Introduction & Table of Contents
Future generations are growing up in a world that’s becoming digital, whether people like it or not. We felt, as a group, that this is a very important topic for everyone to be aware of. As a group we came up with 5 questions or perceptions that arise with this subject. We took the pro and con approach to each preconceived notion so we could explore differing opinions. This blog is a collaboration of our own experiences and articles that we found interesting to share with others. We hope that you enjoy and learn something from this interesting and fun blog!
★ Pro: Accessibility of Information is Detrimental to Children and Adolescents by Michael Braillard
★ Con: Accessibility of Information is Detrimental to Children and Adolescents by Donovan Russell
★ Pro: Technology Creates a Shorter Attention Span by Mary McChesney-Young
★ Con: Technology Creates a Shorter Attention Span by Sade Mehdizadeh
★ Pro: Exposure to Sex and Violence Causes Children to Act in Sexual/Violent Ways by Donovan Russell
★ Con: Exposure to Sex and Violence Causes Children to Act in Sexual/Violent Ways by Seneca Reynolds
★ Pro: Technology Stunts Social Development by Sade Mehdizadeh
★ Con: Technology Stunts Social Development by Mary McChesney-Young
★ Pro: Today's Generation is More Apathetic Than Others by Seneca Reynolds
★ Con: Today's Generation is More Apathetic Than Others by Michael Braillard
★ Conclusion
Monday, November 24, 2008
Conclusion
Well we had a great time making this project and learning from each other about our perspectives of growing up in this digital generation. One of the most interesting things we came across upon working on this blog was the power of collaboration. Also, we found that although we are a relatively small group of people, there was a multitude of opinions and information among us to explore. So in conclusion, instead of writing a nice neat conclusive argument, we want to send out an open invitation to anyone from anywhere who has a comment, opinion, rant, YouTube video, sound clip, pic, or anything to contribute to this blog. Please come collaborate with us.
Thanks for checking us out & we look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Pro: Accessibility of Information is Detrimental to Children and Adolescents
All the Better to IM You My Dear
One lonely Sunday a boy of impressionable youth logged in to his MySpace chat room type booth. He typed and he typed to all his friends about this or that between LOL’s and emoticon sends. All while watching HULU.com he came across that adorable Michael C. Hall. The young boy knew that he favored the boys to the girls but kept it a secret that he crushed on the Earl’s and the Troy’s. His urge was a hunger night after night as puberty crept up to what seemed an indelible spike. All of his will power and all of his might couldn’t stop his mind wandering from the twink porn website. He found it one day all by his lonesome, now to come think of it, a day similar to the one now in question. His parents? Unknowing of his sexuality and internet access never stop to realize their parental inactiveness. The problem was not his gayness or his search for this knowledge but all will come clear much later we’ll acknowledge.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children funded a study by the Crimes Against Children Resource Center in 2006 of youth Internet users over a five year period. They found:
1) An increase in encountering unwanted exposures to sexual material (from 25% to 34%)
2) An increase in cases of online harassment (from 6% to 9%)
3) A decrease in those receiving unwanted sexual solicitations (from 19% to 13%)
4) 40% of all youth Internet users said online solicitors asked them for nude or sexually explicit photographs of themselves.
5) Only a minority of youth who had unwanted sexual solicitations, unwanted exposures to sexual material, or harassment said they were distressed by the incidents.
6) One-third of the solicitations (31%) were aggressive, meaning the solicitors made, or attempted, offline contact with youth.
On the opposite end of town on that same lonely Sunday was a middle aged man creepy in his ways living the life of your typical predator cliché. We’ll call him the wolf for his hunger for his prey. He spent his days looking for boys impressionable towards his sway. Now the boy in question he had seen around the MySpace and such thus pegged him for his next boy he would touch. He saw our boy currently logged in and sent him an IM. They chatted and became quite friendly but the boy didn’t know the inappropriate intentions. This went on and on weeks upon weeks. Until one day our wolf asked them to meet. The boy said ok but where shall we meet. Why my house of course we can play Nintendo and eat cake.
The boy felt comfortable due to the attention the wolf gave. He rode his 10 speed all the way across town wearing his favorite little red hoodie that was old and beat down. He pulled up to the wolf’s lair at his apartment complex and knocked on his door while wiping off his specs. The wolf opened up and said hey little red hoodie while won’t you come in for play time and cookies. The boy was surprised by the wolf’s size and age but went in despite his stomach’s uneasiness gauge. Things started out ok but quite soon they progressed in no time they were unclothed within the wolf’s purpose. We won’t go into details but the boy came out feeling used, unsure about what had just transpired, his soul was quite bruised. He never told anyone, not his parents nor his friends, he kept it inside scarred deep within. It took him years to recover and understand to be gay was OK. But that the wolf took advantage of his youth, his access online, and made him his prey.
This is a story that happens daily through the internet. Parents need to understand what their kids are doing , who they’re talking to, and where they’re going online as well in the real world. Perry Aftab, writer of A Parent’s Guide to the Internet, said in a recent msnbc interview, “Pictures don’t hurt kids. People hurt kids . . . As long as parents think the only real risk is that the kids will see adult sex content, they won’t do anything.” Parents need to have a real world conversation about who’s out there, who can, and most likely will, try to talk with them. Children and Adolescents access to information is detrimental in that they can easily be taken advantage of by predator’s ease of access to them.
Parents should teach their children to:
1. Think before they click: With whom are they chatting or e-mailing, what are they saying and how are they saying it? Will the person on the other end know they are joking?
2. Walk away from the computer and “Take 5” before responding to something that upsets them online
3. Avoid spreading rumors, assisting in cyber bullying or sharing private communications online.
4. Follow the golden rule of cyberspace: Don’t do anything online that you wouldn’t do in real life!
Follow responsible safety practices yourself:
1. Install spyware and adware blocking software on your computer
2. Make sure you have a working firewall
3. Install anti-virus software and update it regularly
4. Take advantage of spam-blocking tools offered by your Internet provider or e-mail software
(Read the opposing argument)
Pro: Technology Creates a Shorter Attention Span
TL;DR
By Mary McChesney-Young
Just as I started reading a piece of research to prepare for writing this entry, I had to move to a different location in order to find an outlet to charge my laptop's battery. I found an isolated hallway and sat on the floor, plugged in my computer... and quickly discovered that there was no wireless signal back here. YIKES. How will I check my e-mail and IM with my friends and go on YouTube and use Google and... Riiiight, I'm supposed to be reading, anyway.
(Too bad it's so hard to concentrate.)
...
Okay, it's the next day now. I wasn't able to actually sit down and focus long enough to add anything to this (I got too distracted by my other essay. And ONTD. And the TV.) Let's try this again.
In the past, when using traditional media like paper and pens, or even typewriters or computers before the dawn of the Internet, focusing on one subject or endeavor at a time was easier because there were fewer opportunities for distractions. Now, sitting down at the computer to work on a project means being able to access millions of websites, and browsers' tabbing capabilities mean that a person can have as many as twenty pages loaded in one window, easy to flip through so you never have to stay on one page for longer than a minute before moving on. IMing, text messaging, and Twittering all focus on getting short, often abbreviated messages out to others. Kids these days (*waves cane around*) are spoiled by our culture of instant gratification and perpetual entertainment. As soon as something takes longer than a minute to load or ceases to be entertaining, it loses value. Although not much research has been completed on this subject, it seems reasonable to worry that regular use of the Internet and other technologies might cause children (and adults) to develop an inability to concentrate on a given task for an extended period of time.
In the Atlantic article, Is Google Making Us Stupid?, Nicholas Carr postulates that changing technology, including the Internet, has changed the way we think, and particularly the way we read and absorb information. As an historical example of this happening, he points to the invention of the mechanical clock:
"The clock’s methodical ticking helped bring into being the scientific mind and the scientific man. ... In deciding when to eat, to work, to sleep, to rise, we stopped listening to our senses and started obeying the clock.
"The process of adapting to new intellectual technologies is reflected in the changing metaphors we use to explain ourselves to ourselves. When the mechanical clock arrived, people began thinking of their brains as operating 'like clockwork.' Today, in the age of software, we have come to think of them as operating 'like computers.' But the changes, neuroscience tells us, go much deeper than metaphor. Thanks to our brain’s plasticity, the adaptation occurs also at a biological level."
And in the book Everything Bad Is Good For You, Steven Johnson compares the number of plot lines in TV shows from before the 1980s to the number in more modern TV shows, claiming that the significantly higher number today shows a complexity which was previously missing (page 72). While in Johnson's opinion this shows that audiences today are being challenged to think in more complex ways (which is a good thing), I have to wonder if this doesn't also contribute to shortening attention spans, given that obviously the scenes devoted to individual plot lines must shorten in length to fill the same time slot.
(The title of this entry, TL;DR, is an acronym often used by people online who are too lazy to read a full blog entry, e-mail, article, etc. It stands for, "Too long; didn't read," and I think sums up nicely the attitude that Internet use can foster.)
Two examples of my favorite online distractions: I Can Has Cheezburger and Passive Aggressive Notes.com.
(Read the opposing argument)
By Mary McChesney-Young
Just as I started reading a piece of research to prepare for writing this entry, I had to move to a different location in order to find an outlet to charge my laptop's battery. I found an isolated hallway and sat on the floor, plugged in my computer... and quickly discovered that there was no wireless signal back here. YIKES. How will I check my e-mail and IM with my friends and go on YouTube and use Google and... Riiiight, I'm supposed to be reading, anyway.
(Too bad it's so hard to concentrate.)
...
Okay, it's the next day now. I wasn't able to actually sit down and focus long enough to add anything to this (I got too distracted by my other essay. And ONTD. And the TV.) Let's try this again.
In the past, when using traditional media like paper and pens, or even typewriters or computers before the dawn of the Internet, focusing on one subject or endeavor at a time was easier because there were fewer opportunities for distractions. Now, sitting down at the computer to work on a project means being able to access millions of websites, and browsers' tabbing capabilities mean that a person can have as many as twenty pages loaded in one window, easy to flip through so you never have to stay on one page for longer than a minute before moving on. IMing, text messaging, and Twittering all focus on getting short, often abbreviated messages out to others. Kids these days (*waves cane around*) are spoiled by our culture of instant gratification and perpetual entertainment. As soon as something takes longer than a minute to load or ceases to be entertaining, it loses value. Although not much research has been completed on this subject, it seems reasonable to worry that regular use of the Internet and other technologies might cause children (and adults) to develop an inability to concentrate on a given task for an extended period of time.
In the Atlantic article, Is Google Making Us Stupid?, Nicholas Carr postulates that changing technology, including the Internet, has changed the way we think, and particularly the way we read and absorb information. As an historical example of this happening, he points to the invention of the mechanical clock:
"The clock’s methodical ticking helped bring into being the scientific mind and the scientific man. ... In deciding when to eat, to work, to sleep, to rise, we stopped listening to our senses and started obeying the clock.
"The process of adapting to new intellectual technologies is reflected in the changing metaphors we use to explain ourselves to ourselves. When the mechanical clock arrived, people began thinking of their brains as operating 'like clockwork.' Today, in the age of software, we have come to think of them as operating 'like computers.' But the changes, neuroscience tells us, go much deeper than metaphor. Thanks to our brain’s plasticity, the adaptation occurs also at a biological level."
And in the book Everything Bad Is Good For You, Steven Johnson compares the number of plot lines in TV shows from before the 1980s to the number in more modern TV shows, claiming that the significantly higher number today shows a complexity which was previously missing (page 72). While in Johnson's opinion this shows that audiences today are being challenged to think in more complex ways (which is a good thing), I have to wonder if this doesn't also contribute to shortening attention spans, given that obviously the scenes devoted to individual plot lines must shorten in length to fill the same time slot.
(The title of this entry, TL;DR, is an acronym often used by people online who are too lazy to read a full blog entry, e-mail, article, etc. It stands for, "Too long; didn't read," and I think sums up nicely the attitude that Internet use can foster.)
Two examples of my favorite online distractions: I Can Has Cheezburger and Passive Aggressive Notes.com.
(Read the opposing argument)
Con: Technology Stunts Social Development
By Mary McChesney-Young
The Internet has created a new brand of globalization, which makes possible across continents communication, organization, and action which previously would have been hindered or limited to relatively small areas due to the boundaries of time and distance.
Social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook, both of which have well over 100,000,000 registered users, are incredibly popular among teenagers and young adults. According to a July 2007 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, "nearly 60 percent of those age 12 to 17 and 80 percent of 18- to 21-year-olds use social-networking sites." Through these sites, people can find each other based on location, school, or interest, and become friends. Often they serve as an extension of established friendships: instead of seeing a friend at school, going home separately, and waiting until the next day to interact again, people can now continue their social interactions as soon as they get home.
Many other sites with social networking aspects are more specialized, but all rely upon one thing: user-generated content. LiveJournal, BlogSpot, YouTube, and Flickr (and their ilk) play host to blog or journal entries, essays, fiction (sometimes novel-length), amateur music videos, professionally-made short films and documentaries, and an amazing array of photographs and art. They foster users' creativity for the sake of creativity--and of comments, which is where the networking aspect comes in. People who otherwise would never share their creations, or perhaps never even create them because they felt they had no audience, can now oftentimes receive instant feedback on the content they post. They can collaborate or debate with people halfway across the world and join communities of people who share their interests.
According to a summary of findings from the Digital Youth Project, "Youth engage in peer-based, self-directed learning online. In both friendship-driven and interest-driven online activity, youth create and navigate new forms of expression and rules for social behavior. By exploring new interests, tinkering, and 'messing around' with new forms of media, they acquire various forms of technical and media literacy. ... By its immediacy and breadth of information, the digital world lowers barriers to self-directed learning." As an unschooler, the concept of self-directed learning resonates deeply with me. I think that the digital world is an incredibly rich source of learning opportunities for young people who explore it. The Wikipedia effect--looking something up, clicking on a related article, then another, then another, until you find yourself reading about Mihály Csíkszentmihályi or something similarly unrelated to your original search--can also be played out with other websites and blogs, because of the ease of linking. This seems to me to parallel the kind of complex, connected thinking that children learn to do as they grow older.
Technology doesn't just help people to make friends; it can also help to lessen the pain or difficulty of separation when friends and family members live far away. My sister moved to Texas a couple of months ago and I certainly miss her, but I also can keep up with her by reading her blog, checking out her Flickr, interacting with her on Facebook, and calling or texting her on her cell phone every day or two. And my mom always excitedly calls me over to the computer to come see whenever my cousins e-mail pictures of their kids. Technologies like Skype (online phone calls) and video chatting allow people to connect with each other no matter where they are.
Growing up in this environment--a global, connected, creative digital world--fosters a new attitude towards others, encouraging kids to be fully aware of the world around them rather than to be constricted to their hometown or state or country or even continent. Communicating with somebody in another country automatically makes you conscious of that country's existence and place in the world, and creates a recognition of that country's citizens as real people, with many similarities (and fascinating differences) to those of your own country. In addition, the digital world helps connect people close to home, helping to develop deep and highly social relationships between peers.
Two of my favorite examples of social connection online are: From 52 To 48 With Love and PostSecret. ♥
(Read the opposing argument)
The Internet has created a new brand of globalization, which makes possible across continents communication, organization, and action which previously would have been hindered or limited to relatively small areas due to the boundaries of time and distance.
Social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook, both of which have well over 100,000,000 registered users, are incredibly popular among teenagers and young adults. According to a July 2007 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, "nearly 60 percent of those age 12 to 17 and 80 percent of 18- to 21-year-olds use social-networking sites." Through these sites, people can find each other based on location, school, or interest, and become friends. Often they serve as an extension of established friendships: instead of seeing a friend at school, going home separately, and waiting until the next day to interact again, people can now continue their social interactions as soon as they get home.
Many other sites with social networking aspects are more specialized, but all rely upon one thing: user-generated content. LiveJournal, BlogSpot, YouTube, and Flickr (and their ilk) play host to blog or journal entries, essays, fiction (sometimes novel-length), amateur music videos, professionally-made short films and documentaries, and an amazing array of photographs and art. They foster users' creativity for the sake of creativity--and of comments, which is where the networking aspect comes in. People who otherwise would never share their creations, or perhaps never even create them because they felt they had no audience, can now oftentimes receive instant feedback on the content they post. They can collaborate or debate with people halfway across the world and join communities of people who share their interests.
According to a summary of findings from the Digital Youth Project, "Youth engage in peer-based, self-directed learning online. In both friendship-driven and interest-driven online activity, youth create and navigate new forms of expression and rules for social behavior. By exploring new interests, tinkering, and 'messing around' with new forms of media, they acquire various forms of technical and media literacy. ... By its immediacy and breadth of information, the digital world lowers barriers to self-directed learning." As an unschooler, the concept of self-directed learning resonates deeply with me. I think that the digital world is an incredibly rich source of learning opportunities for young people who explore it. The Wikipedia effect--looking something up, clicking on a related article, then another, then another, until you find yourself reading about Mihály Csíkszentmihályi or something similarly unrelated to your original search--can also be played out with other websites and blogs, because of the ease of linking. This seems to me to parallel the kind of complex, connected thinking that children learn to do as they grow older.
Technology doesn't just help people to make friends; it can also help to lessen the pain or difficulty of separation when friends and family members live far away. My sister moved to Texas a couple of months ago and I certainly miss her, but I also can keep up with her by reading her blog, checking out her Flickr, interacting with her on Facebook, and calling or texting her on her cell phone every day or two. And my mom always excitedly calls me over to the computer to come see whenever my cousins e-mail pictures of their kids. Technologies like Skype (online phone calls) and video chatting allow people to connect with each other no matter where they are.
Growing up in this environment--a global, connected, creative digital world--fosters a new attitude towards others, encouraging kids to be fully aware of the world around them rather than to be constricted to their hometown or state or country or even continent. Communicating with somebody in another country automatically makes you conscious of that country's existence and place in the world, and creates a recognition of that country's citizens as real people, with many similarities (and fascinating differences) to those of your own country. In addition, the digital world helps connect people close to home, helping to develop deep and highly social relationships between peers.
Two of my favorite examples of social connection online are: From 52 To 48 With Love and PostSecret. ♥
(Read the opposing argument)
Con: Exposure to Sex and Violence Causes Children to Act in Sexual/Violent Ways
By Seneca Reynolds
Kids growing up today are not prone to violence and sexuality. We are too quick to blame violence on the exposure to Internet and video games. And many who point their fingers towards easy Internet access when looking for a reason for the promiscuous behavior of our youth. Instead, we should point our blame at the adults who seem to be lax on monitoring the exposure. And who is to say that exposure is everything? There are nations with little or no Internet access who seem to have cultures full of more violence and corruption than ours. Therefore, it seems to be that exposure is not to blame.
When it comes to the exposure to violence, we seem to be in a world of misplaced blame. It is absurd to blame school shootings on video games, and it is ridiculous to point fingers at the gaming industry when wondering why some children seem to be confused about how to behave. Not all video games are violent and not all violent video gamers are full of outrage and misguided anger. It is up to the parent or guardian to not buy those violent video games for their child. It is up to the parent or guardian to teach their child about violence. It is not the responsibility of the gaming industry to teach children what is right or wrong.
Historically speaking, the society that we live in today has not been exposed to even close to the same amounts of violence as that of societies before us. If you look at civilizations dating back before the 1900s, you will be surprised by the violence that was so present in everyday life. There were days of unimaginable everyday exposure to violence. And let me tell you, there were no violent video games to blame for the gruesome days when Vikings ruled. We live in a world today that in comparison contains far less violence than you will find in the history books. Long gone are the days when the whole town would come to watch the beheading of a local outlaw.
In an article in Science Daily, “... Kierkegaard explains, there is no obvious link between real-world violence statistics and the advent of video games. If anything, the effect seems to be the exact opposite and one might argue that video game usage has reduced real violence. Despite several high profile incidents in US academic institutions, 'Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically since the early 1990s,' says Kierkegaard, 'while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use. For example, in 2005, there were 1,360,088 violent crimes reported in the USA compared with 1,423,677 the year before. 'With millions of sales of violent games, the world should be seeing an epidemic of violence,' he says, 'Instead, violence has declined.'”
If anything, media sensitizes us to the issues surrounding violence. Death is brought into the home on the television and the soldier killed overseas is given a name and face. Tales of war are not left to imagination and wonderment. The people are being told and reality is hitting close to home. Awareness and exposure go hand in hand and they do not desensitize the situation; if anything, they do the opposite. The media and exposure that goes along with it seems to have actually pushed the notion of universal human rights. You can now go on the internet and see what is going on in the world and how people are being treated. We are bringing up a generation that is more educated and informed than any this world has seen before.
In terms of sexuality, we seem to be a nation that chooses to look the other way at inappropriate or disapproving behavior yet come down strong when the consequences are not what we might call acceptable. There is no system of intervention set up for the youth of today, only a system to deal with the consequences of their actions. What if we lived in a world where those undesired consequences did not exist because we, the grown-ups, talked to the youth about what “could” happen? The school systems today seem to be surrounded by an abstinence only campaign. Youth are told simply to not act on their urges until they're married and to ignore their desires. And the result is a historical rise in the teen pregnancy rate and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases among preteens! Twelve year olds are not getting herpes because it is too easy to access whatever they want on the internet. If anything, this high-tech generation is misinformed on the consequences of their behavior, or not even informed at all in the first place. We can not blame media and exposure for the mishaps of our youth. The adults in this world need to stand up and take responsibility for not being involved enough in the lives of our children.
(Read the opposing argument)
Kids growing up today are not prone to violence and sexuality. We are too quick to blame violence on the exposure to Internet and video games. And many who point their fingers towards easy Internet access when looking for a reason for the promiscuous behavior of our youth. Instead, we should point our blame at the adults who seem to be lax on monitoring the exposure. And who is to say that exposure is everything? There are nations with little or no Internet access who seem to have cultures full of more violence and corruption than ours. Therefore, it seems to be that exposure is not to blame.
When it comes to the exposure to violence, we seem to be in a world of misplaced blame. It is absurd to blame school shootings on video games, and it is ridiculous to point fingers at the gaming industry when wondering why some children seem to be confused about how to behave. Not all video games are violent and not all violent video gamers are full of outrage and misguided anger. It is up to the parent or guardian to not buy those violent video games for their child. It is up to the parent or guardian to teach their child about violence. It is not the responsibility of the gaming industry to teach children what is right or wrong.
Historically speaking, the society that we live in today has not been exposed to even close to the same amounts of violence as that of societies before us. If you look at civilizations dating back before the 1900s, you will be surprised by the violence that was so present in everyday life. There were days of unimaginable everyday exposure to violence. And let me tell you, there were no violent video games to blame for the gruesome days when Vikings ruled. We live in a world today that in comparison contains far less violence than you will find in the history books. Long gone are the days when the whole town would come to watch the beheading of a local outlaw.
In an article in Science Daily, “... Kierkegaard explains, there is no obvious link between real-world violence statistics and the advent of video games. If anything, the effect seems to be the exact opposite and one might argue that video game usage has reduced real violence. Despite several high profile incidents in US academic institutions, 'Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically since the early 1990s,' says Kierkegaard, 'while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use. For example, in 2005, there were 1,360,088 violent crimes reported in the USA compared with 1,423,677 the year before. 'With millions of sales of violent games, the world should be seeing an epidemic of violence,' he says, 'Instead, violence has declined.'”
If anything, media sensitizes us to the issues surrounding violence. Death is brought into the home on the television and the soldier killed overseas is given a name and face. Tales of war are not left to imagination and wonderment. The people are being told and reality is hitting close to home. Awareness and exposure go hand in hand and they do not desensitize the situation; if anything, they do the opposite. The media and exposure that goes along with it seems to have actually pushed the notion of universal human rights. You can now go on the internet and see what is going on in the world and how people are being treated. We are bringing up a generation that is more educated and informed than any this world has seen before.
In terms of sexuality, we seem to be a nation that chooses to look the other way at inappropriate or disapproving behavior yet come down strong when the consequences are not what we might call acceptable. There is no system of intervention set up for the youth of today, only a system to deal with the consequences of their actions. What if we lived in a world where those undesired consequences did not exist because we, the grown-ups, talked to the youth about what “could” happen? The school systems today seem to be surrounded by an abstinence only campaign. Youth are told simply to not act on their urges until they're married and to ignore their desires. And the result is a historical rise in the teen pregnancy rate and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases among preteens! Twelve year olds are not getting herpes because it is too easy to access whatever they want on the internet. If anything, this high-tech generation is misinformed on the consequences of their behavior, or not even informed at all in the first place. We can not blame media and exposure for the mishaps of our youth. The adults in this world need to stand up and take responsibility for not being involved enough in the lives of our children.
(Read the opposing argument)
Pro: Today's Generation is More Apathetic Than Others
By Seneca Reynolds
So, is today’s generation more apathetic then their predecessors? Heck yeah they are! Everywhere I look, I see teenagers more worried about the latest fashions than they are at the state of our planet. It's not that the youth of today have no passion, it’s just that their passion seems to have a whole lot to do with self. Jean Twenge, author of the book Generation Me, helped lead a study that found the rate of narcissism in youth today has almost doubled since the study began some twenty years ago. Everybody needs a cause to fight for. Whether it be for the better of the planet or for your own personal triumph. And the youth of today seem to be choosing the latter. So, in the eyes of the world they are labeled as apathetic: Apathetic to political issues, apathetic to worldly concerns and apathetic when it comes to their future. They are being labeled as the “Entitlement Generation.”
The youth of today have been given many nicknames that seem to hint at their apathetic ways and “Entitlement Generation” is the one that seems to have stuck. The world seems to be full of youth who feel entitled to fortune and fame yet don’t want to put in the work to get there. Too many children are growing up being given far more than they need to get through life. The generations of struggling youth are no longer here and the stories of overcoming obstacles have been buried and forgotten. Children are growing up in what can be argued to be a more turbulent and historic time than ever, yet they choose to simply sit back and watch it all happen. Has the over exposure to the issues made them desensitized? The stories of getting stuff done and rising up are now the tales of grandparents and the words seem to have been getting lost. There are no stories of uprisings or falling in love with your future husband in jail after being arrested for trespassing during a protest to end nuclear energy. That sense of voice and empowerment seem to have been lost.
I remember growing up listening to my mom tell me stories of protests she participated in during her teens and can recall the day she took me to a street corner in town and we held up signs demanding an end to the Gulf War. Those days seem to be over for the moment and that saddens me. I live in a house with four teenagers and spend my summers working at a children’s camp. And let me tell you, there is no sense of fighting the struggle in the youth I know. There is no sense of wonderment in what they can do to make a change.
(Read the opposing argument)
So, is today’s generation more apathetic then their predecessors? Heck yeah they are! Everywhere I look, I see teenagers more worried about the latest fashions than they are at the state of our planet. It's not that the youth of today have no passion, it’s just that their passion seems to have a whole lot to do with self. Jean Twenge, author of the book Generation Me, helped lead a study that found the rate of narcissism in youth today has almost doubled since the study began some twenty years ago. Everybody needs a cause to fight for. Whether it be for the better of the planet or for your own personal triumph. And the youth of today seem to be choosing the latter. So, in the eyes of the world they are labeled as apathetic: Apathetic to political issues, apathetic to worldly concerns and apathetic when it comes to their future. They are being labeled as the “Entitlement Generation.”
The youth of today have been given many nicknames that seem to hint at their apathetic ways and “Entitlement Generation” is the one that seems to have stuck. The world seems to be full of youth who feel entitled to fortune and fame yet don’t want to put in the work to get there. Too many children are growing up being given far more than they need to get through life. The generations of struggling youth are no longer here and the stories of overcoming obstacles have been buried and forgotten. Children are growing up in what can be argued to be a more turbulent and historic time than ever, yet they choose to simply sit back and watch it all happen. Has the over exposure to the issues made them desensitized? The stories of getting stuff done and rising up are now the tales of grandparents and the words seem to have been getting lost. There are no stories of uprisings or falling in love with your future husband in jail after being arrested for trespassing during a protest to end nuclear energy. That sense of voice and empowerment seem to have been lost.
I remember growing up listening to my mom tell me stories of protests she participated in during her teens and can recall the day she took me to a street corner in town and we held up signs demanding an end to the Gulf War. Those days seem to be over for the moment and that saddens me. I live in a house with four teenagers and spend my summers working at a children’s camp. And let me tell you, there is no sense of fighting the struggle in the youth I know. There is no sense of wonderment in what they can do to make a change.
(Read the opposing argument)
Pro: Technology Stunts Social Development
By Sade Mehdizadeh
Now that I have been taking school more seriously I have noticed that all of my time is usually in front of the computer checking my hotmail to see if I received any important emails, or writing one of my many essays for school. I have recently realized that all of my time is spent in front of the computer. While I am on the computer I start to notice that I slowly slip into a computer coma where I don’t talk to anyone and kind of lose my sense of reality. I overheard my mother talking about me a couple of months ago, explaining to her friend that when I’m on the computer there’s no way that anyone can have a conversation with me because I am in my own little computer world. After I heard this I really started noticing that when I finally do pry myself off the computer that I have been sitting in front of all day, I almost forget how to function within society. Talking to people is strange; driving is very overwhelming because after you have been on the computer for an hour or more your brain is on that slow pace thinking. Or even just talking to people is something that seems so foreign. When I’m on the computer I get into a zone and if anyone tries to have a conversation with me its as if you are talking to a brick wall. Being on the computer is something that makes you so dazed and you start to lose track of time. Every time I sit at the computer to do homework it feels like time just flies by in the matter of seconds. By the time I know it, I have been sitting at the computer for a couple hours and the sun has been long gone. Every year it seems like school is starting to become an institution within our society that will become computer based, where all classes will be taught online. We will come to an era when everyone who attends college can stay at home and log onto a central website where they can see all of their classmates in front of their computers while the teacher lectures. Hybrid classes now -a-days seem to be very popular among the lazy tired or highly stressed college kids.
Even with adolescents you can see the way in which technology plays a big role in their chaotic lives. Look at Myspace and Facebook. These are two very popular social networks that almost ever adolescent has now a day. It seems that if you don’t have a profile for either of them you aren’t considered “cool”. When walking around I cant count how many times I hear teenagers talking about how “its official now because he changed his status to ‘ in a relationship’.” So…For something to be official you must post it on Facebook or MySpace? Recently I have been noticing several of my friends coming over to hang out, but instead they make a mad dash to my computer where I will then catch them clicking away at pictures of people that they haven’t seen since middle school.
Another issue to bring up is that disabled kids can have the ability and feel comfortable socializing with others by going onto the computer or video games like Halo. But it really doesn’t help them in the end. Kids who have disabilities won’t always have the computer to hide behind while they socialize. Socializing on the internet is something that I feel like these children become dependent on and eventually makes them lose the skills to socialize in face-to-face interactions. They need to practice socializing face to face because that gives them simple tools or skills when it comes to getting a job. We live in a scary and tough world and just hiding behind a computer or an interactive video game doesn’t give them self-confidence or tough backbone that they need in our society today. Kids with disabilities are very self-conscious and embarrassed of their disabilities, so when they try to get a job they wont know the do’s and don’ts of self-representation in their interview. Getting a job is nerve racking already and for someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with social interactions with others, getting a job is going to be something that is damn near impossible.
(Read the opposing argument)
Now that I have been taking school more seriously I have noticed that all of my time is usually in front of the computer checking my hotmail to see if I received any important emails, or writing one of my many essays for school. I have recently realized that all of my time is spent in front of the computer. While I am on the computer I start to notice that I slowly slip into a computer coma where I don’t talk to anyone and kind of lose my sense of reality. I overheard my mother talking about me a couple of months ago, explaining to her friend that when I’m on the computer there’s no way that anyone can have a conversation with me because I am in my own little computer world. After I heard this I really started noticing that when I finally do pry myself off the computer that I have been sitting in front of all day, I almost forget how to function within society. Talking to people is strange; driving is very overwhelming because after you have been on the computer for an hour or more your brain is on that slow pace thinking. Or even just talking to people is something that seems so foreign. When I’m on the computer I get into a zone and if anyone tries to have a conversation with me its as if you are talking to a brick wall. Being on the computer is something that makes you so dazed and you start to lose track of time. Every time I sit at the computer to do homework it feels like time just flies by in the matter of seconds. By the time I know it, I have been sitting at the computer for a couple hours and the sun has been long gone. Every year it seems like school is starting to become an institution within our society that will become computer based, where all classes will be taught online. We will come to an era when everyone who attends college can stay at home and log onto a central website where they can see all of their classmates in front of their computers while the teacher lectures. Hybrid classes now -a-days seem to be very popular among the lazy tired or highly stressed college kids.
Even with adolescents you can see the way in which technology plays a big role in their chaotic lives. Look at Myspace and Facebook. These are two very popular social networks that almost ever adolescent has now a day. It seems that if you don’t have a profile for either of them you aren’t considered “cool”. When walking around I cant count how many times I hear teenagers talking about how “its official now because he changed his status to ‘ in a relationship’.” So…For something to be official you must post it on Facebook or MySpace? Recently I have been noticing several of my friends coming over to hang out, but instead they make a mad dash to my computer where I will then catch them clicking away at pictures of people that they haven’t seen since middle school.
Another issue to bring up is that disabled kids can have the ability and feel comfortable socializing with others by going onto the computer or video games like Halo. But it really doesn’t help them in the end. Kids who have disabilities won’t always have the computer to hide behind while they socialize. Socializing on the internet is something that I feel like these children become dependent on and eventually makes them lose the skills to socialize in face-to-face interactions. They need to practice socializing face to face because that gives them simple tools or skills when it comes to getting a job. We live in a scary and tough world and just hiding behind a computer or an interactive video game doesn’t give them self-confidence or tough backbone that they need in our society today. Kids with disabilities are very self-conscious and embarrassed of their disabilities, so when they try to get a job they wont know the do’s and don’ts of self-representation in their interview. Getting a job is nerve racking already and for someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with social interactions with others, getting a job is going to be something that is damn near impossible.
(Read the opposing argument)
Con: Technology Creates a Shorter Attention Span
By Sade Mehdizadeh
For me I feel like its not technology that creates a lack of attention span, I think that there are more issues that creates a lack of attention span among children. This is an issue that should be focusing more on the problem. Whenever I hear teachers complaining and blaming certain students for not having the attention span to sit during class, I just have to ask, have the teachers ever thought they may be responsible for causing kids lack of focus things other than technology that makes a child lose their attention span. I believe that not getting enough sleep, parents who aren’t involved in their child’s life, or not eating right, or not getting enough exercise causes this problem. A lot of teachers throughout primary school were old, boring, burnt out, and hated their jobs. Well of course the kids wont sit there and listen. Teachers need to come up with a more exciting and fun way to learn. I feel like a lot of the time kids can’t sit through classes without being squirmy because they are kids! That’s what they do! Kids don’t get enough of a break throughout their school day to run around outside on the playground and get a chance to rest their minds. One of the new methods of learning that is fun for children, are computer-learning games for children. Which is great because when I watch children playing on computers they become so fascinated and focused in whatever they are doing.
(Read the opposing argument)
For me I feel like its not technology that creates a lack of attention span, I think that there are more issues that creates a lack of attention span among children. This is an issue that should be focusing more on the problem. Whenever I hear teachers complaining and blaming certain students for not having the attention span to sit during class, I just have to ask, have the teachers ever thought they may be responsible for causing kids lack of focus things other than technology that makes a child lose their attention span. I believe that not getting enough sleep, parents who aren’t involved in their child’s life, or not eating right, or not getting enough exercise causes this problem. A lot of teachers throughout primary school were old, boring, burnt out, and hated their jobs. Well of course the kids wont sit there and listen. Teachers need to come up with a more exciting and fun way to learn. I feel like a lot of the time kids can’t sit through classes without being squirmy because they are kids! That’s what they do! Kids don’t get enough of a break throughout their school day to run around outside on the playground and get a chance to rest their minds. One of the new methods of learning that is fun for children, are computer-learning games for children. Which is great because when I watch children playing on computers they become so fascinated and focused in whatever they are doing.
(Read the opposing argument)
Pro: Exposure to Sex and Violence Causes Children to Act in Sexual/Violent Ways
Weapons of Mass Destruction: Violence and Sexuality presented in technology
By Donovan Russell
A recent encounter with an 8-year-old really made it clear to me how detrimental technology can be to children. I sat with this particular kid for about an hour as he played an assortment of video games; while some could be said to be "educational," most rewarded aggression and promoted violence. I sat as he explained to me that, in one particular game, shooting his opponents enabled him to earn twice as many points as he would have through body shots. And as I sat I wondered what this was doing to him in the long run and finally what was I doing just sitting there. Any 12-year-old with a modem and a colorful vernacular is seconds away from a host of graphic images past generations would scarcely believe possible, images of sex and of violence. The world of adult perversion is now upon our children. What’s more they are encountering this world while they are unable to maturely comprehend the information presented, and so are shaped by it. For every benefit modern technology gives us there are a thousand moral dangers underlying them.
How severe is the problem of violence and sexuality? Let’s start with violence. An estimated 50,000 persons die annually in the United States as a result of violence-related injuries (Karch, Lubell, Friday, Patel &Williams, 2008), which is extremely high for an industrialized nation. But what causes these high rates? I would suggest that the media and technology greatly contribute to America’s seemingly violent society. The average American child will see about 100,000 T.V. murders by the time they are 18, not to mention the virtual murders they will participate in via video games. Considering this, it’s easy to understand how this digital generation seems so apathetic towards violence. If you want to hear how those in the media industry feel about the violence they depict watch this video of Mandy Patinkin, an American actor of stage and screen, who starred in Criminal Minds (a contemporary American crime drama).
Mandy Patinkin on TV violence:
Mandy Patinkin speaks of becoming desensitized. Social psychologists talk of something called Adaptation Level Theory; without getting too technical this means people adjust to what they are surrounded by. Basically the more you are exposed to something the less, in time, it affects you. Eskimos don’t feel the cold as much as Brazilians do, and kids growing up around violence don’t think it’s as big a deal as those who don’t. Thus that average American kid (who has seen those 100,000 murders) can’t fail to trivialize real violence because they have developed a sense of it being normal. This trivialization creates an atmosphere where real physical acts are seen as options and solutions to conflict. Many would say that responsibility lies with the parents and that they should regulate what their children digest. This is a good point and I agree that parents need to be more vigilant. However, it’s foolish to think that parents can be everywhere at once and that children won’t find ways and means to test their authority. Another question that needs to be addressed is what impact this continual rotation of violence has on adults. This adaptation to negative images through the media can be said to trivialize attitudes towards violence in adults as well. Adult attitudes then can, in turn, be said to influence children and perpetuate the cycle of violent attitudes.
Now the old argument is that, “so what if we are seeing people die, we know it’s not real?” When talking about children I think it’s questionable to what degree they understand the violence and sexuality they see on T.V. This is especially true when children are introduced to violent programming at a young age through cartoons. Although many cartoons today are not as violent as say the Tom and Jerry cartoons of yesteryear, most still center on combative narratives, use violence for humorous effect and/or emphasize competitive as opposed to cooperative values. To look at an analysis of popular cartoons watched currently, watch Negative Cartoon Content (A Study): Warning to Parents Part 1:
Now when it comes to video games a child’s ability to differentiate reality and fantasy becomes even more questionable. The overwhelming majority of video games are aggressive in nature, and revolve around killing, shooting, hitting or overwhelming an opponent. Also it’s important to remember that video games simulate actions. So the player is actually involved in the violent acts and not just observing. You just have to think about Pavlov and his dogs to realize that repeated actions become habits. The progress of technology means that newer games appear “more real”. Jumping onto the head of a 2D mushroom in Mario Bros is a world away from gunning down a lifelike 3Dimensional prostitute in G.T.A. With advancements in technology come games that are more willing to push boundaries. Video games rely on sympathetic arousal (the fight or flight phenomenon) to produce excitement in gamers. They soon get used to the level of emotions produced and so game makers constantly need to make games that are more intensely arousing. Drawing on violence and sex are easy ways to produce these reactions and so we find ourselves in the situation we are in today where young children are frequently given the opportunity to break almost every social norm in a virtual world. Leaving the virtual world for the real one, kids are often then drawn to activities that produce the same responses they have developed a taste for.
At this stage I think it’s important to remember that violence can be expressed in many ways. I’m not suggesting that all video game addicts become rampage killers yet I am saying that those exposed to excessive violence act more violently. Now these actions can manifest in social, emotional and physical realms. The tone of violent media is what is digested even if behaviors are not physically followed and this affects how people relate to others; seek success or achievement and value peers. Why would this not be so, humans are on a whole a species that learns from its surroundings, that follows the actions of models and explores possibilities through taking on characteristics of those models. Especially in the world we live in where face-to-face community contact is limited, people of all ages compensate by drawing necessary social cues from available mediums. Yet the social cues depicted in the media are influenced by the vested interests of corporations who want to keep you excited, absorbed and disconnected from the real world. The “real world” is at the same time less able to offer such instant gratification.
One of the most disturbing aspects of modern media is how it portrays sexuality. You only have to watch M.T.V for about 20mins to notice that there is an extreme difference between the numbers of scantily clad females to that of males. Women are also more commonly the back up dancers and seem more like “props” than characters. This definitely objectifies them. The word “objectify” gets thrown around a lot but what does it really mean? Well basically it’s the process of making a person an object, and when you think about it, it’s a lot easier to inflict violence onto an object than a person resembling yourself. So objectifying women promotes and excuses the use of violence against them. Mainstream media is awash with images of voiceless, sexualized woman that are valued for their bodies alone. The Internet, which is used by 73% of Americans as opposed to 19.2% of the individuals living in the rest of the world (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats14.htm), is probably the greatest source of sexually explicit material ever compiled. And far from just the volume, it’s the nature of the material on the Internet that creates a problem. Far too much of the porn out there is violent and focuses on domination, subjection and humiliation of others sexually. An American study showed that 71% of male adolescents and 40% of female adolescents were exposed to some form of Internet pornography within the 6 months prior to the survey (Jochen &Valkenburg, 2006). That means that for sure, it’s out there and our kids are watching it. There is a long history of data that agrees that pornography affects your attitudes towards sex and those around you. There is a correlation between watching sexually explicit material and a decrease in male sensitivity toward female victims of sexual assault (Zillman & Weaver 1989). This evidence suggests that watching porn (and in this case it was non-violent porn) could make you more likely to blame victims of rape. An even more disturbing finding was that watching violent pornography increased the self reported likelihood that male college students would commit rape and/or believe rape myths, like “she was just asking for it” (Demare, Lips & Briere1988). Now these studies were done almost 20years ago, before the advent of the Internet. The material available today is both more accessible (suggesting that it is also more frequently watched) and in many cases more overtly violent and harmful. Furthermore in days gone by teens would have to have actively sought out pornography and now they merely have to turn on the computer.
So how are we to combat the hostility and sexual aggression reflected in the media? Is the media to blame or is it simply mirroring the interests of society? I think these are complex questions and the answers are just as complex. Is the media the sole problem? Not entirely, but it’s not helping too much at this point either. Is it just showing us what we want to see? Perhaps, but how many choices are we given? How many positive alternatives are out there? T.V executives, the Internet site creators, video game makers and music producers all have the freedom to produce whatever they like but with that freedom comes a responsibility to their audience, not to exploit youth minds and use cheap thrills to shift units.
(Read the opposing argument)
References:
Jochen P & Valkenburg P.M 2006 Adolescents in Choice Behavior, The object-Person Dimension Perception 13(6) 719-724
Karch DL; Lubell KM; Friday J; Patel N; (2008) Williams Surveillance for violent deaths--National Violent Death Reporting System, 16 states, 2005 DD MMWR Surveill Summ. Apr 11;57(3):1-45.
Demare D, Lips H.M & Briere J. 1988 Violent porn and self reported likelihood of sexual aggression Journal of research in Personality 22, 140-150
Zillman P & Weaver J 1989 Pornography and Men’s sexual Callousness towards Women. Pornography: Research advances and policy 95-125 Hillsdale, NJ:Erbaum.
Additional statistics obtained World Internet Stats (n.d) Retrieved November 20, 2008 from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats14.htm
By Donovan Russell
A recent encounter with an 8-year-old really made it clear to me how detrimental technology can be to children. I sat with this particular kid for about an hour as he played an assortment of video games; while some could be said to be "educational," most rewarded aggression and promoted violence. I sat as he explained to me that, in one particular game, shooting his opponents enabled him to earn twice as many points as he would have through body shots. And as I sat I wondered what this was doing to him in the long run and finally what was I doing just sitting there. Any 12-year-old with a modem and a colorful vernacular is seconds away from a host of graphic images past generations would scarcely believe possible, images of sex and of violence. The world of adult perversion is now upon our children. What’s more they are encountering this world while they are unable to maturely comprehend the information presented, and so are shaped by it. For every benefit modern technology gives us there are a thousand moral dangers underlying them.
How severe is the problem of violence and sexuality? Let’s start with violence. An estimated 50,000 persons die annually in the United States as a result of violence-related injuries (Karch, Lubell, Friday, Patel &Williams, 2008), which is extremely high for an industrialized nation. But what causes these high rates? I would suggest that the media and technology greatly contribute to America’s seemingly violent society. The average American child will see about 100,000 T.V. murders by the time they are 18, not to mention the virtual murders they will participate in via video games. Considering this, it’s easy to understand how this digital generation seems so apathetic towards violence. If you want to hear how those in the media industry feel about the violence they depict watch this video of Mandy Patinkin, an American actor of stage and screen, who starred in Criminal Minds (a contemporary American crime drama).
Mandy Patinkin on TV violence:
Mandy Patinkin speaks of becoming desensitized. Social psychologists talk of something called Adaptation Level Theory; without getting too technical this means people adjust to what they are surrounded by. Basically the more you are exposed to something the less, in time, it affects you. Eskimos don’t feel the cold as much as Brazilians do, and kids growing up around violence don’t think it’s as big a deal as those who don’t. Thus that average American kid (who has seen those 100,000 murders) can’t fail to trivialize real violence because they have developed a sense of it being normal. This trivialization creates an atmosphere where real physical acts are seen as options and solutions to conflict. Many would say that responsibility lies with the parents and that they should regulate what their children digest. This is a good point and I agree that parents need to be more vigilant. However, it’s foolish to think that parents can be everywhere at once and that children won’t find ways and means to test their authority. Another question that needs to be addressed is what impact this continual rotation of violence has on adults. This adaptation to negative images through the media can be said to trivialize attitudes towards violence in adults as well. Adult attitudes then can, in turn, be said to influence children and perpetuate the cycle of violent attitudes.
Now the old argument is that, “so what if we are seeing people die, we know it’s not real?” When talking about children I think it’s questionable to what degree they understand the violence and sexuality they see on T.V. This is especially true when children are introduced to violent programming at a young age through cartoons. Although many cartoons today are not as violent as say the Tom and Jerry cartoons of yesteryear, most still center on combative narratives, use violence for humorous effect and/or emphasize competitive as opposed to cooperative values. To look at an analysis of popular cartoons watched currently, watch Negative Cartoon Content (A Study): Warning to Parents Part 1:
Now when it comes to video games a child’s ability to differentiate reality and fantasy becomes even more questionable. The overwhelming majority of video games are aggressive in nature, and revolve around killing, shooting, hitting or overwhelming an opponent. Also it’s important to remember that video games simulate actions. So the player is actually involved in the violent acts and not just observing. You just have to think about Pavlov and his dogs to realize that repeated actions become habits. The progress of technology means that newer games appear “more real”. Jumping onto the head of a 2D mushroom in Mario Bros is a world away from gunning down a lifelike 3Dimensional prostitute in G.T.A. With advancements in technology come games that are more willing to push boundaries. Video games rely on sympathetic arousal (the fight or flight phenomenon) to produce excitement in gamers. They soon get used to the level of emotions produced and so game makers constantly need to make games that are more intensely arousing. Drawing on violence and sex are easy ways to produce these reactions and so we find ourselves in the situation we are in today where young children are frequently given the opportunity to break almost every social norm in a virtual world. Leaving the virtual world for the real one, kids are often then drawn to activities that produce the same responses they have developed a taste for.
At this stage I think it’s important to remember that violence can be expressed in many ways. I’m not suggesting that all video game addicts become rampage killers yet I am saying that those exposed to excessive violence act more violently. Now these actions can manifest in social, emotional and physical realms. The tone of violent media is what is digested even if behaviors are not physically followed and this affects how people relate to others; seek success or achievement and value peers. Why would this not be so, humans are on a whole a species that learns from its surroundings, that follows the actions of models and explores possibilities through taking on characteristics of those models. Especially in the world we live in where face-to-face community contact is limited, people of all ages compensate by drawing necessary social cues from available mediums. Yet the social cues depicted in the media are influenced by the vested interests of corporations who want to keep you excited, absorbed and disconnected from the real world. The “real world” is at the same time less able to offer such instant gratification.
One of the most disturbing aspects of modern media is how it portrays sexuality. You only have to watch M.T.V for about 20mins to notice that there is an extreme difference between the numbers of scantily clad females to that of males. Women are also more commonly the back up dancers and seem more like “props” than characters. This definitely objectifies them. The word “objectify” gets thrown around a lot but what does it really mean? Well basically it’s the process of making a person an object, and when you think about it, it’s a lot easier to inflict violence onto an object than a person resembling yourself. So objectifying women promotes and excuses the use of violence against them. Mainstream media is awash with images of voiceless, sexualized woman that are valued for their bodies alone. The Internet, which is used by 73% of Americans as opposed to 19.2% of the individuals living in the rest of the world (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats14.htm), is probably the greatest source of sexually explicit material ever compiled. And far from just the volume, it’s the nature of the material on the Internet that creates a problem. Far too much of the porn out there is violent and focuses on domination, subjection and humiliation of others sexually. An American study showed that 71% of male adolescents and 40% of female adolescents were exposed to some form of Internet pornography within the 6 months prior to the survey (Jochen &Valkenburg, 2006). That means that for sure, it’s out there and our kids are watching it. There is a long history of data that agrees that pornography affects your attitudes towards sex and those around you. There is a correlation between watching sexually explicit material and a decrease in male sensitivity toward female victims of sexual assault (Zillman & Weaver 1989). This evidence suggests that watching porn (and in this case it was non-violent porn) could make you more likely to blame victims of rape. An even more disturbing finding was that watching violent pornography increased the self reported likelihood that male college students would commit rape and/or believe rape myths, like “she was just asking for it” (Demare, Lips & Briere1988). Now these studies were done almost 20years ago, before the advent of the Internet. The material available today is both more accessible (suggesting that it is also more frequently watched) and in many cases more overtly violent and harmful. Furthermore in days gone by teens would have to have actively sought out pornography and now they merely have to turn on the computer.
So how are we to combat the hostility and sexual aggression reflected in the media? Is the media to blame or is it simply mirroring the interests of society? I think these are complex questions and the answers are just as complex. Is the media the sole problem? Not entirely, but it’s not helping too much at this point either. Is it just showing us what we want to see? Perhaps, but how many choices are we given? How many positive alternatives are out there? T.V executives, the Internet site creators, video game makers and music producers all have the freedom to produce whatever they like but with that freedom comes a responsibility to their audience, not to exploit youth minds and use cheap thrills to shift units.
(Read the opposing argument)
References:
Jochen P & Valkenburg P.M 2006 Adolescents in Choice Behavior, The object-Person Dimension Perception 13(6) 719-724
Karch DL; Lubell KM; Friday J; Patel N; (2008) Williams Surveillance for violent deaths--National Violent Death Reporting System, 16 states, 2005 DD MMWR Surveill Summ. Apr 11;57(3):1-45.
Demare D, Lips H.M & Briere J. 1988 Violent porn and self reported likelihood of sexual aggression Journal of research in Personality 22, 140-150
Zillman P & Weaver J 1989 Pornography and Men’s sexual Callousness towards Women. Pornography: Research advances and policy 95-125 Hillsdale, NJ:Erbaum.
Additional statistics obtained World Internet Stats (n.d) Retrieved November 20, 2008 from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats14.htm
Con: Accessibility of Information is Detrimental to Children and Adolescents
Digital Grassroots by Donovan Russell
The world we currently inhabit is a world in crisis. Economic institutions around the world continue to crash, despite valiant efforts governments and individuals alike continue to ignore global warming and wars continue to be fought based on flawed, narrow minded ideologies. What these, and so many of society’s ills, have in common is that they are caused and fueled primarily by ignorance. To insure a better tomorrow it seems fundamentally important that we better inform and educate the population. Only by instilling a better understanding of other people, the places they live and what they believe in can we become a collective world. This goes beyond the knowledge of others, we in this age are more capable than ever of comprehending the complexities of nature and science. Furthermore, this knowledge is no longer limited to a select few but is open to the masses. The momentum of the digital revolution is still strong; is still going and as parents, teachers, caregivers and role models we can not vainly attempt to shield our children from the endless opportunities available to them. In education our role must become that of facilitators, and as parents that of guide. A wealth of information is only detrimental if it is not channeled, developed and used correctly, and thus if we can teach the youth of today how best to access and use this information the chances for them to affect positive social change becomes endless.
Many would argue that sheer volume of information does little to ensure it’s quality and that for every useful piece of information there is a vast amount of negative and even harmful material to counter act its usefulness. This is by no means untrue, and is a very real concern. However in saying this, the solution lies not in trying to contain or limit access but rather in education on how to decode knowledge. With the invention of things like the iPhone and Youtube children are able to connect with infinite ideas and opinions anywhere any time. The Internet is in their schools, their libraries and in the homes of their friends. It is one of the greatest educational tools ever invented as well as being a place of social and emotional development. In short it’s here and it’s staying.
One has only to look at programs like One Laptop per Child to realize that the technological age is spreading beyond the first world and has positive implications for the entire planet. Computers have become cost effective, portable classrooms and have the ability to make quality education accessible to people in remote or underdeveloped parts of the world. Hundreds of countries suffer from a shortage of qualified, well trained teachers and while training and developing resources can be expensive and time consuming, cheap computer-based education, utilized in the correct way, offers learners amazing opportunities.
To learn more about One Laptop per Child watch:
Or this is an excellent lecture by Nicholas Negroponte:
The problem is not having too much information but rather accepting information without criticism. This has been the hallmark of our educational system for centuries. Students are expected to swallow, remember and regurgitate facts, figures, dates, opinions, etc. Now when they are faced with dubious facts, figures, dates and opinions via technology they do as they have been taught and assimilate it without question. What is needed is more education on how to criticize and evaluate data. With progress in speed and availability the focus is placed on the analysis and because of the ease at which information can be found cross-referencing and comparing in turn become easier.
For an in depth discussion on the topic of suitability watch this video by computer expert Chris Pirillo:
What about material that isn’t suitable for children? Think of it like this; would you prohibit your child from going to the library because it had a copy of Mein Kampf in it? Technology and the media get blamed for a vast majority of society's social ills, often the inactions and failures of parents and teachers are overlooked. Adult material is meant for adults and if you can make sure your children don’t play with guns or drain cleaner why can’t you supervise their access to the cyber world. If one takes the time it is possible to monitor how your child engages with technology. There are systems to check and limit what Internet sites are accessed or how often your children use their cell phones. Problems arise when young ones know more than adults do about technology and when caregivers fail to have enough time to be a part of their children’s lives. So what is needed again is better education but this time of parents, caregivers and teachers.
So while we ourselves may struggle to keep up with technological growth we can’t assume that the world will stop and wait for us. The emphasis in the 21st century has shifted from retaining knowledge to evaluating it. If our children are to have a fighting chance at development and advancement they need to be taught to access, utilize and interpret technology. Technology in the end is just a tool, and like all tools individuals need to be instructed on how to use what they are given. Adults need to facilitate and guide; allow access but monitor that access and finally be aware that the most important skill children learn today is how to find and deconstruct data and not the data itself.
(Read the opposing argument)
The world we currently inhabit is a world in crisis. Economic institutions around the world continue to crash, despite valiant efforts governments and individuals alike continue to ignore global warming and wars continue to be fought based on flawed, narrow minded ideologies. What these, and so many of society’s ills, have in common is that they are caused and fueled primarily by ignorance. To insure a better tomorrow it seems fundamentally important that we better inform and educate the population. Only by instilling a better understanding of other people, the places they live and what they believe in can we become a collective world. This goes beyond the knowledge of others, we in this age are more capable than ever of comprehending the complexities of nature and science. Furthermore, this knowledge is no longer limited to a select few but is open to the masses. The momentum of the digital revolution is still strong; is still going and as parents, teachers, caregivers and role models we can not vainly attempt to shield our children from the endless opportunities available to them. In education our role must become that of facilitators, and as parents that of guide. A wealth of information is only detrimental if it is not channeled, developed and used correctly, and thus if we can teach the youth of today how best to access and use this information the chances for them to affect positive social change becomes endless.
Many would argue that sheer volume of information does little to ensure it’s quality and that for every useful piece of information there is a vast amount of negative and even harmful material to counter act its usefulness. This is by no means untrue, and is a very real concern. However in saying this, the solution lies not in trying to contain or limit access but rather in education on how to decode knowledge. With the invention of things like the iPhone and Youtube children are able to connect with infinite ideas and opinions anywhere any time. The Internet is in their schools, their libraries and in the homes of their friends. It is one of the greatest educational tools ever invented as well as being a place of social and emotional development. In short it’s here and it’s staying.
One has only to look at programs like One Laptop per Child to realize that the technological age is spreading beyond the first world and has positive implications for the entire planet. Computers have become cost effective, portable classrooms and have the ability to make quality education accessible to people in remote or underdeveloped parts of the world. Hundreds of countries suffer from a shortage of qualified, well trained teachers and while training and developing resources can be expensive and time consuming, cheap computer-based education, utilized in the correct way, offers learners amazing opportunities.
To learn more about One Laptop per Child watch:
Or this is an excellent lecture by Nicholas Negroponte:
The problem is not having too much information but rather accepting information without criticism. This has been the hallmark of our educational system for centuries. Students are expected to swallow, remember and regurgitate facts, figures, dates, opinions, etc. Now when they are faced with dubious facts, figures, dates and opinions via technology they do as they have been taught and assimilate it without question. What is needed is more education on how to criticize and evaluate data. With progress in speed and availability the focus is placed on the analysis and because of the ease at which information can be found cross-referencing and comparing in turn become easier.
For an in depth discussion on the topic of suitability watch this video by computer expert Chris Pirillo:
What about material that isn’t suitable for children? Think of it like this; would you prohibit your child from going to the library because it had a copy of Mein Kampf in it? Technology and the media get blamed for a vast majority of society's social ills, often the inactions and failures of parents and teachers are overlooked. Adult material is meant for adults and if you can make sure your children don’t play with guns or drain cleaner why can’t you supervise their access to the cyber world. If one takes the time it is possible to monitor how your child engages with technology. There are systems to check and limit what Internet sites are accessed or how often your children use their cell phones. Problems arise when young ones know more than adults do about technology and when caregivers fail to have enough time to be a part of their children’s lives. So what is needed again is better education but this time of parents, caregivers and teachers.
So while we ourselves may struggle to keep up with technological growth we can’t assume that the world will stop and wait for us. The emphasis in the 21st century has shifted from retaining knowledge to evaluating it. If our children are to have a fighting chance at development and advancement they need to be taught to access, utilize and interpret technology. Technology in the end is just a tool, and like all tools individuals need to be instructed on how to use what they are given. Adults need to facilitate and guide; allow access but monitor that access and finally be aware that the most important skill children learn today is how to find and deconstruct data and not the data itself.
(Read the opposing argument)
Con: Today's Generation is More Apathetic Than Others
X + Y = Obama
Ahhhhh . . . . the life of a hipster. To be removed from all concern & not give a shit about who, when, where, why, or how. That sounds like my generation right? A generation of do nothing but expect everything. A generation of hipsters, Generation me, the Millennials, the Entitlement Generation, the Trophy Generation, Digital Generation, The Internet Generation, MySpace Generation, Generation Y . . .etc; all names from the generations before us to label, package, understand & sell to us. You see to them, & by them I mean the Baby Boomers & Gen X’ers of years prior, we’re the new disconnected apathetic youth only magnified by modern technology. In their eyes we don’t care because we didn’t live their motto of “turn on, tune in, drop out” but because we were too busy being logged in. We supposedly spend all our time MySpacing our friends, texting while driving, Youtubing, & blogging about nothing. In my eyes they haven’t been paying attention we‘ve never been a disconnected generation we’ve just been wireless.
Etymologically apathy drives from the Greek apatheia or a (without) + pathos (to appeal to emotions). This was a term used by stoics to signify indifference for what one is not responsible for. The stoics would have viewed apathy as “the extinction of the passions by the ascendency of reason.” Much later it is believed that Christians re-appropriated the term to express contempt of earthy matters or concerns. Well now that we’ve walked down the history apathy why don’t take a stroll down to the root of why our generation’s labeled such.
“My generation’s apathy. I’m disgusted with it. I’m disgusted with my own apathy too for being spineless and not always standing up against racism, sexism, and all those other -isms the counterculture has whining about for years.” – Kurt Cobain
Generation X, defined by birth years as 1961 – 1981, had significant overtones of cynicism against things held dear to previous generations. It was a dark horse demographic defined by grunge music, Northwestern aesthetics, & alienation from being but a slim 46 million shadow to the Baby Boomer’s 80 million spotlight. Being apathetic came with the territory of living in the Basque of boomer folklore of being the post pill pre AIDS post LSD generation but also the crushing weight of racial strife, homelessness, & federal deficits. Apathy was the way to be.
Now, let’s fast forward to Generation Y. A demographic of 70 million born between 1982 – to present carrying not only the burden of the generations before it but with a whole host of new issues that have grown to be more prominent such as higher divorce rates amongst families, Post 9/11 mentality, higher education, housing, & energy costs are to name a few. Also, Gen Y has a closer relationship to technology & media thus a greater degree of corporate marketing unlike any other generation in history.
In their 2007 book, Connecting to the Net. Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know about Today's Students, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:
§ 97% own a computer
§ 97% have downloaded music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
§ 94% own a cell phone
§ 76% use instant messaging and social networking sites
§ 75% of college students have a Facebook profile and most of them check it daily
§ 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
§ 49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
§ 34% use websites as their primary source of news
§ 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
§ 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
William Damon describes Gen Y as group of aimless slackers who have a sense of entitlement in his writings in The Path to Purpose. Professor Mark Bauerlin writes in his book The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeoparizes Our Future that we don’t give a damn, we have no values, & we don’t care about anyone else. Under his scope we are a future of bad citizens with our only interest being things of pop culture, celebrities, & our friends. He wrote, “They upload and download, surf and chat, post and design, but they haven’t learned to analyze a complex text, store facts in their heads, comprehend a foreign policy decision, take lessons from history, or spell correctly. Never having recognized their responsibility to the past, they have opened a fissure in our civic foundations, and it shows in their halting passage into adulthood and citizenship.” From the sounds of it, if apathy were a religion then Professor Bauerlin seems to believe that we’re the coming anti-Christ & every LOL or OMG being the sign of the beast.
"Apathy is one of the characteristic responses of any living organism when it is subjected to stimuli too intense or too complicated to cope with. The cure for apathy is comprehension." – US novelist John Dos Passos
Well doesn’t that seem to be a pretty bleak outlook of the coming generation. Thankfully not everyone was listening. Don Tapscott in his new book Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World he sets out to find the truth about our generation. He headed a research project that interviewed 6,000 Gen Y’ers from around the world. Overall, he determined that we’re the first global generation; we’re smarter, quicker, and more tolerant of diversity than our predecessors. He describes eight norms that differentiate us from our boomer & gen x parents. We prize freedom & freedom of choice. We want to customize things & make them our own. We’re natural collaborators who enjoy a conversation, not lecture. We scrutinize you & your organization. We insist on integrity. We want to have fun, even at work and at school. Speed is normal. Innovation is part of life.
My brain is so patterned after technology that my iPhone feels like an extension of my being. On my iPhone, I can find the best peer reviewed restaurant within a quarter mile radius, squash that debate about who was the 007 between Sean Connery & Roger Moore, post this blog entry, email a client, text my friend, call Moms & all within 5-10 minutes. That’s the best limb I’ve had in years. What sounded like an afternoon now was just accomplished in a coffee break.
So why the hostility towards us? People become defensive and threatened by that which they do not understand. Plus, throw in a little Gen X hipster rub off for good measure. This is just a generational continuation of finger shaking. Just like the mid-century generation did to the baby boomers the boomers did to the Gen X’ers now the Gen X’ers & the boomers are tag teaming us. Part of the reason that we come across as an apathetic bunch is because we have had more media, advertisements, & fear mongering shoved down throats unlike any generational group before it. Due to this we’ve developed super consumer multi-tasking, a keen sense, & hyper bullshit detectors. Think about this when my father was growing up he saw a picture and it was a picture. In my childhood when I saw a picture was it actually that person? Or did someone use adobe photo shop to crop it or enhance it a la the latest celeb gossip nudie pic. We doubt everything, don’t get sold, & buy what we want.
But I understand, within the next coming years, we’ll replace those horrible ink residue leaving newspapers for blogs & phone applications, TV’s for Youtube/Hulu.com, & DVD’s have just recent received their AARP membership. Business cards? On life support. Soon enough we’ll take out there desktop/laptop computers and leave them with an interactive display that will definitely make them scratch their heads. We already made their CD/tape/record players damn near obsolete & their phones impossible to use. No wonder the hostility. Oh yeah weren’t we the initiating political force for our new black president-elect Barack Hussein Obama. What a bunch of slacker good for nothings we are, huh?
President –elect Obama was the first of many political leaders to get us. I remember in 2004 after I heard him speak at the Democratic National Convention I got one of those “who is that” moments? I remember it clearly. That same week I did a little Google on him & I think I might have purchased his book. One of the most fascinating things about Obama for me, I mean besides living up to Oprah’s oracle like entitlement of “The One”, was that back in 2005 he actually had a podcast that made his day – to – day work load transparent online weekly for anyone to hear. Let me repeat that. A politician, from Chicago no less, made a weekly podcast for people to hear what he is doing on the daily like we were his managers to report to. He was directly reaching out to our generation. He got it & he continued to get it all the way through the primaries by defeating Hilary Clinton & then to the largest Presidential election landslide in decades. He took out the two most powerful political brands on both sides of the aisle. He did it by planting the seeds to the savvy Gen X & Y’ers through YouTube, podcasts, & the internet. The most brilliant being the “Yes we can” video that circulated through YouTube or the market campaign prior to his big win in Iowa during the primaries. We elected Obama the first president with a laptop on the oval office desk. The first president with a YouTube site & a blog. The first president-elect reluctantly stripped of his Blackberry upon stepping into the white house.
I don’t really remember much of the 2000 Bush v. Gore election but I seem to recall myself saying something to the likes of, “fuck it! My vote doesn’t count why would I vote for the lesser of two evils anyway?” So I didn’t vote & I didn’t care. Frankly, I was too inebriated off of Bombay gin & Old English malt liquor to have any concern at the time. Fast forward 4 years later & were talking a whole different story. Despair doesn’t describe the loss I felt from hearing CNN announce President Bush’s win in Ohio in 2004. I seem to remember experiencing knee buckling & throat seizing. It sucked, it hurt, & it was anything but apathy. Fast forward another 4 more years & the impossible is achieved. On that night I wasn’t surrounded by disconnected hipsters with ironic mustaches. I was encircled by countless kids smiling ear to ear, beating drums, clapping hands, dancing in the middle of Broadway & Grand Avenues, shouting “Yes we can!” & then again on Telegraph Avenue screaming “U-S-A!” Well how about world? How about that Boomers? You ready for an America 2.0?
(Read the opposing argument)
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