Everyday I take the bus to and from class, and everyday more than half the people on the bus are fiddling on their cell phones. I am one of the few who is just sitting on the bus staring out the window. It amazes me that so many people feel this constant pressure always to be connected to other people through text messaging. When I am on the bus, I am surrounded by vibrating cell phones with incoming text messages, which makes it impossible for me to form a single thought. With the average American teenager both sending and receiving 2,272 text messages a month in 2008 according to the Nielsen Company, it is impossible for teenagers to develop an imagination without allowing time to space out and let their minds wonder. When a teenager is given a chance to do nothing, it seems like the first thing they want to do is go on their cell phones and start engaging in a text message conversation instead of allowing time for their brain to process everything that has happened that day.
According to a New York Times article called Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction, researchers have found that the effects of technology are more powerful in teenagers than adults. For instance, teenagers’ brains are still developing and can more easily habituate to multitasking than adults’ brains. Technology makes teenagers less likely to be able to hold their attention on one thing. I think it is important to not get so consumed in technology and the need to always be connected to people. It is important to give yourself down time to form thoughts, opinions, or ideas in order to grow into an intellectual person.
-Christina Breitenbuecher
3 comments:
I don't disagree that it's sad how little it seems our generation uses their imaginations. I do think, however, that it's not fair to make a blanket statement and say that technology is negatively affecting all of our developments. I would argue that technology has made me a much more efficient student and employee.
I completely agree with you, Christina. It is so frustrating to constantly hear cell phone buzzing and beeping. Although it agitates me to hear the desk across from me in the library vibrating multiple times each minute, I find that I, myself, get caught up in the bad habit of texting while studying. I agree with Edris, in that texting is such a simple and easy way of communicating, which is why I find myself doing it so often.
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