Going back to my parents, I think I can relate more to their childhoods because up until maybe middle school we used to entertain ourselves. We were self-sufficient in that regard. Prior to that, we didn't have cell phones. If given the choice between going onto the internet and having a "play date" we'd take the play date. I have a little seven year old cousin. My uncle is contemplating getting her a blackberry. I didn't get a cell phone until I was twelve and guess what it was a hand-me-down Nokia in black and white with no keyboard nor camera. I was only allowed to use it for emergencies. The thing is kids these days are growing up in a much different world compared to the one people my age grew up in. That was not all that long ago and if you look at the future, you have to wonder if there any damaging effects from this on kids. I mean kids are socializing in different ways through texting and Facebook at much younger ages, but is verbal communication and physical interaction being overlooked? I think it is called our formative years for a reason.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Multimedia Devices: Helping or Hurting the Youth of America?
While I was growing up, my parents used to lecture me about how privileged and blessed I was. This was due mostly to all the things that my generation developed around. In my parents’ time, there was no such thing as a mobile phone, a computer, or an iPad. If my parents seeked any form of entertainment, they went outside and played. If they wanted to communicate with someone they would actually talk with them. Unfortunately, nowadays if you were to tell a kid that, it would be the equivalent of speaking a foreign language to them. With the use of multimedia devices, it has become so easy for people to forget some of the most basic things we do as human beings. That is to socialize. Now could be that we are moving forward in how we socialize? I doubt that is the case. Could it be that we live such busy lives that sometimes we choose the convenient way of sending a text or posting something on someone's Facebook? This could be true. Technology is always finding more ways to make our lives easier, yet is it really helping or hurting our social interactions with others? My question is, does this having lasting implications on the youth of America that is getting more involved with these processes?
Going back to my parents, I think I can relate more to their childhoods because up until maybe middle school we used to entertain ourselves. We were self-sufficient in that regard. Prior to that, we didn't have cell phones. If given the choice between going onto the internet and having a "play date" we'd take the play date. I have a little seven year old cousin. My uncle is contemplating getting her a blackberry. I didn't get a cell phone until I was twelve and guess what it was a hand-me-down Nokia in black and white with no keyboard nor camera. I was only allowed to use it for emergencies. The thing is kids these days are growing up in a much different world compared to the one people my age grew up in. That was not all that long ago and if you look at the future, you have to wonder if there any damaging effects from this on kids. I mean kids are socializing in different ways through texting and Facebook at much younger ages, but is verbal communication and physical interaction being overlooked? I think it is called our formative years for a reason.
Going back to my parents, I think I can relate more to their childhoods because up until maybe middle school we used to entertain ourselves. We were self-sufficient in that regard. Prior to that, we didn't have cell phones. If given the choice between going onto the internet and having a "play date" we'd take the play date. I have a little seven year old cousin. My uncle is contemplating getting her a blackberry. I didn't get a cell phone until I was twelve and guess what it was a hand-me-down Nokia in black and white with no keyboard nor camera. I was only allowed to use it for emergencies. The thing is kids these days are growing up in a much different world compared to the one people my age grew up in. That was not all that long ago and if you look at the future, you have to wonder if there any damaging effects from this on kids. I mean kids are socializing in different ways through texting and Facebook at much younger ages, but is verbal communication and physical interaction being overlooked? I think it is called our formative years for a reason.
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I think that the lack of real communication that we have in our society is a big problem. I think we are all becoming way too disconnected. I find that having a seven year old have a blackberry to be preposterous. Children need to learn how to talk to each other before they start texting.
ReplyDeleteI actually also believe that the advancement in technology has vastly affected our society in various ways. Kids in today's generation have become socially awkward and find it incredibly difficult to talk to another individual in person. Phones and facebook have taken over the lives of children and they do not even know what it means to have a face to face conversation with another person anymore. This types of detrimental effects of technology are a noteworthy problem that many should look into.
ReplyDeleteMy mother and father always say the same thing. I think technological advancements are just something we need to get used to. I actaully wrote a paper on how impersonal relationships are the result of advanced technology. That is the only problem I pressume but overall, technology is only going to get more complicated and even more advanced than today. It's not necessarily a bad concept, it is just one in which people should adapt to.
ReplyDeleteIn Poland, technology is so expensive that most people don't have unlimited cell phone plans. You get charged high rates for each text message you send or each minute you talk on the phone for. Therefore, people socialize a lot more, kind of like your parents used to here. Its very nice to have human interaction like that, at least I enjoyed it every summer I visited. But I think its inevitable, especially in America, to not get that kind of interaction back. We are moving foward and I think its up to us to make the concious effort to decrease our reliance on technology.
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