Essay Sample on Negative Impacts of Smartphones and New Technologies on the iGen Era

The iGen era has been characterized by the high innovation levels that have been implemented in daily lives. The use of mobile devices and smartphones are some of the typical examples of innovation that has been evident among the current generation.in as much as these innovations have eased the way of doing things among the iGen generation, we cannot also hibernate from the evident fact that most of the smartphones and new technological advances in media have impacted the iGen youths negatively in various ways. Twenge and Harris, as well as other authors, are for the opinion that smartphones and the new technological advancement in media have negatively impacted the lives of adolescents. Embracing smartphones and new media technologies have, for instance, led to high cyberbullying rates experienced among the current iGen generation. Additionally, smartphones have posed addictive demeanors in adolescents when they become consistent in using the new media devices.

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According to Twenge (2017), iGen is the generation born between 1995 and 2012. The iGen generation is considered to be a very peculiar generation type based on their ways of doing things. The iGen generation, for instance, hangs out differently, using their smartphones in most cases and other media advancements. This weird way of socializing is contrary to the conventional means where youths could get up together and talk about their issues of concern. Twenge posits that the iGen generation has been affected negatively through the use of smartphones and other media devices. Twenge and Harris are both for the opinion that the advancing technology adoption has got severe consequences on the current generation more so the iGen adolescent. Addiction is using smartphones, and media devices is one of the negative influences of over-relying on them. Addiction has propelled laziness among the iGen generation, where the iGen youths have opted for other natural ways of doing things rather than the long and ordinary ways. Youths visiting one another has been done away with the iGen generation, where the adolescent prefers talking through their cellphones and other media platforms rather than meeting in person.

It has become so devastating to hold any meaningful conversation with the iGen adolescent because the youths are always concentrating on their cellphones than the person talking to them. (Pinnock & Brenna 2019) The bottom line of iGen teenagers' argument is that the smartphones and other media technologies have reduced the world into a village, making it easy to connect with any person without stressing upon their location. However, they fail to recognize the fundamental importance of one on one communication. The face to face communication, in most cases, facilitates and improves the unity among people as compared to distance conversation propelled by cellphones and other social media. Over-reliance on smartphones and other media technologies have also made the iGen generation to have a withdrawn attitude towards education. This has accounted for the lower performance in academics. The age highly depends on the internet as the chief source of information. The iGen youths believe in the online sources of conducting research rather than spending time reading books to solve research puzzles. This is a generation that has proved a lack of trust in their cognitive domains because they prefer readymade information from online sources. The iGen youth would prefer spending a whole day chatting and watching videos rather than conducting a comprehensive study on their own. Before the invention of smartphones and media technologies, the brains of the ancient people functioned as computers, and the old people could conduct significant research works by following the procedural ways of researching.

There has been uncontrolled levels of cyberbullying, which has been manifested among the iGen generation. A more significant percentage of the youths of the current age have been a hotspot target of cyberbullying. The iGen youths have embraced the use of their cellphones and other social platforms to cause unnecessary tension among themselves. The youths have, for instance, caused harassment through name-calling and rumor spreading in social media platforms. The most typical form of harassment that the iGen generation has embraced is online name-calling. (Livingstone, 2018). Offensive name-calling in social media platforms. Even though the iGen generation has been using modern messaging to establish and maintain relationships between themselves, the link has been abused and turned to a method of exchanging useless information. Some teens have gone overboard to the extent of exchanging explicit images of themselves among them, and this accounts for the high level of immorality manifested among them the iGen youths. The female gender is majorly affected by cyberbullying, where girls in most cases have involved themselves n stupid talks such as online rumors and sending explicit messages.

Consequently, smartphone and media technologies among the current teens have also led to poor health conditions among the generation. The rate of teen downheartedness and suicide has catapulted among the iGen youths since the invention of media technologies. ( Leick, 2019) The item has been perceived as being on the risk of worst mental- health problems, which has been traced to their constant using of their smartphones and other social media platforms. Typically, many teens have gone blind through excess observation of the bright lights emitted by smartphones and computers. ( De Shields, Shawn & Cordell 2019) Research works have also confirmed that teens in the United States have suffered clinical depression, which is propelled by using cellphones. High levels of suicide have also been registered among teens. Public worries about teens using smartphones are not restricted to attitude maladies but also creating anxiety among teens.

In as much as the innovation has reduced the world into a small village, iGen generation has, in many cases, cried out loud for help from the adult. This manifests that smartphone and media technologies have negative impacts on the wellbeing of the youths. Too much using smartphones and other media devices has created permanent addiction in the iGen youths. Just like any other addiction, for instance, addiction to substance usage, teens have been consumed in the media as well as in their smartphones. The addiction creates a realm which usually is problematic to escape once a youth falls a victim. The technology has also caused severe mental problems among teens who rely on them. Depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem are some of the typical examples of mental disparities that the teens have been exposed to as a result of too much reliance on the new technology.

Additionally, the iGen generation has also suffered cyberbullying impacts where notorious teens see the online platforms as leeway to insult others because they cannot be located due to distance. Teens who are profound in calling others names through their smartphones believe that they can never be discovered or instead traced. They also send explicit messages in social groups, some of which ruin the innocence of other teens using such groups.

References

De Shields, Shawn, and Cordell W. Riley. "Examining the Correlation between Excessive Recreational Smartphone Use and Academic Performance Outcomes." Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice 19.5 (2019).

Kopaska-Merkel, David C., and Andrew K. Rindsberg. "Bioirrigation in Alph n. igen., arthropod cubichnia from the Mississippian Hartselle Sandstone of Alabama (USA)." Geodinamica Acta 28.1-2 (2016): 117-135.

Leick, Karen. "The Internet, Social Media and Smartphones." Parents, Media and Panic through the Years. Palgrave Pivot, Cham, 2019. 95-128.

Livingstone, Sonia. "iGen: why today's super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy-and completely unprepared for adulthood." (2018): 118-123.

Pinnock, Brenna. "Digital Childhood: How mobile devices impact child development and adolescent behavior." (2019).

Twenge, Jean M. IGen: Why today's super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy--and completely unprepared for adulthood--and what that means for the rest of us. Simon and Schuster, 2017.