The Effect of the Internet on Young People

The current generation of young people, known as Generation Y, have grown up with the Internet. They utilize it for social networking, researching, and gaming. It is difficult for many in this young group to imagine that there was a time when text messaging, e-mail, blogs, online news media, digital books, or social networking did not exist -- that people actually talked on the phone, visited, and engaged in face to face conversation with one another. Many young adults, especially teens and middle school age children, are in need of constant stimuli and instant gratification that only the Internet can deliver. Consequently, this has resulted in a generation of young people who are lazy learners, have shorter attention spans, and often lack familiarity and knowledge of general subjects.

The Internet has become the primary source of information gathering. Students no longer deem it necessary to retain facts, nor absorb and understand their assignments, because they use online search engines, like Google, to educate themselves. I would wager that most young people do not know how to man...