Rapid change of Technology - Helping Youths Meet the Challenge
Posted on October 10, 2007 - Filed Under Watching the World |
The world, its lifestyles, and its fads have always undergone change. Largely because of modern technology, changes are even more pronounced today. What was in yesterday is out today, and what is popular today will be obsolete tomorrow. These rapid changes have a marked impact on young people.
A Social Revolution
In recent years, technology has sparked a revolution that has had a profound effect on youths. For example, in many lands the cell phone and the computer have become a lifeline of the adolescent social world. Social networking sites have opened up a whole new world of possibilities. “You can be relatively friendless in real life and then suddenly have hundreds of friends online,” says a 19-year-old girl in Australia.
Few would deny that the cell phone and the Internet have numerous benefits. For many people, however, these tools seem to have become addictive. University Professor Donald Roberts notes that some students “can’t go the few minutes between their 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock classes without talking on their cell phones. ” He says:”It seems to me that there’s almost a discomfort with not being stimulated - a kind of ‘I can’t stand the silence.’”
Some youths even admit that they feel hooked. “I’m totally addicted to instant messaging and my cell phone, because they’re how I keep up with my friends,” says 16-year-old Stephanie. “When I get home, I go online immediately and stay on…sometimes till 3 A.M.” Stephanie’s monthly phone bill is anywhere from $100 to $500. “By now,” she says, “I owe my parents more than $2,000 in excess charges. But I’m so used to having my cell withme all the time that I can’t live normally without it.”
The problems can be more than financial. While doing a study on family life, anthropologist Elinor Ochs found that when a working parent came home, the spouse and kids were often so absorbed in what they were doing that 2 out of 3 times they did not even say a greeting! They just kept on monitoring their electronic gadgets. “We also saw how difficult it was for parents to penetrate the child’s universe,” says Ochs. She adds that during the study parents were observed actually backing away, retreating from kids who were absorbed in whatever they are doing.
Online Social Networks - Harmless?
Many parents and educators are concerned about the amount of time youths spend visiting what are called online social networks. These are Internet sites that allow members to create a Web page and enhance it with pictures, videos, and diaries, called blogs.
One attraction of such sites is that they enable members to keep in touch with friends. Another is that setting up a Web page allows a youth to express his identity, to “make a statement.” The appeal is understandable, for adolescence is a time of learning about oneself and revealing one’s feelings in a way that reaches and moves others.
One problem that arises, though, is that some individuals create Web-site persona that reflects who they want to be rather than who they are. “There’s a kid in one of my classes who says he’s 21 and lives in Las Vegas,” states a 15-year-old boy. Both youths live about a thousand miles from that U.S. city.
Such deception is quite common. “You can do anything on the Net,” confides an 18-year-old Australian girl. “You can become a whole different person because no one really knows you. You feel confident. You can make up things so that you seem to be more interesting. You can put pictures of yourself wearing things or doing things that you would never wear or do in real life. You can write things you would never say in person. You feel as if you can get away with anything because you’re hidden. No one knows who you really are.”
As with any mode of communication, online social networks can have legitimate uses as well as potential abuses. As a parent, do you know that your children are doing online? Are you making sure that your children are using their time wisely? Furthermore, misuse of the Internet can expose a youth to a number of serious dangers. What are some of these?
to be continued…
Taken from Awake! March 2007
Comments
Leave a Reply