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Quenten White

Scaife

Comp 1 9am

4/5/2017

Why Technology is Good For Teens

According to a study done by Youngstown University, as many as 99% of college

students now use Facebook, and 35% use Twitter ( Sponcil and Gitimu 12). Since more

kids are connected to each other with technology these days, could this mean that they

arent present in the real world? I feel that the growing use of technology among young

people is a good thing. Technology allows teens access to information that previous

generations did not have, connects them to people they otherwise would not meet, and

provides them with outlets for which to exchange ideas and express themselves.

In the 80s and 90s when I grew up, kids just didnt have easy access to

information like the generation today. We had to go to our local libraries, check out a

book or encyclopedia, and flip through pages until we found what we needed. Today,

Google has all the answers they need. Information is now so easy to get to, kids can

absorb bits of information about the world while scrolling and not even realize it. News

websites, infographics, and even memes are a great way of spreading information

around the internet in pieces that entice teens to read more. My generation was often
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told that we needed to read more to understand the world around us, now kids are

reading more and the adults still arent happy. John B. Horrigan, a senior researcher at

the Pew Research Center, suggests that the internet is a good place to self learn and

that there are many websites that are devoted to it such as Khan Academy (Horrigan).

The use of such websites allows access to help for teens when they dont understand

something they are learning in class. For example, a student seeing Trigonometry for

the first time. A new study finds that undergraduate students in classes with traditional

stand-and-deliver lectures are 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in classes that

use more stimulating, so-called active learning methods (Bajak). Basically what this

study is saying is that classes with professors who just lecture for the whole time

without the use of some form of technology students are more likely to fail, because the

students tend to get bored and zone out.

Imagine moving away from friends or family and not being able to communicate

with them easily. In the past a lot of times when you or a good friend would move you

would lose contact with them, but now new technology allows teens to stay connected

with them. Sheldon an assistant Professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville,

believes that one of the many reasons people use social media is to connect with

people that they would in person. ( Sponcil and Gitimu 4). A good example of this is

teens using Facebook to keep in touch with relatives that dont live close to them or

while away at college.

Teenagers have always expressed themselves in some form or fashion that their

parents didnt agree with. In the 80s and 90s, people would wear certain clothes or get
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their hair cut a certain way to tell the world how they want to be viewed. Today, social

media outlets provide young adults with a way to make a mark on the world, and for the

world to make a mark on them back. Teens from all over the world can post on the

same message boards and learn from each other, giving both parties exposure to new

concepts. Urista, an adjunct Instructor at El Camino College and Cal State Fullerton,

claims that Social media sites empower users to take an active role in their own

socialization process and in constructing their own self identity ( Sponcil and Gitimu 6).

Basically what she is saying is that, in using social media sites like Facebook, people

have a new way of expressing themselves. According to Samantha Raphelson a

producer for NPR.org, new ideas are especially prevalent among Millennials, who are

the most diverse generation according to the U.S Census Bureau ( Raphelson ). Since

Millennials come from more diverse backgrounds than their elders and have greater

ability to communicate with each other, this makes the sharing of stories easier to do.

One such example can be seen on Twitter, where people around the world tweet each

other about everything.

Here, developmental psychologist Dr. Howard Gardner would object that what

teens post on social media sites are not their true selves. Gardner and Davis coined

the term package self, which is a word they use to describe the way people present

themselves online (Gardner and Davis 66). What Gardner and Davis mean by this, is

since people have the ability to edit what they say and choose what they post they are

not being their true selves. While this may be true for some teens, other teens that are

shy use this as a way to express their true selves.

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In conclusion, I feel that the growing technology is good for teens. Technology

allows ways for teens to access things people of my generation couldnt at that age, a

new way for teens to express themselves, and a way for them to stay connected to

family and friends that they cannot meet face to face. I cant imagine how technology

will keep growing and how it will be able to help in the future.
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Works Cited

Bajak, Aleszu. Lectures Aren't Just Boring, They're Ineffective, Too, Study Finds.

Sciencemag,2014. Web. 12 April. 2017.

Gardner, Howard Katie Davis. The App Generation. Yale university Press, 2013. Print

Horrigan, John B. The internet plays less of a role in lifelong learning for those with lower levels

of education and income. Pew Research Center,2016. Web. 12 April. 2017.

Raphelson, Samantha. Amid The Stereotypes, Some Facts About Millennials. NPR,2014.

Web. 12 April. 2017.

Sponcil, Megan and Priscilla Gitimu. Use of social media by college students: Relationship to

communication and self-concept. Journal of Technology Research, 2012.