What's up?

Siani Wilson

Ms.Pahomov

English 3

April 27th 2017

What’s up?

If someone was to ask a teenager if they believe that teens spend too much time on the internet

or just phones in general, they would say no but other like parents of these teens would have to disagree. There has been a lot of research done around this topic because it actually has become an issue that parents and other legal guardians face everyday with kids. Most of these studies shows the percentage of teens that use their phone nearly everyday single day. Many might say that phones poison the minds of children, and there is proof that it is true in a way.

The site ‘PewResearchCenter’ literally starts off by saying “24% of teens go online almost

constantly facilitated by a widespread availability of smartphones.” This is a extremely true statement because teens are and will forever be on their cells phones, consumed by the screen and social media. Cells phones and tablets have been around for a very long time and so have social media, things like Instagram, SnapChat and Facebook would be the main factors as to what would be why a lot of parents and researches might think that the minds of teenagers are “poisoned”. Teens that are between the ages of 13-17, which is more than half (56%) go online several times a day. About 12% only use the internet to go on social media once a day. 85% of teens that are African American have access to a smartphone. While others don’t have a phone at all.

Other sites like ‘ The Washington Post’ say that they have actually had teens admit that they are addicted to technology. The word addicted is sometimes taken lightly but it is very possible to be addicted to technology. On TV, they may make shows about how teens, adults even become addicted to things like drugs or sex, they also surprisingly show how they can also be hooked on things like video games and all types of things that might influence someone’s action in any type of way. “Digital devices have transformed people’s lives. They are changing everything from parent-child relationships, to human interaction, to our ability to focus on the task at hand.” This is a quote from James Steyer who is the CEO and founder of Common Sense, which is an organization that studies and rate social media intake and technology for children and adults.

People may take this lightly but many will assure teens and adults that this is a serious problem now days because of the dangers that it can cause and it’s possible for this effect your health. When someone visits the doctors, they may say something like you only need 1 screen hour per day. This is actually advice that could help someone who may be too attached to the phone. Staying on you social media sites and things like that can lead to loneliness and weight gain because all of the interaction that people are having is through a screen and that's not good for anyone. The one thing that parents would mostly be concerned about is the grades, too much screen time can also affected that as well.

The moral of the story is teens no matter what they say spend too much time on their phones, and it can lead of serious health problems. So can technology poison the minds of teens? Maybe. But it has been proven and shown that teens aren’t the only ones that can be affected by this adults can be as well. It goes both ways with this one.

Sources:

"Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015." Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015. Pew Research Center, n.d. Web. 2 May 2017.

"Teens say they’re addicted to technology. Here’s how parents can help." Teens say they’re addicted to technology. Here’s how parents can help. Amy Joyce, 3 May 2016. Web. 2 May 2017.

Holmes, Lindsay. "The Dangerous Ways Too Much Tech Can Mess With Teens' Health." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 Nov. 2015. Web. 02 May 2017.