The Risks And Rewards Of Being An Adolescent In The Digital Age
Decrease in productivity levels
Adolescents spend an estimated 7. 5 hours per day on media leading them to be less productive. Adolescents spend a lot of time on social media thus, they may forget their school work, extra curricular activities and even their family.
Teens are exposed to cyberbullying
Everything that is posted online is usually public (or can be) raising concerns about the lasting effects of information shared online on adolescents. Most adolescents have been involved in cyberbullying; this is important because the involvement in bullying can lead be many negative impacts such as; depression, anxiety, disorders, and self harm.
Many social media platforms ask adolescents to disclose information they usually would be uncomfortable with disclosing in person. The amount of information the release such a as; where they live, their school, and more, they are putting themselves in constant danger and opening a door for predators.
Less manual job opportunities
In the documentary we watched in class, it described how technology is taking over many jobs (such as; lawyers and pharmacists). Thus, there will be less job opportunities which has a negative impact of the adolescent society.
Less time spent with family
As adults realized adolescents were spending time ‘alone together’ not together physically, however communication using social media platforms. This is clearly a huge step back in adolescents social development. Adolescents do not have it easier than their parents, because this generation is exposed to cyberbullying and predators who can easily mask themselves as a teenager. Moreover, adolescents are spending more time texting their family and friends resulting in less face to face communication. Furthermore, technology is taking over many jobs that the baby boomer and millennial generation used to do, meaning adolescents will have less hands on job opportunities. The baby boomer and millennial generation did not have to deal with any of these difficulties adolescents face because technology wasn’t as advanced or common.
Keeps close connection to friends
Time spent online does replace time spent in real life with family, however, using social media to communicate with friends and family has proven to keep existing relationshipsPhones provide almost constant connectivity to peers, social networks and to school Adolescents do not go online to ‘put on a mask’, but instead tend to find their real personalities using online platforms, this also improves adolescents communicative skills.
Easy access to school work
Adolescents use phones to collect information about their school work, to understand changes in their health and sexuality, and to learn about current global issues. Media can be a great study tool for students, when used appropriately, adolescents can also use their peers to ask for helpSocial media makes it easier to for adolescents to participate in group discussions and study groups, adolescents can post research they worked on to social media platforms to aid their peers.
Boost self-esteem
Social media provides a place where adolescents can freely express them self. Adolescents can join online groups with people who share their interests and which reflect their unique personality, this boosts them and makes adolescents feel loved. The confidence adolescents pick up from online, they can use in real life, making them more social and happier.
Encourages Innovation and Creativity
Adolescents can use different devices to create innovative ideas which can be used in growth and expansion, many schools provide technological challenges and reward adolescents who come up with creative ideas using technology. Adolescents don’t have to deal with the stress of turning in assignments, taking notes, and many more, solely because of technology. Many teachers assign assignments to be turned in online and post notes online, therefore students don’t have to worry about missing class. Moreover, technology opens many opportunities where students can be innovative in expanding their interests. The baby boomer and millennial generation did not have access to such advanced technology, therofere, they were limited in how creative they could be.
My conclusion
Overall we believe adolescents have it harder than their parents, because of the evolvement of gender roles, less job opportunities, competitive schooling, and the advancement of technology. During the baby boomer and part of the millennial generation the gender roles were always the same for every family. A family would live in a patriarchal family where the man would be the breadwinner and the woman would be a housewife, usually with little to no education. However, that is no longer the expectation. The expectation now is that women and men should both support their family. Although women having equal rights as men may be seen as positive it does have negative impacts. One negative impact is that getting into decent university is more competitive now. Moreover, students are not only competing against the people in their country, their competing against people all over the world because universities are now international. The baby boomer and part of the millennial generation never had this problem because back then technology wasn’t advanced thus, schooling wasn’t as competitive. Moreover, the evolvement of technology replaced many jobs (such as; pharmacists and lawyers) that adolescents today might have wanted to do in the future. This results in less job opportunities thus, getting a job will be just as challenging as getting into a good post-secondary institution.
To conclude, we agree the baby boomer and millennial generation did have to overcome various challenges to be as successful as they are today, however we don’t believe adolescents have it easier then they did. We believe adolescents just have to face different challenges.
