Week 10 Reading: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

Skyly
Nov 6, 2018
2 min read

Nowadays, the social life of teenagers is almost always based on mobile, smartphones. They can stay in close contact with their friends and classmates without leaving home. Maybe under one roof, children spend a lot of time using a mobile phone and without talking to their parents. The teenagers are always chatting with some classmates and good friends all day. Several social apps are open at the same time, and they are busy typing and chatting. Now teenagers have replaced previous face-to-face social activities with virtual spaces accessed by apps and the web.

When teenagers meet together, they take pictures, record their party and show on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook. It will also spend a lot of time on social software. Those who were not invited to attend can quickly see the photos of the party. Some teenagers will be keenly aware that they are not with them. As a result, some teenagers will feel lonely. Teenagers who post the pictures, pieces of information will also be anxiously awaiting comments. People's thoughts and ideas can make young people nervous. Negative comments sometimes confuse teens.

Before going to sleep, the phone is often in hand and can't stop using. Smartphones are cutting teens' sleep, including many adults: many people sleep less than 7 hours on most nights. Sleep experts say teenagers should sleep nine hours a night. Sleep deprivation is associated with numerous problems, including impaired thinking and reasoning, predisposition to disease, weight gain, and high blood pressure. Insufficient sleep also affects mood to depression and anxiety.

When people are trying to talk face to face with someone, but they don't look at each other, they only look at the phone. They won't even listen to your talking. If you talk to your friends about something very important, but they still care about the phone, what does it feel like? Not teenagers but also some adults.

In the process of growing up, using mobile phones has made teenagers lack the experience of face-to-face communication between people. The smartphone can avoid eye contact and avoid expression thoughts and respond quickly. If young people lack team activities, they will lack the comprehension of people's psychology and lack of omnidirectional perspectives. Their views on one angle and one thing. Their thoughts and visions will be narrow.

But nowadays, daily life can't leave the mobile phone. It needs to study having balanced working and life. In particular, it is necessary to increase the experiences of the sympathy and responsibility of young people among the real world.

The article named "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" is a refraction view not only for teenagers but also for adults.

But we also need to rethink some benefits from our smartphone in daily life. Technology also can help to build more opportunity for professional improvement, when you know your academic and professional goals.

Please watch below video that the author in TED talks. Jean M. Twenge is a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and the author of Generation Me and iGen.