Composition l
Research Paper
How Technology is Affecting the Youth in the 21st Century
The use of technology among the youth in the 21st century is becoming more common. Generation Y teenagers are continuing to use technology for a variety of reasons. Some ways on how teenagers are using technology are to acquire new skills or connect with peers and family members who are in a distant location. The opportunities for teenagers to socialize is mainly dependent on emerging technologies. However, not all teenagers benefit equally from emerging technologies. There exist several disparities between and within nations when it comes to accessing digital technology, which results in unequal access to technology outcomes among the youth.
Technology, especially social media introduces important challenges to the lives of the present generation teenagers. The youth are deemed as the most frequent users of emerging technologies as well as online platforms. Today, teenagers are growing up with the presence of digital social media platforms such as Facebook and understand how to use some emerging technology devices at a very tender age (Huston 14). However, research indicates that the more teenagers and younger people access digital platforms, the more they are exposed to risks, such as having access to harmful user-generated content. Yet, many children could experience severe harm that could emerge from accessing the digital technologies and eventually the risk could be detrimental to their lives. Hence, building digital resilience is necessary for the 21st century youth and their families (Huston 15). Besides, certain devices, such as smart toys and other emerging innovations that are driven by emerging technologies raise fundamental questions concerning the privacy, as well as safety of children (Memmedova 501). Technology affects how the current generation children learn in schools.
The increase in access translates to the increasing time that the youth and children spend online. Research indicates that younger people spend about two to three hours online on a typical weekday and over four hours on a typical weekend. However, the current trend shows that the time that the youth spend online has been by about 40 minutes on average (Memmedova 502). Over the last couple of years, there has been a significant increase in technology usage. This is partly linked to younger people beginning to use digital devices at a very younger age. On the other hand, the introduction of the touch screens, as well as tablets that are driven by icons has greatly facilitated the current trend of toddler and pre-scholars spending most of their time online. It has been documented that about 30% of three to four-year-olds in the UK have access to digital platforms (Memmedova 504). However, the percentage is even higher in countries such as Belgium.
The time spent online by the younger generation has been observed to be significantly related to the time spent by adults and parents, as well as the availability of the emerging technologies in the home setting. Therefore, it demonstrates that having technological devices at the home environment may subject children and the youth to become acquitted with the technological devices at a very tender age (Voogt 407). Similarly, younger people who own technological devices have been increasing over the past decade. Nonetheless, the trends of accessing technological devices are not uniform across countries. In general, regions where teenagers and children have access to digital devices and the Internet, they show an interest in the online presence at a very tender age. Furthermore, it has been noted that boys and more advantaged group of children show a tendency to have more access to digital devices at a very tender age compared to girls (Voogt 407). As such, younger people who make use of the digital devices, especially at a younger age can be a matter of concern to the society since they are perceived to be more resilient to the risks, which they encounter online.
Today, the younger generation is more likely to appear online through the use of personal digital devices such as laptops. A recent survey on the use of emerging technologies demonstrates that, on average, about 80% of younger people have access to digital technology and the Internet (Voogt 403). Additionally, more research shows that many children are carrying with them heir Smartphone and other digital devices to their bedrooms. In such conditions, there is very minimal parental guidance (Huston 12). This tendency shows that children are prone t watching programs and another video, which is an activity that has become more or less a private issue. For instance, snapchat is ranked as a platform where there is no permanent thing; hence enabling younger people to send texts, images, as well as video with an enhanced level of privacy. However, traditional social networks such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming increasingly less popular among the current younger generation and children. Contrarily, this is very true for platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat where the adults show minimal presence to offer guidance.
The proportion of younger people who frequently use the Internet for entertainment and other leisure activities has greatly increased. For example, playing online games has been observed to be common among the boys compared to girls. Besides, many children are using the Internet, especially in their home setting and in the school environment to gain further information on informal learning (Voogt 407). In many countries across the globe, younger people are using technology to gain more information. Some children suggest that they use digital technology, such as the Internet to allow them to exchange solutions to problems with their peers. However, socio-economically disadvantaged children are less likely to do so compare to children who are socio-economically advantaged. This group of younger children shows the tendency to play more online games.
The use of emerging technologies among teenagers is associated with several challenges and at times may come at a cost. A good number of children report that they feel bad or depressed when they cannot be allowed to get online. As a result, this is a tendency that can harm the wellbeing of children (Palaiologou 7). More specifically, girls have reported that they feel bad, especially when there is no internet connection compared to boys. In countries such as Sweden, socio-economically disadvantaged children are less likely to report that the felt bad when there is no Internet connection. However, children are regarded as extreme Internet users, especially during weekdays (Palaiologou 21). Consequently, extreme Internet users have reported less life satisfaction and are most likely to be bullied at school with their colleagues. Also, this group of children report lower expectations of furthering their education and are more likely to arrive at school late compared to other children.
The more time that child in the online platforms, the greater they get exposed to several online opportunities as well as risks. These aspects are in tandem with each other since younger people have to encounter and explore online risks to be able to learn and develop their digital skills. However, any effort to enhance opportunities can also boost the risk associated with technology. An important opportunity that children get exposed to when they interact with technology is access to global information (Palaiologou 16). Thus, it has been noted that not only is the quantity of information available to them but also they get exposed to a diversified and much larger connect, which is more readily accessible. The information can be obtained in different formats, such as voicemail, blogs, as well as wikis. Consequently, search engines are a technological platform that has made is much easier to find relevant information on the Internet. Hence, when searching for words, younger people can instantly select and access the most relevant information about the content that has been posted online.
In summary, using the current technology to search for information by the younger generation has become a common practice. However, a large amount of information that younger children are exposed to may be associated with negative effects. For example, anybody can produce any material and post it online. However, the quality of such materials that are posted online may be associated with poor content and quality, which may affect the moral fabric of society. Further, when it comes to search engines, some information posted may be manipulated by the providers. This is a phenomenon that is regarded as a search engine manipulation effect. The other important concern is associated with the number of fake posts. Conclusively, the current generations need support from parents and educators to provide them with an opportunity to develop much-needed skills on how to make productive use of emerging technologies. Since the market of emerging technologies is continuing to expand in the current century, the younger generation can use them in a positive way to get advice regarding their health and education.
Works Cited
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Memmedova, Konul, and E. L. Selahattin. “Effects of the technology use on anxiety and aggression levels of youth conducting their higher education studies abroad.” Quality & Quantity 52.1 (2018): 501-507. Web. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11135-017-0630-4. 29 Dec 2019.
Palaiologou, Ioanna. “Children under five and digital technologies: implications for early years pedagogy.”European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 24.1 (2016): 5-24. Web. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1350293X.2014.929876. Accessed 29 Dec 2019.
Voogt, Joke, et al. “Challenges to learning and schooling in the digitally networked world of the 21st century.” Journal of Computer-assisted Learning 29.5 (2013): 403-413. Web. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcal.12029. Accessed 29 Dec 2019.
