Before I became aware of this phenomenon called technology, my childhood was mainly spent outdoors from sunrise to sunset. I remember the only times I spent in the house were basically only eating and sleeping. I never wasted a minute inside the house because I was eager to go back outside to play games with my friends, eager to share my day with them. Unlike other girls in my elementary school who had a girl friend groups, I grew up with mostly boys my age in my neighborhood and we’ve been best friends as far as I can remember. Since I spent most of my childhood around boys, I wasn’t interested in playing with barbies and dolls. Rather, during school recesses, we would play tag, basketball and soccer, which excites me way more than
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My parents have restricted the use of technology in our household. No Xbox, no Gameboy, no Wii, no Nintendo ds, no computer, nothing. The only time I would use a computer was during computer lab class in school. Up until sixth grade, the minimal technology contact did not affect me making friends. Why does it suddenly matter now? Of course I felt the pressure from everyone in my school to also get a phone so I was not the odd one out. When I asked my parents for a phone, they quickly snapped back with a no and said that phones and texting are just the norm now and that it will be over pretty quickly. That was certainly not the case, in fact, as I moved on to middle school, high school, it just got worse with people walking around glued to their phones. It was just an excuse to comfort me. In fact, most parents have a perception that addiction to social media and socializing with friends will lead their children off track in school and lead to poor performance and grades. My parents were not an exception, they asked me why I needed a phone when I basically see my friends everyday at school. Furthermore, they went on to tell me all the negativities a cellphone can bring me–especially addiction. Regarding the argument of parents claiming that teens attached to iPhones and laptops are addicted to social media, Boyd (2014) says, “most teens aren’t addicted to social media; if anything, they’re addicted to each other” (p.80). Teens desire to meet with their friends in more informal settings with more freedom to socialize without adult
My parents have restricted the use of technology in our household. No Xbox, no Gameboy, no Wii, no Nintendo ds, no computer, nothing. The only time I would use a computer was during computer lab class in school. Up until sixth grade, the minimal technology contact did not affect me making friends. Why does it suddenly matter now? Of course I felt the pressure from everyone in my school to also get a phone so I was not the odd one out. When I asked my parents for a phone, they quickly snapped back with a no and said that phones and texting are just the norm now and that it will be over pretty quickly. That was certainly not the case, in fact, as I moved on to middle school, high school, it just got worse with people walking around glued to their phones. It was just an excuse to comfort me. In fact, most parents have a perception that addiction to social media and socializing with friends will lead their children off track in school and lead to poor performance and grades. My parents were not an exception, they asked me why I needed a phone when I basically see my friends everyday at school. Furthermore, they went on to tell me all the negativities a cellphone can bring me–especially addiction. Regarding the argument of parents claiming that teens attached to iPhones and laptops are addicted to social media, Boyd (2014) says, “most teens aren’t addicted to social media; if anything, they’re addicted to each other” (p.80). Teens desire to meet with their friends in more informal settings with more freedom to socialize without adult