I went out with my
extended family to dinner recently and couldn’t help but notice that my cousins’
eyes were focused on the screens of and iPad or hand-held game device, things I
never had at that young age. According to the National Consumers League 56% of
kids aged 8-12 have a cellphone. I don’t know about you, but to me that’s a bit
crazy considering the majority of kids when I was growing up didn’t get a cell
phone until they could drive, and even then it wasn’t a touch screen,
game-loaded device, it was a brick for calling mom. The advances in technology
have created a new sense of culture to grow up in; a culture full of large
screens, video games, and constant connectivity.
Sherry Turkle, author, says that “connectivity offers new
possibilities for experimenting with identity and, particularly in adolescence,
the sense of a free space…” I can say that I personally love all the forms of
connection that I didn’t have when I was younger because it wasn’t around, and
that I don’t like to be anywhere without my phone, it’s the connection to
everything in my hand that I don’t want to leave behind. Would I say that I
missed out as a kid not having all of this technology back then? No, I think
the hand-written letters, chalk drawings and games with sticks and rocks were
the best way to give me the childhood I wanted, and I honestly feel bad for
kids now growing up already attached to technology. To me they are missing out
on the disconnected childhood I had. Would you agree that now kids are getting
phones too young? It this technological culture a negative or positive thing on
adolescents?
The negative effects that phones have are that they are susceptible to many evils of society. Since children are developing, they are quite impressionable. With this in mind you have to think about the child predators lurking online, phones have internet nowadays so this is relevant to note.
ReplyDeleteChildren are also vulnerable to cyberbullying which might lead them to become socially stressed and other low self esteem induced behaviors.
This negativity also has importance in terms of security and privacy. Cell phones are like computers susceptible to malware available from untrusted cites. The integrity of their safety is in question and their livelihood affected by the traps the internet has to offer.
It really makes me laugh today when I hear 8- and 10-year-olds complaining that they don't have a cell phone. I grew up in the 80s/90s when cell phones were definitely not something that the average person owned. The "cool" thing to have back then was either your own phone line or a pager. My parents allowed neither, and I think that I turned out OK despite this. Cell phones for elementary schoolers are not a necessity - they are a luxury, and a potentially dangerous one at that. There are currently some studies underway discussing radiation exposure and delayed social skills, among other things.
ReplyDeleteI have extremely similar opinions on this topic and must say I feel like children these days are missing out on a lot of what made childhood great. I also remember the days of the "brick phone" and even though I hated it then, I think I came out better in the end for it. It is ridiculous the amount of technology children already have access to. I sometimes wonder how they could possibly get more "connected". I sometimes wish their parents would take away the handheld games and throw the kids outside to play because that is where the imagination develops and where the magical memories of childhood happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I am always amazed when I go out to eat and see a family with young children and each one having a fancy smartphone. The parents and children are not even communicating because they are so focused on their screens. I really do not think such a young child needs a phone of this capacity. If their parents feel that they need a phone to contact them with, there are much simpler phones on the market. Like you said, some phones should be for "calling mom" only.
ReplyDeleteMy first impulse is that, yes, kids are definitely getting phones at too young an age now. However, I am struggling to really grasp why we can say that it is both detrimental to kids fully experiencing life when they are young and beneficial later on for us as adults to use them with fierce regularity. In all fairness of logic, we may need to come to grips with some negative features of extraordinary technology across the generations.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post and I agree with you wholeheartedly. The younger generation, to me, seems to be in a hurry to grow up. I can directly relate, I had to wait until my freshmen year of high school to get my first "brick" phone. And my younger sister got a cell phone in sixth grade. I'm just amazed at how quickly technology is taking over and it scares me a little for the future.
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