Doctor Jean Twenge is an American psychologist who published an article for The Atlantic titled “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation?” in September 2017. The purpose of Twenge’s article is to emphasize the growing burden of smartphones in our current society. She argues that teenagers are completely relying on smartphones in order to have a social life which in return is crippling their generation. Twenge effectively uses rhetorical devices in order to draw attention to the impact of smartphones on a specific generation. Twenge’s article brings several issues to our attention. Doctor Twenge refers to the impacted generation as “iGen” because “members of this generation are growing up with smartphones and do not remember a time before Twenge often refers to an interview that she held with a thirteen-year-old girl named Athena. Athena’s interview provides an iGen teenager’s perspective on cell phone usage. Twenge’s research shows that iGen is known to be the least social generation; her statistics present that people have stopped hanging out with their friends and even going out on dates.Twenge suggests that the rates for dating have dropped immensely because people would rather stay at home on their phones rather than go out and meet new people. She notes that it statistically takes a long time for people in the iGen generation to leave their parent’s household. Doctor Twenge argues that the maturity of our generation has lowered for “18-year-olds now act more like 15-year-olds used to, and 15-year-olds more like 13-year-olds”(page 63). She also implies that people who spend immense time on social media are more likely to have mental illnesses. Twenge’s research emphasises that “Teens who visit social-networking sites every day but see their friends in person less frequently are the most likely to agree with the statements ‘A lot of times I feel lonely,’ ‘I often feel left out of She has a Ph.D. in psychology which helps her establish Ethos. Twenge then collects data and performs interviews in order to form logos. She then appeals to human emotions by explaining how smartphones can drive families apart and cause mental illness in teenagers. Although Twenge conveyed her purpose the wording of the title may cause offense to readers who are members of iGen. Smartphones did not destroy a generation, it only weakened some of the generations mental health. Twenge’s article can possibly persuade readers to start using their phones
Technology has always been at the forefront of the world’s mind, for as long as anyone can remember. The idea of “advancing” has been a consistent goal among developers. However, recently the invention of smartphones broke out into the world of technology, causing millions of people to become encapsulated in a world of knowledge at their fingertips. Jean Twenge elaborates on the impacts of the smartphone on the younger generation in her article “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation?” Twenge’s article is just a sliver of the analysis that she presents in her book “IGen.” Twenge, a professor of psychology at San
As Twenge continues her argument she compares it back to her own experiences which ties up this argument in the successfulness of it. She uses these comparisons to help emphasize important parts of her argument. Beginning with “they think we like our phones more than we like actual people.” This state of unhappiness around teens forms her bigger argument that this is a main reason smartphones have destroyed a generation, “It was exactly the moment where the proportion of Americans who owned a smartphone surpassed 50%”. The owning of smartphones “placed in the young people’s hands are having profound effect on their lives -- and making them seriously unhappy.” Their social interactions decrease and their screen time increases as the years go
Moreover, adolescents must be careful to not lose the interconnection with people who are physically around them. While communicating via social media and smartphones might be fun and more convenient, it is also harmful to social skills. Flora Carlin demonstrates that adolescents alike are losing their abilities to understand and pay attention to one another because of the disjointed and solitary nature of electronic communications. And these are the abilities are essential for social skills to have interconnection with people in reality. Carlin tells “Smartphone-wielding teens have been portrayed as reclusive, lacking in empathy, and even incapable of having ‘real’ relationships with friends or romantic partners. The fear is that smart phone use discourages—or replaces—healthy behaviors, including face-to-face interactions”. Long tethering of smartphones makes adolescents mentally ill and socially isolated. Perhaps they don’t realize that they are described as reclusive and lacking in empathy. The term “Smartphone-wielding teens” is really impressing because it completely explores the issue that adolescents use smartphones
Teenagers are now more obsessed with their phones than ever before. According to Eugenia Ives, writer and researcher, 80% of our youth today have phones (Ives 19). Eugenia Ives, and many other researchers, refers to this generation that which own so much technology and have always grown up with technology as the iGeneration. Research shows that within this iGeneration the average age for a child to receive a phone is twelve. These numbers sound crazy to those whom did not grow up with this mass amount of technology; it wasn’t too long ago that only the privileged had a phone, but now, almost everyone one see has a phone. With this increase in number of phones, teenagers use digital technology on average seven and half hours out of their day (Ives 10). Increased digital consumption has created increased use of social media. Today there are over seven and a half million Facebook users under the age of thirteen, five million of which are under the age of eleven (Ives 20). In Ives ‘ study her research shows that one
Maps, phone books, payphones, CDs, and disposable cameras. Many current children and teens would have a puzzled look on their faces if they were asked to use any of the aforementioned objects. These technologies that were once trendy are now nearly obsolete. On the other hand, if a child is given a smartphone, (s)he could most likely get directions to a location, find a phone number, play music, and so on. The smartphone has not only taken the place of numerous inventions, but it has also taken over the lives of millions of people. Jean M. Twenge, in her article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, discusses the impact that the smartphone has had not only on adults, but most importantly on today’s generation of children and adolescents,
In an article “Our minds can be hijacked” by Paul Lewis, the growing controversy over our addiction to checking our phones, why our people are addicted, and the rising symptoms of this problem were examined and discussed. A collection of the sources were in agreement that smartphones have become attention thieves and have robbed us of our own minds. The worldly titan of technology has become a supreme constant in the United States, connecting people through apps such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and other social media sites. However has it become more than just a tool or a toy and began to dominate society?
In a technologically increasing world, individuals find themselves surrounded by devices that are created for the purpose of making daily life easier. One of the most commonly owned devices is the cell phone. The cell phone has the ability to provide almost all the services of various other devices through applications. Ironically, cell phones were created for the purpose of supporting communication at a distance, and cell phones have become a cause of distance in human relationships. Cell phones are enabling disconnection in communication, dependency on technology, and a weakened sense of humanity.
Technology is merely the only thing used to represent young people, the people of the App Generation. Backtracking to the eighteenth century, Americans were led by tradition; the natives influenced their beliefs and behaviors. However, previous or present natives no longer influence the action of Americans, but rather, apps take on the role of domination. The App Generation is completely submersed within the technological sphere. In the article “The App Generation: How Technology is Changing Us,” Howard Gardner and Katie Davis state, “This generation expects that every aspect of life will be quick, efficient, streamlined, available immediately on demand, tell you what to do, how to do it, how others feel about it, and, at least implicitly, how you should feel about it, how you should feel about yourselves.” During this generation or beyond, t a pencil and paper will no longer being familiar. The App generation is already becoming an “app-suffused world;” a generation where “all aspects of human agency, individuality, creativity have been reduced to an algorithmic formula” (Gardner,
Many people become contained by cellular devices and all that they offer that they can lose track of the fast paced world going on around them. Many can suffer from a the lack of face to face communication skills which in some instances can be a curse. Making it difficult to obtain a job or a healthy social life. Many may face difficulties in putting away their devices and finding themselves engaged in other activities due to the amount of apps and games now available on today´s smartphones. Social media’s have left a huge impact on society today grasping people to communicate online instead of face to face interactions. This can also lead to many insecurities as cyber bullying has posed a big threat to our youth. The telephone in the twenty first century has become more of a need than a necessity many cannot live without. Although it adds an ease to everyday life the phone can also cause harm as many become addicted to the technology and find it hard to escape back to the real world.
Mobile devices have unfavorably impacted family life. Family life use to be defined by the dining room table, a place where children did their homework and crafts and families ate together and discussed their day. Now, the dining room table has been replaced by the TV and cell phones. Though a family may watch a show as a group, there is a feeling of togetherness and security that is missing in the lives of many teens. Quality time once filled this gap, but it is in short supply in a society where parents must juggle commitments to work, home, and their community. The prospect of quality time is made more difficult by the accessibility of mobile devices. Quality time for families has become a thing of the past, weakening the bonds between them, with the introduction of mobile devices.
In the article “Technology: Is it making kids anti-social?” published by Universe Design in August 22, 2014. Author Morgan Hampton illustrates that electronic device is drawing our generation away from reality. Social media that provided by electronic device is playing an important role in communication among our generation. In this paper, I will critique Hampton’ s ideas in different aspects.
Technology and its many forms are used all over the world, almost every minute of the day, to perform tasks in a normal everyday routine. We pay bills online, buy clothing and other items, receive daily news, and keep in constant communication with all of our loved ones and friends. “ One in four teens are cell-mostly internet users, who say they mostly go online using their phone and not using some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer “. According to a nationally representative survey performed on eight hundred and two teens between the ages of twelve and seventeen, seventy-eight percent of teens have a cell phone and of that seventy-eight percent, almost half have smartphones. “ More than five-hundred million people communicate and keep in
In the year 2013 alone, roughly one hundred and fifty million Apple iPhones were sold to customers around the world. On the other hand, in the 19th century, Apple iPhones had not once so much as crossed the minds of even the most brilliant innovators. During that time, the creation of farming machines, railroads and factory goods were being introduced, all of which were used in order to better the living and working conditions at the time. The use of cell phones in todays society is a terrifying example of the turn in technology from adjuvant to adverse. In today’s day and age, it is prevailing for a human being to depend on technology in order to perform daily activities, socially interact and it’s even created an almost frightening easiness to gain access into other people’s lives. When technology kicked off during the Industrial Revolution, it was meant to build a more simple life; however, the evolution of today’s technology has instead created a complicated lifestyle, which has depreciated it’s original purpose.
The cell phone was first introduced by the means of improving and simplifying communication. With this device, people could make a quick phone call or send text messages. After access to communication, a new type of cell phone was released called a “smart phone,” which gave a wide variety of entertainment including access to the internet, games, and different sorts of applications. A smart phone is what seems to be the most popular device that a person can own in modern day. Not only does almost every American own one, but they are more than likely addicted to it as well. In an article by Lauren D. Laporta, she states “Surveys indicate that more than 203 million Americans own a cell phone and as many as 30% say they cannot live without it (Laporta).” With access to the internet, teenagers usually spend their time on different kinds of social media. There are apps on these smart phones that allow a person to get on media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Not only are people addicted to texting, but these social ...
The history of technology has evolved so radically over the past decades that our culture has also changed dramatically and become a representation of our identity. Evidently, tools such as cell phones, laptops, iPads, and other mobile devices have effectively integrated itself into our lives and defined us as a civilization with modern technologies. Although the impact of technology has changed our working system and increased our productivity, we become ignorant of how harmful it can also do to our mind and society. Our ability to think critically, analyze, and problem solving has become greatly obstructed as technologies do the work for us. We are unaware that there are more negative consequences of technologies that can harm our health, education, social media, the environment, and potentially creating destructive