have the ability to anonymously communicate with others through various message boards, mostly governed by one policy, freedom of speech. The anonymity of the internet has created a community where social outcasts mingle freely with others; a society where jocks can converse with geeks without fear of reprisal. This community releases people from the bounds of their own flesh. Yet, technological advances have pushed society into the next dimension of communication and socialization that seemingly override traditional and more personal vessels of communication.
Technology is unavoidable in our modern lifestyle. You wake up, you use technology; you use technology while cooking, while eating, while driving. While you’re lying in bed before you fall asleep, you use technology, technology wakes you up in the morning. Is all the technology around you good for you, or is it harmful to your health? Was our society healthier or safer before all the advancements? So many questions and concerns about all of the technology we crave, but there are very few people who know the answers. Technology affects all parts of human life. It can create jobs, motivate people to get active, and assist people in learning, but this does not balance out that there are dangers that follow the use of technology.
Technology affects everyone! Whether positive or negative, we are all affected, how it manifests itself into problems for youth will be studied and debated for years. Balancing technology throughout the educational process and keeping with current trends and uses of technology will affect everyone. Technology has transformed our youth’s daily and social lives. How do we measure the effects of technology on our ability to socialize or have a successful social life? Socializing is not just talking face to face, it’s our ability to interact, learn, and create original thought. Technology hindering today’s youth and their ability to socialize is affecting their capacity to read, write, and communicate. Today’s youth depends on careful considerations for the implementation of technologies. Our youth do not have the capability to convey their emotions through the use of technology, understand sadness, happiness or joy through simple text or emails. Communicating through the use of text, chat, and social network sites is lost using abbreviations and slang, inhibiting the use of the Standard English language. Using computers and hand held devices for relationships, reading, writing, and entertainment, turning them into introverted and socially inept individuals. Current trends resonating from our educational institutions to our workplace can be examples of how technology has altered the way younger people communicate. This tragedy transcends from youth to adulthood affecting the workplace. Social networking sites have begun to take hours away from employers. How do students understand ethical and moral dilemmas unless they are allowed to make mistakes and work through a particular problem? Creative and original thought needs...
For the purpose of this paper, the focus will be more upon the youth of the United States, as approximately only 5-7% of the world’s children have access to the Internet. “Defined as a ‘decentralized, self-maintaining series of links between computer networks’,” was originally intended to be a means of connection for the intra-departmental computers of the United States Defense Department in the 1950’s, but the mainstream mass media was quick to adapt and adopt it for general public use. This public embrace of technology was and has remained most profound in the U.S., who leads the pack in Internet use, followed closely by Sweden and Australia. Naturally with the quickness with which the Internet took off, it should be no astonishing fea...
Technology is one of life’s most impressive and incredible phenomena’s. The main reason being the shockingly high degree to which our society uses technology in our everyday lives. It occupies every single realm, affecting people both positively and negatively. There are so many different forms of technology but the two most often used are cell phones, and the internet/computers in general. Today’s younger generation was raised alongside technological development. Kids now a days learn how to operate computers and cell phones at a very early age, whether it be through their own technological possessions, a friend’s, or their parents. They grow up knowing how easily accessible technology is, and the endless amount of ways in which it can be used. This paper will be largely focused on the effects of technology on the younger generation because your childhood is when these effects have the largest impact. I am very aware of the subject because I am the younger generation. Aside from major effects on study and communication skills, there also exist the media’s effects on teen’s self-esteem and mental health. Maybe more importantly, there is our world’s growing problem of over priced and unnecessary consumerism. Over time, our society has created a very unhealthy form of reliance and dependency on technology as a whole. People essentially live through their devices. Cell phones are always with people making it nearly impossible to not be able to reach someone at anytime, day or night. In 2011, there were 2.4 trillion text messages sent, and 28,641 cell phone towers were added across the US. 1 We use our phones and Internet for directions, communication, information, self-diagnosis, games, movies, music, schoolwork, work, photos, shoppi...