Technology and Today’s Youth

Technology has advanced quickly from 2001 to 2021, only a twenty year difference. In 2001, Apple Inc. introduced the iPod which was described as being capable of storing “thousands of songs in your pocket”. Now Apple Inc. is on to their next iPhone, the twelfth generation. The youth today are the targeted audience for these new phones, tablets, computers, and etc. Even the teenagers from 2001 were focused on just to sell technological items to them as well. 

Advertisements play a big part in the selling of electronics, without them then no one would even know about specific items. These advertisements could be found everywhere, on the internet, at stores, on billboards. You could look anywhere and you would find at least one ad promoting an electronic. Many questions have been drawn out about technology since it has been increasing rapidly. Parents, grandparents, and adults in general are worried about how technology could affect kids today.

A parent from Turlock, California, Rigo Noriega, was asked the question, “Do you think technology could cause health issues in teenagers and younger children? Why or Why not?” Their answer was, “Yeah, it would cause damage because it’ll affect the eyes since the screen is so close and the blue light. It also affects your brain because your brain is still developing and it will have the potential to influence older and younger people and mainly kids. There is a lot of more mature content on electronic devices that kids have access to, so that has the potential to harm them.”

A teenager who also lives in Turlock, California and attends “Turlock High School”, Chris Valdovinos, was asked the following questions, “How many times a day do you think you use your smartphone for informational purposes?” and “If you have a smartphone yourself, would you believe that you are addicted to it?” The student responded with, “Maybe about 10 or less times a day I use my phone for informational purposes. I mostly use it for entertainment or social media and sometimes for school. I think I could be addicted sometimes with my phone but I wouldn’t say all the time.”

An inference can be made from the two answers given from an adult and teenager. The adults are more cautious with technology now and aren’t as consumed with it as teenagers are. Teenagers are more involved with their phones and the internet. In the end, we all should be careful when using technology, there are a lot of things on the internet that could warp our minds and affect our mentality. Certain video games, television shows or movies, and websites released on the internet are examples of things that could affect us.