Technological Temptations

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Today, many parents and educational authorities raise concerns about the negative effects of technology on American youth. After observing the social networking tools available through the Internet and other compatible technologies, parents and authorities’ fears grow about the debilitating effect of technology on their young people. Multiple reasons justify these fears, and one of the more prominent is the growing awareness that technology tempts users to place disproportionate amounts of trust and dependence in it.

Aspects of technology promote the idea that one achieves personal fulfillment best through technological stimulation. First, technology provides resources for constant stimulation. George Barna, founder of a leading culture research firm, testifies how culturally ingrained the Internet has become, contending that tracking web use “is like tracking blood flow in the human body” (Barna 95). On average, people are exposed to “an average of nearly six hours a day of nonprint media content,” states Maggie Jackson, award-winning author and journalist, “and a quarter of that time they are using more than one screen, dial, or channel” (Jackson 18). Because of ever-rapidly increasing technological advances, the Internet is ubiquitous and instantaneously accessible. Teens can access Facebook or other social media from anywhere from portable devices smaller than a hand. The portability and privacy of the devices makes regulating use and maintaining accountability nearly impossible. When teens are immersed in social media those forums become his main sources of stimulation, and the virtual world becomes as vivid – or more so – than the real world. Facebook is a valuable tool that can be used with good results, but overu...

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...t. 2011.

Lengel, Laura. “Computer-Mediated Communication.” 21st Century Communication: A Reference Handbook. Ed. William F. Eadie. 2 vols. Los Angeles: Sage, 2009. Print.

Lenhart, Amanda, et al. "Social Media and Young Adults | Pew Research Center'sInternet & American Life Project." Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. Pew Internet and American Life Project, 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. .

Lewis, Kristin. “Connection Disconnect.” Scholastic Scope 58.1 (2009): 20-21. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

“Parents have duty to monitor teens’ social networking sites.” USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.

Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic, 2011. Print.

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