New Generation with Technologies - Essay Example

Effect of Technology on the Behavior of Teenagers and Children General Aim: To inform my audience of the negative effectof technology on teenage and child behavior.
Specific Aim: to bring the attention of my audience to the manner in which technology is slowly destroying good behavior in children of the current generation.
Central Idea: To draw my audience’s attention from the worldwide championed technological developments, and bring it to the damage technology is causing in the children and teenagers of this age.
I. In this age, the media puts a lot of focus on how advancements in technology make work easier, and every day experiences better.
A. DeLoatch says that children are constantly yearning to try out the newly introduced social networking site, electronic gadgets, and own the latest gaming device, 85% of which contain violence.
B. They seek personal pleasure through gaining recognition from peers with the new technology they own (Villani). Children do not play as much as they did 20 years ago, riding, and building forts.
II. Gaining recognition is becoming more important to children because they get numerous opinions on matters in everyday life.
A. When one has a problem, their first instinct is to post it on Facebook or tweet it and get people’s view on it. These issues include what to wear, what to watch, which school to go to, what career path to take, dating and sex.
B. Since societies differ on what is right or wrong (Nables), children may get the wrong advice from people they talk to on the internet.
III. Watching television only requires sitting down and taking in what one is seeing, and it requires no reaction.
A. Spending too much time watching television reduces the time children spend interacting with others (James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation).
B. Introvert children use it as an excuse not to go out and meet other people.
C. Television content also influences a child’s social life because they will try to emulate what they see in terms of dressing and behavior (Subrahmanyam, Kraut, and Greenfield).
IV. Approximately 85% of the country’s population own one electronic gadget.
A. Time spent with these gadgets reduces the time families interact.
B. Family time is vital to a child’s development and technology is taking this away, with studies showing that 1 out of every 10 parents spend very little time with their children. 30% of people under 45, and 10% of older people admitted to this.
C. One child specialist observed an incident where a mother could not get off working through her phone to listen to her son. Another mother had to put a surfing curfew on herself so she could focus on her children.
V. The internet offers access to numerous articles, books, reports, and academic documents.
A. They have all they need in the palm of their hands, and this mostly entails copying what they need from the internet and pasting it in their work (DeLoatch).
B. Learning institutions are constantly finding ways to ensure assignments done by students are original and personally inspired.
VI. Technology makes life very simple.
A. It takes a shorter time to do the laundry and dishes, clean the house, and mow the lawn, leaving children so much time to spare after helping in house chores.
B. Most of them use the time to “connect” with friends, watch television and play games, activities that require little physical energy (Connelly).
C. This lack of physical activity has led to an increase in weight related ailments like obesity, which has tripled in children over the last 25 years. Almost 26% of children between 2 and 17 years of age are considered overweight.
Works Cited
Connelly, Marjorie. "More Americans Sense a Downside to an Always Plugged-In Existence." The New York Times - Technology 6 June 2010. Newspaper Article.
DeLoatch, Pamela. The Four Negative Sides of Technology - Edudemic. 2 May 2015. 23 May 2015.
Nables, Reynoldsburg. Negative Effects of Technology on Society - Teen Ink. 13 September 2012. 23 May 2015.
Scelfo, Julie. "The Risks of Parenting while Plugged In." The New York Times - Home & Garden 9 June 2010. Newspaper Article.
Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, et al. "The Impact of Home Computer Use on Childrens Activities and Development." The Future of Children - CHILDREN AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, Vol. 10, No. 2 Fall/Winter 2000: 123-139. PDF.
The James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation. Technology Can Have Positive and Negative Impact on Social Interactions. 21 June 2010. 23 May 2015.
Villani, Susan. "Impact of Media on Children and Adolescents: A 10-Year Review of the Research." Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol. 40(4) (April, 2001): 392-401. PDF. Read More