Positive And Negative Effects Of Technology

Today, kids are safer physically than they are mentally. In this generation, kids of all ages are extremely dependent on their electronic devices. Kids from different communities, social classes, and backgrounds all have access to online resources. In the article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation,” author Jean M. Twenge discusses the negative effects cell phones have on young kids and teenagers. She accurately claims how kids are negatively affected by cell phones through their poor social skills, dependency, and poor mental health.

The effects of technology usage have long been a topic of debate, with the negative consequences often being brought up. Authors such as Robert Samuels, Alison Gopnik, Nicholas Carr, Gary Small and Vorgan Gigi have all addressed this topic in their own articles. In Samuels’ “Breaking Down Borders: How Technology Transforms the Private and Public Realms,” he discusses the creation of private bubbles in public spaces due to technology, and the consequent alienation of others. “Diagnosing the Digital Revolution” by Gopnik argues that the habits that tech users have today have always existed, while Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” states that technology is actively changing the way humans think. “Meet Your iBrain” by Gigi and Small covers how technology affects brains and alters them. This paper will use the articles and an interview with a peer to analyze the perceived negative effects of using technology, particularly worse memory, shorter attention span, exacerbation of bad habits, and shifting emotions.

Over the years, technology has had a detrimental effect on society by altering critical thinking, reading techniques, and the human thought process. In the article, Is Google Making Us Stupid, author Nicholas Carr, explains the disadvantages the web has had on modern day citizen’s creativity and ability to read efficiently. In contrast, in the article, Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis? Composer Stuart Wolpert dwells on how technology has improved societies visual skills. While both novels use quotes, research,

Cell phones and the computers are similar to each other in many different ways. One of the most common similarities is the internet aspect. With everyone connected to the internet, the adverse effects can spread throughout like a virus. “A Nielsen study released in 2010 indicated that texting was the primary reason for purchasing mobile phones and that text communication had become a "’centerpiece of mobile teen behavior.’" The modern smartphone of the 2010s is a powerful computing device, and the rapid and ongoing development of new applications provides users with a growing number of ways to use mobile phones for recreation, productivity, and social communication” (Issitt 2016). In the following Issitt states, “however, as smartphones have become more common, concerns about the detrimental effects of smartphone use have also increased.” (Issitt 2016). Issitt expresses the large growth of people with smartphones has its positives and negatives. The positives being the ability to communicate, but the negative being the effects on relationships with one another. An example of the negative side of things is the lack of interaction with people. People are more likely to call or text instead of interacting with one another. The lack of interaction can ruin relationships, or make people feel unwanted. In the article “Eurasian Journal of Educational Research,” the writer states that the internet, “can transform into an addictive instrument in excessive usage situations.” (Gunduz 2017). The statement explains the issue of the unnecessary use of the internet as a growing addictive process that is taking over more and more

When children at a young age have cell phones it brings on many problems. Children will start to spend more time on their phone than they do with their family or friends. As it says in a news report by the Chicago Tribune, “A recent report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that helps families navigate issues related to media and technology, showed mobile screen time on the rise for children 8 and younger.”(George). The quote provides information about how children are starting to spend more time on their phone. With children spending more time on their phone they are starting to become unsocial and are losing or not even making personal relationships with people. Some may argue giving a child can help them to be more social. These people say this because they can communicate

Smartphones raise a serious concern, especially among parents. This is due to both the psychological damage and danger that smartphones place on their children whose brains are not yet fully developed. According to a study conducted on 404 undergraduate students, three-fourths felt that they are dependent on their phones.() The increasing use and popularity of smartphones are an issue that can cause relationship issues, safety concerns, and distractions all which can be detrimental to society.

More than 285 million Americans use some sort of cell phone (Parenting | ParentingSavvy). Walking around downtown in a big city, or even in a small town, seeing people walking and talking on a cellular device is not unusual. In fact it may seem very odd if at least one passer by is not on one. In today’s world having a cellphone becomes a want instead of need. People got along just fine without one a century ago, even fifty years ago. They do not become a major issue until the child starts using it while being face-to-face with someone who is trying to have a conversation with them and wants their full attention. While talking to an adult and messaging someone at the same time takes away their full attention to the task at hand. They can also make the child feel “invincible” in a way that could be harmful for not only them but also for others. They are used to share photos, comments and videos on about every social media to thousands of people. They risk putting themselves out there with just the push of the send button. Parents have resorted to taking cell phones away from their children as a form of punishment. Cell phones are very convenient for everyday lives but are an issue when it comes to socializing with

Over the past decade there has been an increase in the purchases of cell phones. As the company's improve the technology, people have started to desire them more. Technology is no longer just a way to communicate with others, but it is now a way of entertainment. People can now play games and watch movies on their phones . Cell phones help people with work . You can look at emails, there are calculators, and dictionaries. Technology has also helped people make relationships, whether that is a good thing or bad thing is still undetermined. The popularity of cell phones has increased so much that children now have them and parents use them as babysitters. In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman says,

A study conducted in 2004 found that around 45% of the children in the U.S possessed a cell phone and in 2010 those numbers rose to include 75% of the population (Hofferth and Moon 108). As of today, according to Fox 28 News, around 96% of children now don a cell phone, practically doubling the amount of child cell phone users in the year of 2004. With this increased amount of cell phones among children, one must wonder what kind of effects these devices can impose on these children. From the time the cell phone was first introduced to society, it has served as a communicational device. However as time has progressed the cell phone has become more than a mere device of communication, it has become a tool in which to escape reality and to enter a world of social media. As this device grew in its new capabilities—such as the Internet, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook—the owner of the device only grew in his/her attachment. Now this attachment, this dependence on technology, is being passed down amongst the next generation. In fact in today’s day and age it would not be uncommon to see a child under the age of five holding a cellular device. This image, which at one time was considered to be a faux pas, has now become an image of normalcy. Without knowing it, parents are likely altering a child’s wellbeing when they grant them with a gift-wrapped cell phone and an unlimited data plan. By

These smartphones and devices we give to kids can create mental health issues. Julie Evens, a child psychotherapist for 25 years, isn’t anti-technology yet she is against the negative side effects it has on our young saying “It is battering our children's brains.” Which makes kids miss out on “kindness, acceptance, conversation, face-to-face, nature, nurture” (qtd. In Stanford). Moreover, Farnum, a 49-year-old father, came to the realization that the smartphones he gave his kids were changing them stating “There were some real problems,” and then told The Washington post “If you tell them to watch the screen time, all of a sudden the fangs come out.” (qtd. In Mettler). Once you give a kid one of these devices they can change into a completely different person and worse of all, these changes are happening when they are still developing. Some developmental traits can prove useful, although there are many scary traits that overcome the them that may prove more serious than just handing over something for their entertainment. Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University professor of psychology and author, shows the statistic of teen electronic device use saying “Teens who spend three hours a day or more on electronic devices are 35 percent more likely to have a risk

When was the last time one stopped to think how much time he/she spends on the media, or the last time that one had a face to face conversation? According to the Pew Research Center, the use of smartphones in particular has increased an astounding 33% from 2011 to 2015 (Anderson). The media is affecting the general population, but most of all the development of children in more ways than adults, of which some may cause lifelong problems for the children. The use of the media and other electronics has drastically increased over the past 4 years, but it is said to increase even more in the coming years. This is leading harmful effects, specifically on children and adolescents, causing bad behaviors and attitudes, decreased intelligence, and worst of all health problems/concerns.

More importantly, the social effects smartphones have on children are drastic. Typically time spent using a smartphone is time in isolation from others. Kids are spending less time playing outside or engaging in sports directly with other kids and replacing those memorable experiences by staring blankly into a phone. Kids are spending less time hanging out with their friends at all which correlates with the rise of smartphones, as BBC News demonstrates (Lace-Evans). Smartphones are steadily reducing social interactions. They have eased communication between distant relationships, yet they are distancing relationships from the people who are near to them. Quality personal interactions are limiting day to day, although at the same time numerous online connections are able to be made. Children

Children with zero social skills, unable to communicate face to face with one another is credibly upon the nation due to the rate of the cell phone dependability children have. Cell Phones have plagued society’s youth of their innocence and how they are meant to live their childhood. Cell phones have degenerated the youth's mind and have created a society of robots. Childhood is time of growth and happiness, and cell phones not only have robbed kids of their childhood, but has created a fake identity for them. In the early stages of life is when kids learn and discover who they truly are, but when a cell phone is put in front of them they get a negligent learning experiences that affects their view in life. And now almost every adolescent has been given access to mobile device from an age which should be free of the technological world. “Nearly 80 percent of teenagers said they check their phones hourly, and 72 percent said they felt the need to respond to texts and social media messages immediately. In the same study, 50 percent of teens said they feel addicted to their mobile devices”(Gonzalez 4). The abundance of negative effects that the cellphone brings, outweighs all the positive assets a cell phone does provide. Despite the many conveniences cell phones afford the user, the increase in cell phone usage has created a society unable to communicate sincerely and exhibit compassion.

When little ones possess cell phones, it can produce abounding problems. Time spent on their phone surpasses family or friends quality relations. Chicago Tribune reports, “A recent report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that helps families navigate issues related to media and technology, showed mobile screen time on the rise for children 8 and younger.”(George). Common Sense Media provides information about how young people are starting to spend more time on their phones, then off of their phones, when they are supposed to be building meaningful relationships with friends and family. Upon youth spending more

First, we need to view the nation’s children as a whole to lay the foundation to the problem that arises. About 75% of children from ages eight to ten have their own smartphone as of 2016 and the percentage has exponentially increased since (Kids Wireless). The effects of smartphones on these children have become prevalent to the everyday person. While walking around the mall or going to a restaurant with your family, it has become impossible to ignore the fact that kids have their faces stuck in front of the screen. In class, teachers are constantly berating