“Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” Twenge

In her article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, Jean M. Twenge claims that the youngest generation is “accustomed to being wired at all times”. She believes that young people have simply formed their lives around technology and social media. Her evidence to this claim is that her toddler is comfortable swiping through an iPad, barely yet knowing how to walk. I disagree with this claim and evidence because the child was not born knowing how to use an iPad. The child was not even born owning an iPad. It was the parent who purchased the technology, provided the technology to the toddler, and taught the toddler how to use the technology. The youngest generation is so accustomed to being wired at all times because they are raised surrounding by technology at all times. Parents provide their children with technology from a young age and often buy them a smartphone by age 13. This type of technological childhood development inherently allows children to grow exceedingly comfortable using technology from a young age.

Twenge also claims that Athena, a 13-year-old girl from Houston Texas, is part of a generation which lives a life on social media. After describing the typical behavior of teenagers from her youth, Twenge briefly explains the teens of Athena’s generation. “She told me she’d spent most of the summer hanging out alone in her room with her phone. That’s just the way her generation is, she said.” Twenge shows the difference between her generation and Athena’s generation to emphasize the technology dependency of Athena’s generation. What she does not discuss is the fact that Athena’s parents purchased her a smart phone at the age of 11, providing her with unlimited access to technology, and more importantly, social media. If Athena’s parents had not provided her with such exposure, she would not have grown so accustomed to this technology. Perhaps if they had encouraged her to spend time outdoors during the summer instead of spending it in her bedroom on her phone, she would not have developed a dependency for her smartphone. Children are not born with knowledge of technology. This knowledge must be learned from observing those around them. If a child grows up surrounded by a family who has a significant dependency on technology, then that child will learn from their family to depend on technology as well.