While working on Is Internet Addiction a Health Threat for Teens?, one of Fletcher's picks for Room for Debate, the first discussion that I read was "Blame Society, Not the Screen Time" by Danah Boyd. One of the things that Boyd said really stood out to me, it was as follows: "We've locked them (kids) indoors because we see the physical world as more dangerous than ever before, even though by almost every measure, we live in the safest society to date. We put unprecedented demands on our kids, maxing them out with structured activities, homework and heavy expectations. And then we're surprised when they're frazzled and strung out."
The reason that this excerpt stood out to me was because of how much I could relate to it, and I know plenty of others who could relate to it as well. School alone takes so much time and effort and, on top of that, adults are always pushing teenagers to get out there and participate in all sorts of extracurricular activities. Adults do not realize what a chore extracurricular activities can turn into since they have changed quite a bit since they participated in them. Sure they are fun and exciting, but, just like school, they require so much time and effort that people can lose sight of why they joined them in the first place.
From my own experience with my parents who finished high school just short of twenty years ago, America's education system has changed drastically, not just with Common Core. My mother took the hardest classes that were offered at Mayfair when she was a student here, and for six classes in one week, all of their homework combined does not even come close to the amount of homework I, and so many of my peers, have been assigned in one day. This could just be because of the teachers, or it could be because the "average" amount of homework assigned is growing every year and students are expected to do over six hours of homework each night, not to mention studying for each of their classes. The extracurricular activities and homework that are being pushed on students goes to show that the demands that are being put on kids and teenagers alike are way above the line.
Teenagers are people too, so of course they want a way to be able to escape from all of the demands put on them by adults and society. Their escape is the easily accessible Internet that can be found on smartphones, computers, even video game consoles. Just like how adults escape the demands of work by going on vacation or having a night to themselves, teenagers are doing the exact same thing in a way that they know how. In addition to the Internet being an escape from demands, it is also a place where teens can interact with their friends in a time-crunched world. One of the main things teenagers do on the Internet is talk and interact with their friends since not everyone is available at the same time, nor does everyone live near each other. They are not on the Internet just to be on it, there is an actual reason for it whether or not society wants to believe it.
Do you think that society is to blame as to why teenagers spend so much time on the Internet? Or is the Internet to blame for the reason as to why society easily overlooks how much pressure is being put on teenagers? Is the Internet acting as a scapegoat for society so they do not have to deal with trying to fix how much pressure they have put on teenagers?
-Jasalyn Avila
I don't necessarily believe that there is a single group at fault for all of our youth's problems (or society's in general). In the post, it says that teens seek to escape the demands placed upon them using the Internet. It then compares this to an adult going on a vacation, I think, for lack of a better analogy because teens seeking escape on the Internet seems to be an extreme because of its availability. One issue lies in the fact that teens seek constant "escape" from their demands, rather than working to fill out those demands, and constant escape is made possible through the accessibility of the Internet. Consequently, teens are teaching themselves to escape from their problems rather than to face them or to get help or speak out to adults. Escape is undoubtedly the easier route, however, a major part of growing into our own lies in learning to take responsibility for ourselves and our problems. I feel that because of this, we often blame society or the Internet without realizing that, we too, are a source of our own problems and use it to escape responsibility. Now I'm not saying that society or anyone else isn't to blame, but we as teenagers who are experiencing these issues and consequences firsthand should contribute first by doing what we can in our own lives instead of looking for a single thing with which to place the blame. In a way, the blame game doesn't really matter because we are all to blame.
ReplyDeleteAs stated in the post, the amount of work and the demands placed on teenagers has increased over the years, causing the stress that most teens experience. To fix this issue, there should be less demand and stress on the students' part. Teens are forced to take certain classes that aren't particularly necessary even to the point where we aren't able to take some of the classes that we want to take. Teens today are taking less responsibility for themselves because they are given less responsibility for themselves. Schools are the ones deciding what classes students should take when, if given more responsibility for themselves and their schedules, students would most likely take more responsibility and care for themselves.
I think that a big part of why teenagers go on the internet in the first place is to escape, as both Jasalyn and Isaiah have said. School has become more demanding pertaining to the amount of time and effort that is needed to be put in outside of school, taking up several hours of the student’s “free time.” As we all know, many teenagers procrastinate with schoolwork, chores, and other responsibilities given to them. The internet is an easy way to distract yourself and to use as an escape because you can look at the time once and think it’s only been ten minutes but it has really been three hours.
ReplyDeleteAs Danah Boyd mentioned in the room for debate article, parents have become even more apprehensive about letting their kids out into the dangers of the world. Humans are social creatures, therefore, we crave and essentially need social interaction. If you are cooped up in your home every minute you aren’t in school, how are you supposed to get that interaction? From programs on the internet such as social media.
The internet also helps teens distract themselves from their problems. More and more teenagers have removed themselves from their problems and don’t even think about going to their parents for advice or guidance or even to have them just listen. Many of us don’t admit to running from our problems but claim that we’ve dealt with them. By doing this, we’re pushing off responsibility and we look for someone or something else to blame. Teenagers are always wanting more freedom, but we have to be responsible in order to get that. If we keep pushing off responsibility for our problems, how can we ask for more freedom and expect to get any? This also ties back into parents being cautious about allowing their kids to go into the outside world because we show that we are irresponsible through ignoring problems. However, teens ignoring their problems and turning to the internet could also be from the high demands of school and their parents expectations. In the end, it just goes in a circle concerning everyone as to who to blame because we are all at fault in some way in this situation.
All the points made above are incredibly strong and valuable; however, I think one point that has constantly been looked over is that it’s not just parents and high school itself that somehow both restrict us, as Isaiah mentioned, and expect more from us, as Abigail and Jasalyn mentioned. In recent years, it has become increasingly more difficult to get into college. We are expected to do more as well as take harder classes just to get accepted to colleges and universities, much less get scholarships from them (which, at a time like this when college is more expensive than ever, a majority of people rely on the availability of scholarships and financial aid). My family is a large family, so I can see just how much it’s changed and how much harder it’s gotten over the years.
ReplyDeleteBeginning with my father, he took no AP classes (because at the time there was no such thing, at least in the Middle East), and he got into college. Fast forward about 30 years later to my oldest sister Alia. She only took about 4-5 AP classes, and she got into CSULB. She did get a high SAT score, and I wouldn’t say it was necessarily easy because getting into college almost never is, but she made it nonetheless. A few years later, my sister Lina is applying for college. She took 11 AP tests but didn’t make it into CSULB’s medical program. Just this past year, I had quite a few senior friends who had taken many AP classes but didn’t get accepted into CSULB. Now, CSULB isn’t the only university that has gotten harder to get into, but it is a good example of how much more difficult it has become to get accepted into college nowadays. Due to this, we as students now feel as if we have to do more just to progress in life. We begin to feel the need to play sports, join clubs, become part of the board of clubs, do hours on hours of volunteer work, and take rigorous courses such as AP courses.
I recently read something out of a friend’s personal essay in which she mentioned that she was trying to fit 30 hours of activities and work into a 24 hour day, and I personally had felt as if I had never read something I felt pertained more to this current high school class. We attempt to do a lot not necessarily because we want to but more because we feel we have to in order to get somewhere with our lives. It’s no longer enough to just be smart, or just athletic, or just active (volunteer work). It’s almost as if a person has to be all of these things to be seen as a viable student. This feeling that we need to do more then leads to more feelings of stress and anxiety, and so, to escape, as Jasalyn mentioned earlier, we face towards the Internet because it now acts as a distraction from this stress and anxiety we caused for ourselves because we felt like we had to rather than using it as a tool to help us complete all this work we have subjected ourselves to. It begins as maybe a five minute break that turns into maybe a three hour session because the Internet has subconsciously been made into most students’ happy place (and for some people, their own personal hell, but that’s for a different discussion). It takes more time out of our day but just the thought that we can take a break from the stress that our parents or siblings may not understand just because high school may have been difficult for them but maybe just not quite as difficult almost makes it worth it.
Reading your comment was very frustrating to hear about the struggles your sister Lina went through, and I don't even know her. It is very saddening to hear about that because it would be very clear to any one that she worked very hard. It is also very frightening for us. As applying for college comes closer we are all trying to fit in more and more into our already busy schedules. This causes stress, sleepless nights, anxiety, depression and anger to name a few. So many of us are trying to stay afloat in the sea of work and activities, but many of us don't have life jackets and will sink. For our parents it is very hard to imagine having to balance all the work that we do. Our parents did not have the competition that we do now just to get into college. We can only imagine how much worse it might be for our children. Technology provides a break from the stress of trying to float in this storm of stress, work, and pressure.
DeleteAs I was reading everyone's comments, I thought about the same thing that Samira had mentioned. Many of us feel so much pressure to do everything: sports, volunteering, getting a job, being in clubs, etc just to get accepted to a decent college. We feel that we have to go over and beyond to try and get those scholarships because, like Samira said, they are are extremely expensive. I also come from a big family, and it is hard to pay for college for several kids. We then turn to working ourselves too hard in order to try and achieve this. Many people don't do too well under pressure, and with all of these things that we have to do daily, the Internet becomes an escape (as everyone has explained). Then, by the end of the day, we don't end up doing anything except for browsing social media. This, however, doesn't solve any problems and just made it more difficult for that person. I think that due to this procrastination, high school students end up staying up into the early hours of the morning just to finish homework, due to lack of time management and stress. I don't believe that society is the one to blame completely, but the person that is dealing with the situation. Not everyone falls for social media and the Internet, so people do the work for what they earn. The blame could technically be passed around, but in the end, I think that the person that is putting themselves in that position is the one to blame.
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ReplyDeleteIn contrast to the comments of using the internet as an “escape” from the pressure/stress to meet high expectations, I used it as an “escape” to procrastinate on things I needed to do because I was lazy (this was quite hard for me to admit on a blog full of smart people). I am a victim of staying up extremely late trying to finish my homework due to my inability to stop myself from watching another episode of my favorite tv show. As a result, I was tired at school, and I kept sleeping during class.
I am currently sitting at my desk with my laptop, phone, and iPad. As I thought about what to write for this post, I slowly recalled memories of when I did not own any technology to access the internet. My work ethic was better, and I read a whole lot more. Truthfully speaking, I often wish that I had never come across these devices because over the years I have fallen into a state where it would be very difficult to live without the internet. I have been robbed of so much time that I can never get back. I have changed from a young girl who did not know what YouTube was, to a teenage girl who uses it everyday.
However, the internet is already ingrained into our lives, and we use it often. Blaming society won’t get us anywhere. This is why I believe that it is up to us teenagers to fix our problems. We are fully capable of controlling ourselves because we are old enough to take responsibility on how much time we “waste” on the internet whether the reasoning behind it was from stress or from laziness. This is quite embarrassing, but notice how I’m commenting on the blog today instead of waiting last minute like I usually would have (...especially in the summertime when I am free to lounge around as much as I want with the exception of all the summer homework haunting me day and night). This is proof that people can slowly change.
Society is not the one to blame for the addiction of the internet among teenagers because their intention was to improve technology in our world. For example, social media apps were created so friends and family can share their lives with one another. Who knew teenagers would spend so much time on these apps? Teachers, administrators, and parents allow the use of the internet for their students/children's homework and classwork because they know the pain of having to go to the library to do research while the internet offers an immediate answer to most of your questions.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the pressure on teenagers has increased since the introduction of the internet because of this. Because everyone knows life is easier with the internet, teachers assign hours of homework while expecting us to maintain our social life as well as keeping up with extracurricular activities because it's "easier". I agree with Jasalyn. Teenagers are people too. I do believe that society overlooks this pressure. Like Samira and Clara said, we work hard to get into a decent college. Yes, we use the Internet for our own purposes, but that doesn't stop us from doing what we need to do, even if we procrastinate. I procrastinate on almost everything, but I always finish that assignment or even a chore in the end. I wish that society would acknowledge teenagers for their work rather than believing in the stereotype of their excessive use of the internet.
I do think that if a student is feeling stressed from procrastinating on their work, they should learn from their lesson and plan accordingly when working on the next assignment. Teenagers often put themselves in these situations because they procrastinate by sleeping, hanging out with friends, and even using the internet. While it is true that we do work hard, we are most at fault when it comes to procrastination. This can relate to the "escape" we seek when we don't feel like working on an important task. Instead of facing our challenges and problems, we often depend on the internet to keep us busy. I know some people who don't procrastinate at all and I am truly amazed. Although breaking a bad habit such as procrastination can be very difficult, we can relieve the stress when it is finally broken.
I believe that both the internet and our society are to blame for this. I do agree that people are typically looking for someone or something to blame for all their problems that they are facing For example, the internet is said to be the blame for why teens spend so much time scrolling through social media(s), but instead of taking action , society blames the technology.
ReplyDeleteSomeone can only take so much before they become overwhelmed. The amount of work given to us students has increased over the years which means that each generation’s workload is gradually getting larger and harder to handle. Whether we, as students, can balance the amount of work we are given along with our other chores is up to the us. Despite all the work and motivation needed and stress created from this, teens still end up juggling school work, extracurriculars, and home life. I do not think that teens use the internet to avoid their works but to take time to breath. Like Jasalyn said, teens are people too, and like most, we like to have fun and take time to rest. This does not mean we are lazy or that we are constantly looking for an escape. It just shows that we are human, which means we can only do so much before we become drained.
I think society is to blame as to why teens revolve their time around the internet. Since we started going to school we had a presence of technology. Throughout the years it has only gotten stronger. We test on computers, learn lessons on computers, and do homework on computers. Everything in classrooms have become electronic. I also think when it comes to teenagers, adults use the internet as an excuse to say their lazy. When the truth is that teenagers usually go on the internet to relieve stress or talk to others who have the same problems as they do. Over the years the internet has become a safe haven for teens. It's easier to go online for free than to go out and pay to have fun. The internet has become a community where people can express their feelings and meet others like them. Yes,at times it can be dangerous, but it is just as dangerous as going outside and talking to strangers. If parents can't handle their children being safe at home on the internet, and rather them being in the streets there is a bigger problem at hand.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe that society is to blame for teenagers to be on the Internet for large amounts of time. For example, from what Clara had said, the Internet is a way that us, as teenagers, escape from the world of school and so much stress, and to just have time to browse the Internet. Having a busy schedule for school and other curricular activities is very hard to balance with things going on in our lives individually. And i don’t necessarily think that the Internet is a problem for teens not facing their problems but to escape from the stress caused by school itself. Having many classes that involve great amounts of work causes way too much stress and anxiety as well. The Internet, in a way, releases that anxiety and stress that causes us to do our work efficiently.
ReplyDeleteI kind of see the Internet as a way of being distracting at times, but only to a certain extent. Depending on the individual, some may see it as a way to release that tension we have from our work and after 20 min of break, continue on with the work that is needed to be done. For others, it’s harder to concentrate on what is more important and at what amount of time to stop at. They could stay on the Internet for hours and eventually continue on for days and weeks, pushing back the assignments needed to be done.
In other words, I don’t see as a certain group to blame, like the parents, teenagers, society or Internet. I feel like it is something that involves each one of those topics but not specifically blaming a certain group to the extreme if that makes sense? There isn’t really something to blame here but as to how people take it in amongst themselves.
As from what Samira explains, we feel like we have to do so much in our power to do so many classes and things out in the community to make us stand out from each other. My mother personally has two jobs, is Vice President of our color guards band boosters, and still deals with so much stress at home. I know for a fact that she doesn’t do these things to just “show off” but to provide for our family.
This goes to show that it’s really nobody’s fault as to the amounts of time we spend on the Internet but as to how we deal with it. It’s simply just us understanding how we relieve our stress or just to have time to ourselves.