I agree that the use of technology has become a great problem for the youth of today. Too often do I see a group of teens that are supposed to be “hanging out” but instead are all walking side-by-side, texting, and not communicating with one another. It is nearly impossible for many young men and women to be fully present in any event in life without having constant connection to the outside world. I recently heard a saying that I think is important to live by. “Be where your bottom is.” Essentially this says that no matter where you are, you should try your best to actively engage in your surroundings and leave the technology out of the picture. Texting and the Internet come along with so much baggage that can negatively impact us, that it is best to only use such technology when it is necessary.

Although I wish I were learning something by reading Heil’s comments, it is very obvious that today’s youth are more worried about the latest newsfeed on facebook than real-world issues. Unfortunately, I am guilty of being on facebook on a much to regular occurrence. I spend more time reading about what Stacy made for dinner rather than listening to the news. It seems that this would improve interpersonal communication, but in all reality we are not really communicating but more snooping. And, posting on social sites like facebook acts as mass communication more so, because so many people can see your posting at once. People with 1,000 friends are posting what they had for dinner, for example, to hundreds at once, in all different places. And, feedback is delayed, or in many cases not used at all. I would think that older people would find it funny that we spend so much time with things life facebook, but even my 70 year old grandmother logs in once a day. Our society is changing, and maybe not for the better in regards to the information we find most valuable.

Technology has changed our lives it seems that we are spending more time in front of a screen than doing anything else. Texting has become a problem in our society because we are losing our ability to communicate face to face. People are using the internet to communicate instead of researching and learning new stuff. I have witnessed this in school most of the people are not paying attention because they are too busy communicating on the social networks. Not only are we spending a lot of our valuable time with technology, but we are uploading things to the internet about our personal life that makes easier to people to spam your information. Parents need to pay more attention in what their teens are doing to prevent tragedies.

I really liked this post. I actually was just having a conversation with a friend of mine after class in regards to the power technology has and increased even in the past years. I will be out at dinner with some of my friends and even in the middle of conversation their iphone will go off and they will be glued to something on their cell phone screen for a remainder of time, totally forgetting we were even in the middle of communicating. I’m not sure how technology has increased and continued to spread so rapidly, but it seems to be getting more popular even by the minute. I think that the use of technology can be very useful and affective if it’s used in the right context however, I don’t like or agree with how it has changed and shaped our generations way of communicating with one another. It gives to much space for people to create alter ego’s or express themselves in ways that they normally wouldn’t, if done face to face. Not only has it changed communication between friends, family, and co-workers but even in dating relationships. I just overheard a dating couple walk past me and as they went to part ways, “I’ll text you later.” It’s actually quite scary to think of how we abuse technology and have become so lazy to the point of even actually talking to someone. Not only that, but we are so dependent of having our cell phone or computers with us at all times. We seem to be in the midst of a generation that would rather do things that are easy and convenient, surrounding them, instead of stretching and growing or putting someone else even before our own needs, wants and desires.

Technology has changed all aspects of communication, ranging from views on life, to relationships. I agree with the author in the fact that using technology to communicate has become much easier for people. Not only teens, but all ranges of people, now use texting and social websites such as Facebook as a way to communicate with each other. This has changed the way that they interact with each other and the outcome of how their relationships will be. For example, in the dating scene; texting is now usually the way to ask someone out on a date, or the way that you would begin to get to know an individual. Technology can be used productively but I also believe that face to face interaction is much more benefiting. I also believe that social media changes how aware we need to be of our surroundings and who we interact with. The statistics shown were really surprising to me. A great percentage of teens and children have been oppressed and hurt in a way that they should’t be at such a young age, which makes us need to be more aware.

With all of the newest technology, including texting and internet easily accessible, I believe it has a definite negative affect on our teens in today’s society. It seems like now more than ever anytime I see a young kid, there is always a cell phone or some kind of electronic device that is attached to them. Just like many things, they are not bad unless they are handled incorrectly. I strongly believe what the article says regarding parents having to instruct their children on what is right and wrong but unfortunately in reality, most parents don’t invest time in doing so.

I never really thought about the amount of time spent using technology until very recently. I started to pay more attention to the amount of time I spend and if I’m awake then I’m using it in some form. One incident that really got me thinking about this is the fact that my 3 year old, while playing with a toy cell phone said to me, “hold on mommy, I need to text Katie”. Where did she learn that? From me! Is this really how I want my daughter to live? Do I want her to be so obsessed with technology that she can’t even have a conversation with her mother? The statistics are scary in regards to internet use and the types of things teenagers see. I am almost 30 now, but I remember in high school being on the internet and seeing a pornographic image pop up when I searched for something or having some weird man contact me via instant messenger, so I can only imagine the types of images teenagers are exposed to these days. I hope to be a proactive parent and will try my best to shelter my child from the darkest depths of technology hell before she gets sucked in like so many others have already.

I saw an article the other day that went through some of the fundamental aspects of childhood that have changed over the last 5 – 10 years and it was interesting the attitudes and manner with which children of today’s era interacted with older media. For instance, a young child had tried to spread the borders of a picture on a refrigerator, much in the same manner you would on a smart phone or tablet.

At early ages, when children are learning the means for interpersonal relationships, parents are taking the easier, lazy way out by handing their child an iPhone or some other piece of technology. That type of parenting needs to be ousted.

The possibilities of cyberbullying, sexting, and sexual predators are horrific for parents today, but the part that many of us don’t think about is the loss of interpersonal relationships and quality of life. While technology is crucial in our world today, keeping children tuned into true interpersonal relationships and values is crucial.
Constant monitoring comibined with good old fashioned morals and values will hopefully help our children keep a grasp of how to connect and communicate on a higher level. It is difficult to know if that is enough, though.
We try so hard to protect our kids’ exteriors, but the interior and who they are inside is just as important. If my daughter were to ever lose her consideration and charisma for people, I would feel like I didn’t do my job as a mom.
I hope and pray as a society, we can preserve some of their innocense as we learn to deal more with our media-driven world. I hope we can preserve our own, as well. Technology is convenient but not a replacement for life.

This blog immediately stuck out to me because today, Sunday, I was lazy, and I didn’t want to go to church. So instead, I watched church online. I would consider myself to be a good Christian, who grew up in the church, and did it the “traditional” way… getting my butt up, getting dressed, and going to a building. I don’t do this every Sunday; I usually do enter into the building. But then I had to think about something else. I don’t even carry a Bible to church with me anymore. Who needs a Bible when you have a Android phone with a Bible app? One Sunday I noticed while I sat and listened to the sermon, I see Androids, iPhones, Kindles… the youth minister even used his iPad to deliver the message. As I listened to the sermon, I took notes on my phone, and then when it’s done, I sent it out to my followers and friends via Twitter and Facebook. I have even heard of churches encouraging their followers to post during service and they post their “worship” on the IMAX screens they have in their churches. We call it “embracing technology”, but are we just lazy? I am torn on this subject, especially when it comes to youth. I am in that generation of the computer. I can remember being in elementary school and having those huge machines with the green screen and the blinking cursor. I remember begging the teacher to go to the computer lab. Today, every student in my former high school carries an iPad 2 to class. This is life. But what happens to tradition? Is it just old fashioned to go sit in a classroom to earn an education? Since this is life, this is the way that we have to reach youth, but are they losing their innocence and growing up too fast with this new way of life? I think the true way of life lies somewhere in the middle, and we need to teach that to our youth before they stop coming out into the world at all!

I think that it is extremely important for parents to talk to their children about the possible dangers that can come from being online and “sexting”. I think that many people assume that these types of things don’t affect their children just because they aren’t talking about it but that is hardly ever the case. Making it a point to start these conversations with your children can improve the instances of online bullying/harrassing, “sexting”, and whatever else may be a problem for youth online.

Thank you Nakia for your response, I think you are right on with this blog post. It is just crazy that we are living in a world where Kindle sales were better than book sales last Christmas! This amazes me, but then again, I can understand because that was the only thing on my Christmas list! Our world is changing, quickly at that. Nakia’s comment about posting information after a sermon, and seeing the minister use an IPad to deliver the sermon its self just shows how much we depend on technology. Although I find the fast change scary, I am thankful for it, because I think that working “smarter not harder” is a great concept. This leaves time in the day for us to enjoy our lives more. But, what is the expense? We have less human interaction, less actual time together. But, on that same inclination, I have became closer to some friends, and even family with the comforts of facebook. I am much less nervous to approach someone on facebook than I am to call them up.

But still, this is also scary for our society because I worry about the social skills of our youth. How many kids actually talk on the phone versus texting? And, when it is time to write professional emails between colleagues, how hard will it be not to use slang?

Clearly there are two sides, but really what can we do? I think that Heil has good advice; keep the kids where they can be monitored. Making fun of someone, getting into things that you shouldn’t and making bad decisions is easy online. One status update about someone else can hurt that person’s reputation and lead them to feel bad about themselves with only five seconds. For kids, who try to hard just to fit in, this is something that needs to be avoided however possible.

This post aptly describes the environment of technologically-savvy young society. Gone are the days of youths meeting at local pizza parlors to recap the day’s events and discuss the actions of their peers. Now discussions happen using Facebook updates and Twitter tweets. Instant messages replace note passing. Emails replace mailed letters.
Consequently, society has in its possession adolescents who are inept at verbal conversation. Not able to respond to conversational queues, these young people are missing a part of socialization that those before them have experienced.
While there are many good facets to kids using social media and other cutting-edge media technology, the damage of verbal skill must be questioned and evaluated.

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I really agree with this article. I have to say the Internet is a really convenient to us, but it is also really dangerous to us. People can do so much on the Internet and people cannot really defend for us. The children are too dangerous for the Internet because they do not have enough knowledge or wisdom for it. Therefore, the parents need to do something about it because it is really important for the parents. They are the children shields before they grow up. The other truth is that people like to texting more then talking on the phone. Most of my friends decide to texting me rather then call me. They feel like texting is more convenient then talking on the phone. They will even told me to text them, not to call them because they will not pick up the phone. After I read this article, I start worry about the young generation because if they are scare to talk with other people, how can them communicate with others and how can they fit into the sociality.

I would definitely agree with most of this post. Technology makes it much easier to connect with people, but there are definitely negative aspects to it, especially when it comes to kids. I just returned from a three day music festival, and I would have been completely lost (both figuratively and literally) if I didn’t have my phone with me. I got separated from the group several times throughout the weekend, and if it weren’t for my phone I could have spent the whole time searching helplessly through a sea of random people. Technology allows kids to stay connected with their parents and get out of emergency situations, but I definitely agree there are aspects of it that are dangerous. The thing is, though, that it is unrealistic to say that kids shouldn’t be able to go on the computer or have cell phones without proper supervision. When they are very young, that might be the case, but as they get older (junior high, high school), kids need to learn how to use the Internet properly and should be trusted to do it. Kids will have access to computers and cell phones, even if their parents don’t allow them to. I know whenever I got grounded from my phone in high school I would have a friend pick me up a prepaid one and would just use that. There are ways around every parental block, and I think teaching kids safety is much more important than just monitoring what they are doing or not allowing to go on the Internet behind closed doors. Kids today are smart. Many know how to get around school and home Internet filters, delete histories and cookies, and know that they can just use the Internet at friends’ houses who don’t have strict parents. As tough as it might be for many parents to accept, there really isn’t a ton they can do to make sure kids don’t do stupid things with technology except explain what some of the life consequences are when you misuse it, raise them to know right from wrong, and then hope that they make good decisions when the parents aren’t around to watch what the kids are doing.