Digital Youth

We have all heard this line "Kids spend too much time playing video games or being on-line." Now, more than ever with mobile devices, youth can be connected 24/7/365. 70% of all teenage youth have mobile devices today so it is certainly a part of the youth culture now. Just the other day I was trying to speak to a 14 year old. As I was speaking to him, he was looking at his IPhone and half listening to a song while having a conversation with me. What amazed me most is that he was able to multi-task and do all three things at once. Socially, is this acceptable? I was not overly happy to only have 1/3 of his attention span.

Our electronics are now an integral part of our life. Like it or not, it is the culture now. Most if not all teenage youth carry digital mobile devices because they want quick access to everything - communication, entertainment, and knowledge. I remember when I was a kid, communication was a payphone and 3 or 4 of us standing around it calling people. Entertainment was playing sports outside, and to some extent playing video games on a game system inside. Knowledge was a bit tougher. It consisted of asking our parents or relatives questions, reading books/magazines or comics, and what we learned in school. Nowadays, it is easy to communicate with each other. You have lots of options, you can text, email, call, Twitter, Facebook, Skype, chat, the list goes on and on.  Entertainment is at your fingertips on our digital devices. Games, stories, Apps, all right there. Knowledge too. The biggest knowledge base that ever existed is the internet. If you want to find out something you just Google it. We do not need to think and use our brains any longer,  we can just check for something on the internet and there it is.

The question we should be asking is do youth really need to have mobile devices? I look back at my childhood and I turned our pretty good (or so I think). I could have had more opportunities available to me had I had a mobile internet device I suppose. At 14, the Internet was not in existence yet for mainstream use, it was more of a government experiment. The number one reason I hear from most parents why they give their children a mobile digital device is to be able to communicate with them and for safety reasons. I can understand the safety concern, and that is a good reason, but do you need to text and email them every 5 minutes to see if they are ok? "Hey mom, I am going to the mall, I will be back in 2 hours." Is that not enough? Today, maybe it isn't. I wonder if we are not the worry generation, the ones who smother our kids to the point where they can't even breathe or think for themselves. Don't eat peanut butter, kids are allergic to it, don't get dirty, don't touch anything, don't drink from the garden hose, don't, don't, don't. How do they learn and grow if they are not allowed to do anything?

Having digital devices at school has been mostly frowned upon in the past, although times are now changing. Even in organizations such as Scouting and youth clubs the mentality was the same. No electronics please for these reasons. 1- You need to be paying attention to what is going on and what you are doing. 2- They can get damaged, 3- they can get lost.  Ok, well if they lose them or get damaged you can be sure it won't happen again and it will be a learning experience if nothing else. I agree fully with paying attention to what is being taught, distraction is not a good situation. Schools are now starting to look at using mobile devices as a tool and incorporating them into their curriculum and allowing youth to use them in a controlled environment during school hours. My son's school now has "Bring your device to school day." They can bring their device to school, and during the day they teach the youth when it is appropriate to bring out their device. Things like looking on-line for directions, looking for a hospital or police station, using the calculator or using an application in a constructive manner are some examples of the new digital teachings. I believe history is still taught the same way from textbooks; I do not believe Wikipedia is considered a reliable source just yet.

Youth also utilize their electronics to connect to each other via social media. Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever platform is very popular now. Looking for or meeting new friends and acceptance/belonging are huge forces of attraction. Social platforms allow that, and with mobile usage on the rise, this will only continue to increase. When do you say enough is enough though? Mobile internet usage tends to cost more than home internet usage. If your child is on your cell plan, limiting how much time they can spend on the internet may be the key. Certainly during school its use needs to be controlled and harnessed. Etiquette needs to be reinforced. When is it appropriate to use a handheld? When you are speaking with someone? No. While in class and it is not device day? No. When you are on lunch? Yes. When it’s an emergency? Yes. When you need to check for something that is important? Yes. It starts with parents teaching their children when it is appropriate and for how long to use their digital devices.  Now that schools are on board, the teaching will continue there as well.