Many adolescents are not interested in finishing High School
Perhaps, you’ve had this debate with a colleague, spouse, friend, or even yourself, and asked yourself this question; is our social media and personal tech dummying down our population? Well, I believe it is, and I believe it is becoming a big deal, a conclusion that so many of my own acquaintances, friends, and associates have also come to, but where does it start and what can we do about it? Okay so, let’s talk shall we?
Many adolescents are not interested in finishing High School because their high schools won’t let them use their smart phones, they cannot have them on campus. Further, those who are in school pull those devices out as soon as the school lets out, thus, less likely to be involved in other after school activities. Now some colleges, community colleges are demanding the same rules, even some Universities for undergraduate programs.
Now then, I’d like you to read an interesting Thesis by Talli R. Stewart, B.A. of San Marcos, Texas, submitted in August 2013 titled; “I Can’t Use My Cell Phone? Cell Phone Addiction, Restrictive Social Environments and Health of College Students,” which really poses some even more challenging realities for the future. The paper noted amongst many other interesting findings that;
“Results found levels of restrictive social environments and cell phone addiction influence the level of anxiety and depression experienced by individuals,” and “significant group differences in Internet use groups on low, moderate or high cell phone addiction scores suggests high rates of Internet use on a cell phone is related to higher levels of cell phone addiction.”
Okay so, I can safely say that not many of us are too shocked by these empirical findings, but since we now have the data and proof, and future suspicions of what this mass social experiment with cell phones and social media addiction is doing, maybe we need to consider how to evolve this model to prevent greater future problems.
If social media is trying to make for a more solid community, it isn’t working, it’s doing just the opposite, it’s causing people do discharge themselves from the former model of personal real life socializing with a prostituted digital version of self-validation, and an illusionary sense of socializing, meanwhile we find that students and young adults are more interested in their personal tech than their future, and they aren’t doing themselves or their careers any favors. Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.