The Kids Are Ok!
Told you didn’t I…
(GBR) A report by CBS News suggests that while teenagers are exposed to a world that parents find hard to comprehend, the exposure to digital tools and content is actually a positive.
Their daily routines buzz with cell phones ringing with the latest tunes, pings from their IM accounts and daily computer runs to see if they’ve been “friended” on MySpace or “Facebooked.” On average, teens say they spend almost three hours a day on the Internet on a typical day, according to a CBSNews.com poll…
It continues…
However, the pace of this social change is profound—and as with any quick change, it’s difficult to know what the consequences may be down the line. What is important about all this is not just the effect of technology on teens themselves, but how their use of technology is changing family dynamics, interpersonal relationships, crime, education and even the way major companies conduct business.
This notion of teens being in touch all the time, anytime, is striking, says Lee Rainie, founding director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. “Their conversations never end and anytime a sort of new input enters their lives—gossip or real news—they have the capacity to broadcast it to a wider group,” Rainie says…
It is now routine for teens to chat with several friends via instant messenger while texting other acquaintances and searching for a movie listing on their computer—all simultaneously…
Technology deeply entrenched in most teens’ lives. But, this may also mean that today’s GenTechs may be tomorrow’s technological leaders, pushing the country toward innovation.
What does remain certain, however, is that GenTech is growing into a world in which they will no longer remember doing one thing at a time, having a simple telephone conversation with a friend, or meeting someone in person before checking them out online. GenTech may be no different than Gen X when it comes to their behavior, but the technological means they have at their disposal is sure to influence the adults they become.
