It’s fantastic being able to instantly connect to the internet from anywhere. You don’t even need an old-timey computer anymore; most mobile devices can surf the web. At a glance, this seems great! Instant internet available on small devices anywhere you go. Turns out, that instant accessibility isn’t so great, it’s transforming our minds and society for the worse.
One day, I stumbled across a troubling picture on the internet. At a surface level, the picture is relatively harmless. It shows a happy family of five enjoying some drinks at Starbucks while using various computer products. However, at a deeper level, this picture is indeed troubling.
Another troubling observation I made about the picture is that it shows two kids, all (probably) under the age of 12, and a baby are all using their own, personal mobile computers that are capable of accessing the internet. Yes, iPhones and iTouches are computers that also have portable music and/or a phone attachment. Two of the kids show that they clearly know how to use their computers; the jury is still out on the baby. They have their own, personal computers available wherever they go and are fully capable of using them. They have been raised to embrace computers.
These kids probably grew up surrounded by computers since the day they were born. In 1989, 15% of households had a computer, 22.8% had computers in 1993, and 51% had at least one computer in 2000 (Carroll). The oldest kid appears to be around twelve years old, which means he is more than likely to have had a computer in his home for his entire life. Combined with their parents’ love of Apple products, it is extremely likely the kids were (and still are) smothered with computer produ...
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Gabriel, Trip. "CHEAT SHEET; For Students in Internet Age, No Shame in Copy and Paste." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. .
Harris, John. "How the Internet Is Altering Your Mind." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 19 Aug. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. .
Raymond, Matt. "Library of Congress Blog - Library of Congress Blog." How Tweet It Is!: Library Acquires Entire Twitter Archive. Government, 14 Apr. 2010. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.
While his best arguments come from cultural criticism. Written text led to the decline of oral reading and television obliterated the radio. Every technology comes with it’s trade-offs, it just comes down to moderation. There is little doubt that the internet is changing our brain. What Carr neglects to mention, however, is how the internet can change our brain for the better. Computer games have the ability to improve cognitive tasks and increase visual attention. He doesn’t always address the good effects that the internet has had on the world. One of the better strategies Carr uses is switching his point of view from third to first person. He reflects on his personal life and how his life has changed in response to what he has learned. Carr shows how even he has his faults but, being aware of a problem is the first step to finding
Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.
... E. (2011). The net delusion. The dark side of internet freedom. New York, NY, USA: PublicAffairs.
Turkle argues that technology has fundamentally changed how people view themselves and their lives (271). She reports that, “BlackBerry users describe that sense of encroachment of the device on their time. One says, ‘I don’t have enough time alone with my mind’; another, ‘I artificially make time to think…’” (274). Her point is that people have to make a deliberate choice to disconnect, to exist in their own mind rather than the virtual world (Turkle 274). Another point Turkle brings up is that in this technologic age children are not learning to be self- reliant. Without having the experience of being truly alone and making their own decisions, children are not developing the skills they once did (Turkle 274). As Turkle reports, “There used to be a moment in the life of an urban child, usually between 12 and 14, when there was a first time to navigate the city alone. It was a rite of passage that communicated, ‘you are on your own and responsible.
O’Dell, J. (2013). How Much Data Google & Facebook Have Stored About You. Venture Beat. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from: http://events.venturebeat.com
Technology continues to grow and become part of everyday Life. However, more often times than not it becomes an obsession; many are consumed by the latest technological advances. People become inclined to develop addictive tendencies by never turning off or placing their devices on silent. Many agree the modern devices have helped to improve daily life at home and work. As part of today’s culture revolves around technological advancements such as phones, iPad’s; these devices are what is handed to children not as a learning tool but to distract them. Technology is a part of today’s generation; and children will continue to grow with technology, thus having a detrimental effect on their cognitive function, sociocultural and their well-being.
In a world full of technological advances being made every day, it comes without surprise that the children of today’s modern world are being accustomed to the use of technology. These rapid advances in technology come with their advantages and disadvantages as many children become absorbed into extended periods of usage without parental intervention. Technology is a modern privilege that allows the world to communicate and interact on scales never seen before. The use of portable devices, such as cellphones, tablets, and laptops, has caused a change in the way children develop and grow by altering emotional, physical, and psychological development into adulthood. Due to the increased use of electronic devices, parental monitoring should always be used to limit the negative effects that portable devices can inflict.
Carr discusses the effects that the Internet has on our minds and the way we think, as well as the way media has changed. Our minds no longer focus. When in conversation with people we are constantly distracted by the technological advances our era has brought. Text messages, emails, pop culture drama has all taken over thoughts.
Even as I sit here typing this paper, my own shiny, rectangular piece of molded plastic and metal lies inches away from my fingertips, beckoning me to use it. Looking out the window, one of the first sights I see are people walking with one hand up to their ear, evidence this technology is in use. I can count on one hand the number of adults I know who do not own one these mobile devices. People are now able to be virtually accessible almost anywhere at any time.
Did you know that 83.5% of the images available on the Internet are pornographical? Did you know that the Internet’s pornography and hate literature are available to curious children that happen to bump into them?
As disclosed in the article, The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child, Chris Rowan acknowledges, “Rather than hugging, playing, rough housing, and conversing with children, parents are increasingly resorting to providing their children with more TV, video games, and the latest iPads and cell phone devices, creating a deep and irreversible chasm between parent and child” (par. 7). In the parent’s perspective, technology has become a substitute for a babysitter and is becoming more convenient little by little. It is necessary for a growing child to have multiple hours of play and exposure to the outside world each day. However, the number of kids who would rather spend their days inside watching tv, playing video games, or texting is drastically increasing. Children are not necessarily the ones to be blamed for their lack of interest in the world around them, but their parents for allowing their sons and daughters to indulge in their relationship with technology so powerfully. Kids today consider technology a necessity to life, because their parents opted for an easier way to keep their children entertained. Thus resulting in the younger generations believing that technology is a stipulation rather than a
A recent survey from Delen, Kaya, Ritter, & Sahin (2015) found that 81.2 percent of parents limited the time children spent on technology, 71 percent monitored their child’s browsing history, 61.3 percent of parents used a firewall to help protect them, and 54.9 percent used parental controls for monitoring. Constant monitoring has proven to be beneficial in maintaining their children from spending too many hours online, as well as safe from the harms the World Wide Web has. Although many parents are aware of the harm that technology can bring to a child, technological advancements do have many benefits. For example, children are approaching their parents more often to guide them while they search for answers in the Internet to complete their homework. With the parent’s involvement, using computer-based technology shows the child how to correctly navigate online. As stated by Finn and Kerman (2004), “training programs may also help parents and students to increase their confidence level in using Internet technology and take care of security issues with filtering software.” Even though technology has many benefits, it can harm children if their parents are not proactive in their monitoring. According to the Pew Research Center “in 2009 found that 4% of 12–17-year-olds (and 8% of 17-year-olds) who owned cell phones had sent a
One of the biggest thing that technology can do to a young kid is change the relationship that they have with their parents. Before cellphones and laptops and technology, I believe that the relationship between kids and their parents was much better because of the interactions that they had to have. For example, they could not just leave without anything to do and then text their parents when they find out what they were doing, they had to have a plan before they left the house. Regarding this matter specifically, Moser said “…Both parents and kids are consumed by electronics. They are constantly attached to their smartphones and computers. They are disengaged from each other. Conversat...
Temmel, M. (n.d.). THE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET ON OUR DAILY LIFE. Retrieved from TRU: http://www.tru.ca/cpj/essay.html
First of all, the computer’s role in society has increased significantly throughout recent years. In the past, a computer was mostly used for minor tasks, such as typing a paper or playing a game for leisure. A child could rarely be found sitting in front of a monitor screen, and they usually didn’t even know how to operate the machine. Software games were on the market, but were not very popular for purchase. Usually the more developed households and higher-class families were the ones that contained a computer at home, but mostly adults were found to be the users. Many families found it easy to do without one, as they were mostly used for typing, and typewriters or handwriting took their place. In the past, computers went without the Internet, were extremely slow, and weren’t capable of much of anything.