Impact of technology on adolescents--the great debate

By UKP
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
March, 2011

Although I was unable to make it to today's class I heard that the debate got pretty intense and I am actually upset that I missed it. In terms of technology being a negative or positive influence I am not sure which side I would choose because I feel that there are aspects of it that can fit into each category. Technology has opened so many doors as a whole for our generation, it has made things such as research and communication much easier but it has also taken away from the social aspect of growing up. Children growing up nowadays are much more separated in terms of socialization than years ago because of the artificiality that technology brings to communication. Children don't need to have play dates anymore, they can talk on webcams, or on an instant messaging program.

Studies have shown that the heavy influence of technology on our culture has made our generation less socialized than previous ones because of this very fact that it has turned into all that we know and all that we do. It is unheard of for someone to not have a cellphone, and if you do have one you are judged if it is just a typical cellphone and not a smart phone, people are attached to these machines 24 hours a day 7 days a week, often becoming anxious if they are not in the presence of it. It has become a sick attachment but at the same time it is beneficial in many ways. Yes, it is convenient to have the web at your finger tips at any given point in time but it also is not exactly necessary yet some people believe that it is.

Our generation has become dependent on technology and I believe that it is an unhealthy dependence because many of the things we deem necessary to use technology for could easily be done in other ways. Books are rarely used anymore, they are being replaced by computers, which can lead to problems with eye sight in the future as well as poor literacy skills or library skills. Teachers have been finding papers with students using "u" instead of the whole word "you" and "wanna" instead of "want to" and other silly mistakes like that because kids are so used to talking to one another on line that they don't realize when they are doing it or even worse, they may not even realize that it is grammatically incorrect.

The use of technology as a device of social interaction also has its good/bad qualities: good because it is easy but it also can be harmful because you never know who is on the other side of that device. Technology can be a breeding ground for predators and you will never be able to know if you are talking to them, therefore it can be very unsafe if there is no protection on the computer or if you are not careful who you speak with. Computers hold a ton of personal information and some people are so obsessed with technology that they know how to do things such as hacking into another computer's hard drive which could lead to a bunch of terrible things such as identity theft, stalking, abduction, etc.

I believe that technology is good in moderation, that children should be able to go on the computer or have a cell phone in order to gain a feeling of independence from their parents but at the same time it should be limited. Before the age of 17 or 18 I believe a child lock should be put on the internet so that they can't come across anything that may be inappropriate for them to see and you can monitor who they are communicating with and when.