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The negative impacts of technology on kids
The negative impacts of technology on kids
The negative impacts of technology on kids
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What would you prefer, your child to watch tv and be quiet or have them learning by looking out the window? This question is important to consider when reading through the passage from “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv, who criticizes how modern children care more about technology than the beauty which surrounds them. Louv uses uses a longing, disappointed tone, sincere diction, and descriptive imagery in order to illustrate how people have shifted away from nature and what the consequences will be if this continues. The tone through the essay remains the same; longing for the old times and disappointed in how people act today. Louv tells this by using a quote from Matt Ritchel “It’s time for nature to carry its weight”(Louv 8). This illustrates that people no longer see nature as a thing of beauty, but just somewhere to stick a …show more content…
Even though “the highway’s edges may not be postcard perfect” (47-48) they can still be a resource and a way for people to learn. The imagery offers an excuse some people may use, but even though it is not as “pretty” it is more beneficial than just staring at a screen. Even though kids would be bored, they found methods of entertainment in “[using] our fingers to draw pictures on fogged glass as we watched telephone poles tick by” (63-64). This may not be watching a favorite tv show, but it allowed for observations and being able to learn more about the world. Children who did not grow up with this will not gain “understanding of how cities and nature fit together was gained from the backseat.. The woods and fields and water beyond the seamy edges” (49-53). This illustrates how even though these events may be boring, one can gain insights and learn to appreciate more in life. The description of the woods explains the beauty of nature and tells what those will miss out on when they are distracted by modern
In the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, there are many themes, symbols, and motifs that are found throughout the novel. For my journal response, I have chosen to discuss nature as a prevalent symbol in the book. The main character, Montag, lives in a society where technology is overwhelmingly popular, and nature is regarded as an unpredictable variable that should be avoided. Technology is used to repress the citizens, but the oppression is disguised as entertainment, like the TV parlour. On the opposite end of the spectrum, nature is viewed as boring and dull, but it is a way to escape the brainwashing that technology brings. People who enjoy nature are deemed insane and are forced to go into therapy. Clarisse says “My psychiatrist wants to know why I go out and hike around in the forests and watch the birds and collect butterflies,” (Bradbury 23) which shows she is a threat to the control that the government has put upon the people by enjoying nature.
In my generation, I am able to catch what is relatively the tail end of this slow extinction. And to be quite honest, I had not devoted a moment of thought to this phenomenon until I read Leopold’s passages. In fact, I am always the first one to compliment a new highway project that saves me five minutes of driving or even a tidy farmstead as I pass. Now, more than ever, my thoughts are in limbo. It was just last week when my dad pointed out an area off the highway that displayed miles of slowly rolling cornfields. His reaction was to the beauty of the countryside. Mine was to question his. I found myself thinking about all of the hard work that created that beauty, and then how much more beautiful it was fifty, a hundred, or even two centuries ago. Only the mind’s eye can create this beauty now, and that is exactly why Leopold’s concerns are validated.
How could the reader benefit from reading this essay? The author want to make people realise the importance of nature and wants people to preserve environment by saying trees and animals. The author also wants the audience to realise how the people generations before us use to live without the facilities that we have in today’s world.
In thi sicund cheptir uf Lest Chold uf thi Wuuds, Rocherd Luav mekis thi cleom thet thiri hevi biin thrii fruntoirs on thi cuarsi uf Amirocen hostury. Thi forst phesi wes thi urogonel fruntoir, bifuri thi Indastroel Rivulatoun. Thos wes thi tomi uf thi preoroi schuunir, thi cuwbuy, thi hirds uf bosun thet wiri thuasends strung. Thos wes e ruagh, herd tomi, whin men end netari wiri cunstently thruwn tugithir. Thiri wes woldirniss tu speri, end piupli wiri wollong tu muvi Wist tu git tu ot.
The rhetorical questions are also an attempt to show readers a potential future in which, “people no longer consider the physical world worth watching.” The question of, “Why do so many Americans say they want their children to watch less TV, yet continue to expand the opportunities for them to watch it?”, is a literal depiction of the flawed logic of the American consumer culture. By contrasting the popular belief that too much TV entails serious cognitive drawbacks against the mass purchase of TV’s and other electronics Louv is able to slow walk his readers to the conclusion that most Americans yearn for the distractions of TV and other electronics, rather than reject them. This rhetorical strategy allows Louv to assert that Americans are constantly contradicting themselves without directly accusing any specific group of people of hypocrisy. The additional question, “Why do so many people no longer consider the physical world worth watching?”, underlines Louv’s main point that people are far more concerned with man made distractions rather than environmental
One strength of his article is that it can easily elicit an emotional response from the more sympathetic readers and outdoor enthusiasts. Duane appeals to pathos when first setting the scene of a day in the wilderness. He describes what it would be like if one had the “good fortune” to spot a Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep in the wild. He writes, “You unwrap a chocolate bar amid breathtaking views . . . the sight fills you with awe and also with gratitude for the national parks, forests, and yes, environmental regulations that keep the American dream of wilderness alive” (Duane 1). For the audience that connects to this emotional appeal, this instantly draws them in to the article and can arouse feelings of amazement and wonder toward the sight described. It can likewise leave readers wondering whether or not this scene is truly so perfect. This statement can also appear too dramatic for those less passionate. When Duane writes, “The sight fills you with . . . gratitude for the . . . yes, environmental regulations that keep the American dream of wilderness alive,” it seems almost untrue, as most people do not think twice about the environmental regulations that keep animals in their
The debate over technology being healthy for our children has been a debate that has gone on for years. It appears as though the tragedy that children are missing out on hands-on nature is definitely something we all must learn to accept. Nicholas D. Kristof hits the nail on the head when he suggest that we try to preserve nature but we don’t promote natural activity such as hiking, biking, camping, and “discovering the hard way what a wasp nest looks like”. Kristof does an effective job getting the point across on experiencing nature and limiting technology. He is a father that is destined for his young daughter to know about the outdoors with personal experimentation. Kristof’s intended audience is geared toward people that want their children and themselves to be involved in nature, but they have been consumed with this technological age.
There are so many distractions in our world today that take our minds from the real world to a virtual one. Richard Louv is one of the many people who admit this. Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods. In this essay, he outlines the media distractions that turn our minds to a virtual reality. This is especially evident in children. Louv, in his essay, points out that children have so many things to distract them as they don’t have a developed enough mind to truly appreciate nature. In this essay, Louv relates many life experiences to describe the distractions of our world. Louv uses reference Elaine Brooks in this essay. Brooks warns, “True, our experience of natural landscape often occurs within an automobile looking
“The integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects… in the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature” (Emerson). Rather than providing a technical, concrete definition of nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson brings a fresh take to how nature is defined. In fact, other authors and individuals have shaped their own definition of nature: what they believe it possesses in addition to what it encompasses. This theme has been widely discussed, with a peak in the nineteenth century. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are responsible for the fixation of nature in literature, and Christopher McCandless plus Cheryl Strayed are answerable for bringing that fixation into a more recent time period. Nature was and is a prevalent theme in literature and society; however, every individual views it differently. While Emerson, Thoreau, McCandless, and Strayed all took similar approaches in interacting with nature, they differ in their belief of what nature offers individuals.
When thinking about nature, Hans Christian Andersen wrote, “Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” John Muir and William Wordsworth both expressed through their writings that nature brought them great joy and satisfaction, as it did Andersen. Each author’s text conveyed very similar messages and represented similar experiences but, the writing style and wording used were significantly different. Wordsworth and Muir express their positive and emotional relationships with nature using diction and imagery.
... of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child” (Emerson, pg. 510).Such imagery allows the man to understand that nature is more than a collection of integrated objects. Moreover, to appreciate nature, a man has to free his mind from society’s distractions and to see nature through the eyes of a child. Children are inexperienced and will not reminisce past events while observing nature. Seeing this world through a child’s eyes gives the world more meaning and value.
This paper will critically discuss the ‘disappearance of childhood’ debate which centres on electronic media and consider why such a debate has come into existence. This essay will critically discuss both sides of the debate that is the disappearance proponents and those who are more optimistic about the effects of technology on the lives of children. In response to both arguments, I will propose that there is a new concept of childhood which has evolved throughout history; this concept is one of changing childhoods for a whole variety of reasons. It is noteworthy that these arguments are developed from American and European opinions and do not necessarily reflect the experience of children internationally.
“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see,” said Neil Postman in his novel: The Disappearance of Childhood. In recent generations, the ideal of childhood innocence has been disappearing due to several factors of modernization. But the innocence of youth needs to be protected so children will learn and grow in healthy ways, rather than rush into adulthood. It is a grown-ups’ responsibility to build a metaphorical wall between a child’s innocence and various types of media and consumerism. Although it is becoming increasingly difficult due to the powerful world of media, which constantly reinvents itself to outwit the latest parental imposition, the preservation of innocence is not impossible. The innocence of children is what turns them into successful adults, and how well adults do at this job may determine our planet’s future survival. The concept of childhood innocence is rapidly dying due to electronic media such as the television, the internet and corporations that use children as a commodity such as Disney, ultimately illustrating that adults must fight to preserve childhood innocence.
Children growing up in today’s modern technological society are not as active as the children were before the invention of all the new new devices we have todaygadgets . Children growing up under the Amish and/or Mennonite cultures and beliefs are also more active than the children growing up in the modern society are. The bedroom used to be primarily the place to sleep. Today the bedroom has replaced the outdoors as the children’s play area. The bedrooms of today’s modern children are equipped with televisions, game consoles, computers, and miscellaneous electronic toys that entertain them for hours. Children are missing the experiences and values that the outdoors has to offer. “The digital bedroom culture is growing all the time at the expense of the outdoors,” the University of Kent’s Frank Furedi said. “Doing physically challenging outdoor activities teaches children how to deal with risk - and they learn about their own strengths and weaknesses.”(Par. 6 Clarke)
As disclosed in the article, The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child, Chris Rowan acknowledges, “Rather than hugging, playing, rough housing, and conversing with children, parents are increasingly resorting to providing their children with more TV, video games, and the latest iPads and cell phone devices, creating a deep and irreversible chasm between parent and child” (par. 7). In the parent’s perspective, technology has become a substitute for a babysitter and is becoming more convenient little by little. It is necessary for a growing child to have multiple hours of play and exposure to the outside world each day. However, the number of kids who would rather spend their days inside watching tv, playing video games, or texting is drastically increasing. Children are not necessarily the ones to be blamed for their lack of interest in the world around them, but their parents for allowing their sons and daughters to indulge in their relationship with technology so powerfully. Kids today consider technology a necessity to life, because their parents opted for an easier way to keep their children entertained. Thus resulting in the younger generations believing that technology is a stipulation rather than a