On a recent trip to a band festival, I spent 7 hours on a cramped, uncomfortable school bus with 40 high school students. The girl I was sitting with (call her a girlfriend if you wish) was reading “Seventeen” magazine, a popular monthly magazine for teenaged girls. Obviously, this isn’t exactly the kind of magazine I like to read, but I was giving it an occasional glance, just to wonder what was so fascinating about a bunch of young men and women with their shirts off. Well, something caught my eye as being different – an article about technology! It turned out to be a study of teens and technology. The article had some very disturbing news in it. Since this column was created to point out the pros and cons of the technology industry, I thought I should share and expand on some of the findings.
Connected Here, Connected There, Connected Everywhere!
The study showed that a remarkable percentage of teens said they felt “cut off” when they were not connected, through their cell phones, computers, or other microelectromechanical systems*. It went so far as to quote a girl, saying something to the effect of “I go home every night and get on the computer so I can keep tack of who goes out with who, what’s happening in all my friend’s relationships, and keep track of the latest breaking social happenings. If I don’t, I feel ‘out of the loop’ and ‘unpopular’ at school because I don’t know what everyone is talking about.” If this isn’t a sign that the girl has no life and is a popularity freak, I don’t know what is. But that’s not it. Somewhere around 90% of teens today feel out of place when they can not get ahold of people (often multiple people) at any instant. Close to that number of teens also go over their cell phone minutes more than once a month. This causes two problems: one, the kids can not get away without fearing that they will miss the latest gossip, and two, it is costing them (or their parents) a ton of money in airtime fees.
Since they often blow all their time “connecting” with their friends, they often don’t feel like working. They don’t do their homework, they don’t get a job, and they don’t get away from their computer chair much.
SMS Revolution
Lately, there have been numerous times I’ve seen kids at school get their cell phones taken away, because they can not seem to stay unconnected for more than 10 minutes at a time – so they text message all their friends in class. Now, 3-5 years ago, no one would have even heard of text messaging, but it seems that almost overnight, it has become the thing for everyone to do. Instead of calling people, they just spend 10 times as long typing out a Short Message Service (sms) message. It is another way to stay connected all the time – wherever they are – and it is becoming extremely popular.
TT’s Take
Often times, I will come home and get on the internet for hours at a time. Unlike most people my age, I’m not just gossiping with friends, I’m writing wonderful weekly columns for PCMechers to read, I’m designing a web sites for a client, I’m doing homework, and I’m working on personal projects – generally all at the same time. Sure, I chat with friends, but I am almost always multitasking – doing something productive at the same time. I like to remain connected because it is a business requirement. My income relies on me being at my computer for hours at a time, and it requires me to have my phone with me in case a client’s computer breaks and needs an emergency repair or what not. I am connected because I have to be. Is this any different than “having” to be connected to get gossip? My generation is becoming disabled by the fact that we rely so heavily on technology. Where do we draw the line, and how do we keep the delicate balance between social lives and our personal lives? I’d like your opinion. Please leave a comment, and let me know what you think is appropriate to balance everything out. Is working at a computer considered lazy? How do we not let technology interfere with our personal lives?
*On a side note, you may be wondering why the title of this column is “Microelectromechanicalized Teens”. Well, first off, Kudos to anyone who can figure out what the first word means without looking up the root word microelectromechanical. I recently took a reading assessment, and for some reason, this was a word on it. Now tell me, how many non-geeks at the high school level know what that word even begins to mean? Why would it be on something that measures your ability to read? Just a thought…
Like what you read?
If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:
