Jean Twenge's Article: Have Smartphones Destroying A Generation?

With improvements in technology, it is no surprise that people everywhere are connected with each other all over the world. The newest technologies of today are only continuing to improve, as they are becoming more widespread every day. Smartphones, which are a broad part of this technological craze, are sweeping the nation into the hands of teenagers today, many preferring to use them instead of socializing with people face to face. These improvements, however, come with consequences. Smartphones are destroying a generation by causing the teenagers today to be more stressed, anxious, and depressed.

Today’s generation of teenagers, for the most part, have grown up with their phone in their hands. As Athena said in “Have Smartphones Destroyed

Teenagers can become depressed if they constantly feel like they are left out from everybody. In Jean Twenge’s article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” it says, “Boys tend to bully one another physically, while girls are more likely to do so by undermining a victim’s social status or relationships. Social media give 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.” Teenage girls do not fight each other in person anymore, they destroy each other socially on the internet. Since almost every teenager has social media, what teenagers say about each other on their accounts is spread to everybody they know rapidly, adding to the stress of teenagers’ lives. Teenagers must hold up an image of who they are across social media and their real lives, which can be extremely stressful to them. Jean also points out another part of social media that can upset teenagers, the fact that everything they do is documented on social media. As Jean said in her article, “Today’s teens may go fewer parties and spend less time together in person, but when they do congregate, they document their hangouts relentlessly-on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook. Those not invited to come along are keenly aware of it.” This causes teenagers to

In Jean Twenge’s article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” he says, “More comfortable in their bedrooms than in a car or at a party, today’s teens are physically safer than teens have ever been. They’re markedly less likely to get into a car accident and, having less of a taste for alcohol than their predecessors, are less susceptible to drinking’s attendant ills.” While this does cause them to be safer, many of them don’t develop satisfactory communication skills considering most of them do not talking to others in person. They also do not learn how to use their body language to properly convey emotion. More evidence for phones not being too harmful comes from Lisa Guernsey’s article, “Don’t Take Away Your Teen’s Phone,” she says, “’I know how easy it is to find negativity and hurt on the internet,’ my daughter told me. But, she added, ‘it is also through the internet, on sites like Tumblr, where teens often find comfort and can engage in discussions of how they are feeling.” While this might paint social media usage in a warm light, people should think of all the pain that comes from usage of social media as well. A point from Jean’s article illustrated this point, “You might expect that teens spend so much time in these new spaces because it makes them happy, but most data suggest it does not.” This points out the fact that even though teenagers spend a lot of time on their phones, it is not