Chris Lindsay

UWRT 1102
Professor Adam Padgett
Technology and Our Youth
Can you go a day without technology? If you are a teenager in todays society, the
answer is most likely no. Technology is something that the youth are subjected to and
surrounded by on a daily basis. Technologies like smartphones, social media, and the
Internet have taken over the world as we know it. Social technology has entered the
homes of millions of Americans and billions of users worldwide. Prestigious institutions,
from the large corporations such as Walmart to the number of Colleges and Universities,
have integrated social media into their operations by doing things like using hash tags and
Twitter handles to keep up with the times and also maintain their following. Thirty years
ago, the level of connectivity that we have today was completely unheard of. Society is
rapidly getting to the point the average person will not be able to learn, work, or entertain
without the aid of technology. The progression of technology has a direct correlation to
the progression that we experience as a society. Many deem its effects to be positive,
however, some believe that it can be detrimental in personal areas. The invention of the
smartphone has allowed us to literally be connected to one another all day. Research has
been done that suggests that things like social media and other sources of technology
have contributed to things like lack of social skills, isolation, and lack of sexual
boundaries, and lack of empathy. (Hosale) On the other end of the spectrum, technology
can and has been used to benefit the world in various ways. What effect does technology

have on the social development of our youth? I believe that the effects are ultimately
harmful.
What effect does technology have on social skills? It has been documented that
there is a direct correlation between how we interact with each other and the use of
technology. "They don't know how to handle conflict face to face because so many things
happen through some sort of technology," says Dr. Melissa Ortega, child psychologist.
(Bindley) Handling conflict is something that is very important in life because there are
lots of obstacles and conflicts that are inevitable. The idea that the youths general ability
to handle conflicts face to face is hindered is detrimental. Conversation is an activity that
takes practice to perfect. People that do not engage in conversation regularly, but
constantly spend their time texting or on social networks will not develop properly in that
department. Communication is important in so many different aspects of a youths
development.
Prior to our generation, people had to work harder to develop personal
relationships. Dating was done by meeting up in person and acquiring a home phone
number. I believe that there was more of an element of innocence in the process of those
personal interactions. In the times that we are in now, there is a lack of the intimate factor
when it comes to the beginning of relationships. Findings, published in the
journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, put the percentage of married
couples that now meet online at almost 35%. (Jayson) The children are growing up
thinking that the correct way to begin a relationship begins in front of a computer screen
rather than in person. Although there is nothing wrong with having a relationship start

online, I believe that people who meet in person first have the opportunity see how the
other person interacts face-to-face.
A lot of people can relate to the idea of getting lost in technology. When an
individual is engaging in an activity online or on my cellphone for an extended period of
time, they are likely to completely lost track of time. This is a concept known as isolation.
Isolation is phenomena that most people may not even notice as it is occurring. Social
isolation is characterized by a lack of contact with other people in normal daily living,
such as, the workplace, with friends and during social activities. (RooGirl.com) People
isolate themselves by walking around in their own world so to say, while listening to
iPods or staring at the screen of their mobile device even when other people are present.
Social isolation can be very detrimental both mentally and even physiologically. Health
risks associated with social isolation have been compared in magnitude to the wellknown dangers of smoking cigarettes and obesity (House 2001). Are the risks associated
with social isolation worth the negative effects that accompany it?
There have been a lot of problems that have stemmed from the invention of and
use of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.
The University of Salford in the UK did a study last year on social medias effects on
self-esteem and anxiety, and reported that 50% of their 298 participants said that their
use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter makes their lives worse.
(thesocial.com) The youth are beginning to use their status on these various networks as a
way to measure the actual worth of their lives. There are people that capitalize on this fact
and choose to then engage in cyber bullying. Cyber-bullying is the use of information
technology to repeatedly harm or harass other people in a deliberate manner. (Lewis)

Cyber-bullying is extremely detrimental to the self-esteem of the victim. The victims

often feel helpless because we grow up in society where telling an adult or snitching is
deemed unacceptable and can sometimes make the situation worse. This is yet another
problem that technology presents, it allows for people with bad intentions a distribution
system for their hatred and bad deeds. The Internet allows for the user to speak to
whomever the please in whatever manner they decide. This is a problem because the rates
of cyber bullying have grown exponentially over the past ten years or so. According to a
poll done by nobullying.com, Twenty five percent of teenagers have been harassed and or
bullied online or via cellphone. (nobullying.com) As of July 2014, Cyber-Bullying has
been deemed as the second leading cause of suicide among teenagers, following general
stress. (listcrux.com)
As the youth begin to develop, they are thrust in to the adult world by the hands of
the media. TV shows, movies, and news stories slowly numb the youth as a culture. Lack
of empathy can stem from the constant exposure. Something that is not uncommon is the
phenomena of the youth being more likely to engage in an activity that they see their
peers engaging in. The ideas that are being expressed by their peers on the various types
of social media can allow for certain behaviors to develop due to the fact that everyone
else was doing it. Sexual interactions between teenagers are something that can virtually
not be avoided. With that being said, I believe that the Internet and other forms of
technology perpetuate the idea of negative interactions. For example, on Twitter there are
things called Graphics Interchange Format (GIFs) that are becoming more popular with
the recent updates. Now, it is not a rare occurrence for you to check your timeline and be
exposed to a series of sexual GIFs that have been retweeted by your peers or locals.

These sexual images are essentially small pornographic clips that give all of the followers
a sneak peek of whats going on in the head of that particular user. Facebook and Twitter,
along with a majority of the popular networking sites do not censor their members. This
lack of censorship leads to normalization of things that, arguably, should not be
normalized. Exposure to this suggestive content is more likely to happen much earlier on
in this day and age. Before the Internet, the only chance a child had of being exposed to
pornography was in the form of print, which was not easily obtainable by the underage.
Social technology is a concept that hasnt been around for very long, but the
impact that it has had is very noticeable by the average person. There are a lot of
different things that technology exposes the youth to. The youth are known to take losses
socially as a result. Social media has changed the way that we look at almost everything.
Technology has given the youth the opportunity to have a voice and an audience that was
unimaginable before our time. Even though there is an immense list of benefits that the
technological advances have to offer, the detriments outweigh them in my opinion.
Unfortunately, I believe that the use of these technologies is something that will only
increase as we go further along. h

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