The Zombie Apocalypse: Technology and the Children on America

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The zombie apocalypse has arrived. Except no one is hiding in their basements, because the zombies are the children of America. And they don’t crave human flesh, they crave ‘likes’ on Instagram. For thousands of years, parents have been telling their kids “I know how you feel, I was a kid once too.” Except now, parents check twitter to see how their kids are feeling, and they talk to a zombie, mesmerized by a blue screen. As participants of the ‘Age of Technology’, using technology on a daily basis is almost unavoidable, but we are all far too busy uploading a picture of their Starbucks to notice the harmful effects that technology and social networking on the youth of America. Many would argue that technology is revolutionizing the learning experience in today’s classrooms, saying it makes teacher to student communication easier and more efficient. But does ‘easier’ always mean ‘better’? Not according to research done by countless psychologists and experts. Children using technology to socialize lack the experience of face to face communication, subject themselves to the psychological and physical dangers of the internet, and create learning dysfunctions for themselves.
Today we utilize social networking and text messaging to channel our emotions and opinions without fear of face to face reactions. But every decision has its’ opportunity cost, and the cost, in this case, is the deterioration of our kids’ social skills. Popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr in addition to text messaging are breaking down the necessary connections that children need in order to mature and learn to communicate their ideas, opinions and emotions properly. Now, when a child goes through the strug...

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