The children of today: Have smartphones destroyed a generation? Part I

in #life7 years ago

Todays generation grew up using mobile devices such as smartphones, laptops, cameras etc. etc...  I was never an opponent against smartphones but did this technology destroyed a generation?


I grew up in a small village in north Germany. I had 5 siblings who were a lot older than me. I´m obviously the youngest which was the reason I experienced mobile phones last. I grew up with no wifi connection in whole house, not having any phones nor using electronics. It was the best feeling because I learned so much about myself and I´m thankful that my parents gave me the opportunity to live in the nature so I got to experience a lot of different things which is impossible for todays generation! I was able to play outside in the garden, in the forest nearby and the farm where we got our milk and eggs wasn´t far neither. My family wasn´t against technology at all. We got a TV, a radio and this whole equipment. My older siblings also had a playstation, X-Box and Nokia phones. But since I´m the youngest of them all, I wasn´t experiencing the technology by myself. I was just looking to my sisters and brothers how they would use such a device. I remember when I first got my Nintendo DS Light. I had so much fun playing around on that touch screen. This was the beginning of my obsession for electronics...


I love being able to make a call whenever I want or to search for a question at any time! Smartphones give me the opportunity to feel free, using this device as a supporter for my work. I think it´s such a great invention but we should keep the control about it as long as our kids are unable to decide what´s wrong and what´s right. 


The suicide rate and depression among teenagers increased since the first iPhone 2007 appeared massively! 

" I think we love our smartphones more than real life people " - admits a girl from the US in an article that investigates the taboo phenomenon. Teenagers of today will become independent later, have fewer friends, are more often depressed and suicidal. "I've been more with my [smart] phone than with real people. My bed has a body print from me, "says a questioned teenager, whose lifestyle is exemplary for the (not only) American youth. Isn´t this crazy to read? I mean who prefers electronic devices instead of real people? Feeling emotions, laughing straight out of the soul and being able to really feel and laugh. 


Always online but not in real life....

It is really disconcerting that its not about the extreme fall ( Child kidnapped by a pedophile after playing mobile phone games, unsettling "teenagers unintentionally radicalized and burnt to the IS" ). It is rather the impairment of the quality of life and health of the average user, which is thoughtful. Twenge examined the generations in comparison and found massive conspicuities in the generation, which they called "iGen" - the "generation iPhone". They interviewed their students curios what they do with their smartphones when they go to bed and at least 90% of them are taking the smartphone into the bed, almost all slept with the device, put it under the head pillow or the mattress.
Smartphone usage also affects the duration and quality of sleep. According to experts, adolescents should sleep 9 hours per night. In 2015, 57% more teenagers suffered from sleep deficits than in 1991. On average, the iGen falls below seven hours of sleep, which affects its daytime performance.


Social life and general passivity

In todays generation, people do not meet much often anymore, which has a statistically positive effect on the murder and car accident rate among American teenagers..

As I already mentioned above, the suicide rate and the frequency of depression among teenagers have increased massively since the appearance of the first iPhones (in 2007).

Do you remember those days where you got hyped up because you turned 16 ( in Europe 18 ) to finally make your drivers license? Things have changed. Teenies are doing it later than ever and often just because their parents press them to finally do it! Also sexual activities have grown because the access is just too easy...


I feel lucky to say that I am an aunt of 4 babies at the moment and seeing them growing up so fast hurts a little but it´s is also an amazing feeling at the same time. When I first touched a mobile phone (which is very different from a smartphone as you might know) I was something around 10 years old. I got a the phone of my sister who is just 5 years apart from me, just to be able to call home if anything happens to me... 2-3 years later I got my own phone which was a gold motorola phone and I was able to unfold it. 

Oh how I loved this cute little baby. Anyway, what I wanted to say was, that I see my nieces and nephews growing up totally different and I´m not quite sure yet if its good or bad! Smartphones have changed not only our lives, it also has destroyed the lives of our new generation. 


Is there any way to stop this?

Can we use smartphones for positive reasons only?


I will answer to your comments and can not wait to start writing on part II for you guys! 

x Have a great weekend x

Thanks for reading 



Stay focused

Love, Soldier 

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"Not hanging out with friends" looks like the graph of steem's price :P

I agree 100% We need to see more "the real world"!

Very very well put ! I must agree .. most people these days can not even go a second without their phone , I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing but it seems to get harder to have a face to face conversation. I did not have a phone until I was 16, now I see 6-7 year old kids who have phones , the generations are changing . And I think it's bad for kids to have such influence at such a young age . Your story was really nice , and I can relate to it so much . Yes , it does help to search for an answer fast , make a call, I just feel like if we use t for the right purposes , then it's fine . Just not sit on it all day , on social media , playing games , etc. progress your life without phones . Times are changing , phones are everything to people now

I totally agree and I think this topic is so important for you because of your soon to be born child! You should be aware of friends having smartphones at a young age, do you want to give your child the same? Do you want to keep him/her away until your child reached a specific age? Control is the way to say it. There are so many positive things about smartphones IF YOU USE IT RIGHT! Should we teach the younger generation how to handle a smartphone ? Would this be useful.... I think there is much more to talk about in part of this series

There could be a never ending conversation over technology . Control is important and if it's done from the start , it's much better . I feel like I can breath without a phone . Last year when I was in Pakistan , I lived without any phone , wifi , laptop for 5 months and literally I felt like a human again . Technology destroys life

Yes we have become more and more addicted to it...I think using smart phone is not bad but addicted to it is bad..we should not be slave of technology !! ((have a look at my post too Having The iPhone But Missing The I

I don't think destroy is the right word, but there is negative effects going on people should at least be aware of

This might be right. Maybe destroy is really the wrong word but I think we should tak a closer look of what happened with the younger generation !

I agree, if not just all generations using these things. That video link above was recent, this one below was just a couple of weeks ago

I guess at the least with these videos, your post, people are starting to get aware. It's so hard to keep up with information of all kinds coming at us all. Thanks phones! lol

I was 15 of 16 aswell when I got my first phone.
An LG, didn't even had wifi.

And today you see 6 year olds playing with the phone of their parents. And 9 year olds who have their owner phone.

But when I was young In wasn't allowed to spend all day on the PC. 1h a day (max 2).
When I got older it didn't mather that much anymore, but maybe all of this is a little bit the fault of the parents?

And I believe that in the future the smartphone could be gone.
Just like the normal mobile phone is old right now.
In that time who thought the mobile phone would be replaced?

good question. I know the time where kids were were allowed to spend 1h a day on the pc and things have definitely changed

Many child using technology just for fun instead to help their lives.
Just think that with technology they can make their job and some nice money instead go to work in an industry for the minimum salary.

I think that is only parent's fault.

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I am constantly in a battle with my son to get him off his phone!

Good! Children are spending just too much time on their smartphones. Try to win the battle

Can't believe you posted the Motorola Razer 😆

haha that was my first phone :D

1-U36hBj8i-C7JJJxS4MP2HQ.jpeg

But I agree with what someone previously said. Every generation has their changes and innovations. :)

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You are right, smartphones have and is currently destroying our young generation because they dont even enjoy their childhood playing in parks , doing home work or even helping at homes. And many parents are powerless .

so true !

Point, welcome.

I guess that you do not like spam and spam comments at steemit. Pls see my latest post on the issue and send in your suggestions. We want a united front against spam .

Like I said in a reply down below, maybe not destroyed, certainly altered. What kids have these days in terms of distractions is unprecedented... How it will change them when they are adults? Only time will tell.

I agree. Altered but in a good or bad way?

It has destroyed the creativity of this generation. All they do is chat and play games.

true...

Thanks for coming up with such posts.

Maybe not destroyed, definitely altered.

Agree with you it has negative effect on our life but it's totally depend on us how we use it or how we let children's use techonolgy .

Thats true, but its getting out of control!

The very devices that were meant to make it easier for us to connect has made more people disconnect. It is really an interesting phenomenon as smart phones have only really been in use for a decade. I live in South Korea (IT capital of the world) when I take the subway to work everyday, all I see is people with their heads down in their own world, on their phone.

One fun little game i like to play with my friends or family, if we go out to dinner together, we all put our phones in the center of the table, the first one to take their phone for a message, call, etc has to buy dinner. It has definitely helped us to have more undivided, interaction with each other .

Yes i think smartphones have affected today's generations. But it is important to keep a balance in life.

I agree!

Yes, access to technology has destroyed this generation and those to come.

I hate to see a parent give a child their phone as though it's a pacifier, as though the child is in charge, as though the parent does not want to be the adult.

However, let's not forget that the previous generations were inundated with television. In this case, again the adults did not want to train their children, they let a television do the job for them.

As in the past, in this present, and into the future, we need to teach our children how to behave and how to interact socially in real life.

No one wants to talk about the Coltan mining in the Congo and the wars it has caused, in order to manufacture cellphones and other disposable consumer electronics

great input. I also agree when you said that parents are giving their children access to smartphones. Its way too early

said to be the biggest experiment ever foisted on the public at large( an entire population)...cell phone carrier wave technology was removed from private sector testing and handed off to the Air Force by Pres. Reagan.We have never seen a health report proving it's safety. When you warn users of deadly brain tumors behind ears and cancer rates tied to cells,people shrug it off with a "well if they aren't safe they wouldn't sell them to us".These people live under rocks.

Thanks for the input! Appreciate your wise words

haha the razor. I had that phone. well written post. Teenagers today are just buried in technology.

I say there is still hope for them, but we all have to become less distracted with our phones and live life for real. (I'm preaching to myself lol)

I'm fully agree that because of the smart phones and Internet, people in the new generation are getting far from real relation. Many relationships has been broken and unstable. New generation want to spend most of their time on mobile. Because they use the mobile upto late night, they don't have enough sleep and become another health issue.

I think being on the phone allows me to be really productive. We just need to put it away when we are with the people who are important. It's quite efficient for us to decide if you ask me!

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With the smartphone today,
We can see the positive is people who far could be near.
But negative if the people around us will be far away from us.
That's the effect
Thank you for sharing great post today.

"The values of the younger generation have nothing to do with those of previous generations". This is indeed one of the most widely shared beliefs today: today's youth would be a generation of "mutants". Yet, is it certain that it exists? The "Generation Y" is an invention of the marketing professionals. This concept would be intended to ward off the prestige of novelty that category of population that we have been calling "young people" since the 1960s

These teenagers nowadays, ruining their own generation with smartphones!!! Why can't they ruin their generation with television like we used to do in the good ole days?!
Seems like every generation has been ruining itself since the dawn of time.

I agree that times have changed. I can still remember the old cell phones that was massive in size but cool to have because only a few had them. Then the pagers came alone. On the video game side, I remember playing the atari, sega, and nintendo. Riding bikes and doing other outdoor activities was a must as well but it seem these days kids are more so inside online playing games and engaging in the virtual world more. Great read, I enjoyed reading it. Steem on steemiteer

I look you . Never bored , saxy lady. Nice to see beautiful and saxy lady .

I have a 18 month old son and I'm already thinking about how smartphones are going to impact his life. I think some things about smartphones will be good for my son but I fear he won't be as good in the social skills area because he may rely on a smartphone to much.

I think it's not destroy, I think it's evolution. Which is the normal of our species

its go wrong side our new generations and really destroy the talent them @soldier

The era of sophisticated, iphone has become a tool to the needs of the whole world. Thank you friends already sharing.

nice articel on it and sure u r right and this is not right for our childrens

yes agree with u soldier and i really see many side effect of mobile and specially in new generation

i realize it that to use of mobile phone too much create some ignorence feelings in us and new childs and its really bad and also many side effects of use too much of mobiles

I feel that kids growing up with cell phones have become socially awkward and feel like they have trouble fitting in.

great work soldir to talk on this many important issue and warn everyone i read a good article after 2 days and i appriciate u to share it with steemian good job soldier

this is very articulate...i feel it's a thing of choice and proper guardiance

its a big true of world and u r 100% right really it destroy the many lifes and it change the our livfes to wrong side

Of course yes the answer but if the smartphone diginakan in the direction that is not good. May be a positive value if used to train children's creativity to play. There may be other better options. thank you for sharing.

Wow, I feel like I see this everyday @soldier!

people do not meet much often anymore, which has a statistically positive effect on the murder and car accident rate

I should post dashcam footage of the number of people I see on a daily basis, faces blatantly buried in their phone while driving! Such a pet peeve of mine. Not sure if the footage would capture that, I'll check.

It's truly sad that it has become an epidemic (life on phone). You see them while you're driving - same characteristics as a drunk driver. At the same time people are so disconnected. You could be in a waiting room with 5 other people and all of them will have their phone up... 4 feet away. :(

We need an intervention of some sort. Great content.

very well said... cant argue on that.... nowadays its so hard to see children playing on the streets... they are all inside the houses with smart phones, tablets and pc...

unlike on our days we enjoy playing outside with friends.... enjoying life outside... on our world.... but kids in this era have virtual world... they enjoy it so much that they forgot to live their life to the fullest....

It's not logical,Parents can’t wrench the phones out of teens’ hands and tell them to go straight back to 1985.

Due to smartphones, the children are not able to perform physical activities like cycling, playground games etc. The Sedentary lifestyle may have a negative effect on their health.

I'm 56 now, I think I would have been ok with a cell phone when I was a teenager, everyone thinks his generation was the best, I remember when I was in high school I used to think what shitty songs my mother used to like and now I think what shitty songs are out there now, I think my generation's music was the best, I think everyone thinks that way, probably you would find the music I like a little funny, in the future (if we get to see one) today's teenagers will think the same way about whatever appliance, music or any other thing that is used by kids at that time. Everyone tends to criticize the younger generation, and in reality the only thing we do have going is we have more experience, in that we are definitely better the older we get.

Hello steemit good fotografhy for

Thanks to sharing post!

Todays generation grew up using mobile devices such as smartphones, laptops, cameras etc. etc... I was never an opponent against smartphones but did this technology destroyed a generation?
Freind all follow me

Nice and well documented article.
As for your questions, as always, it is not all black or white.
Yes smartphones are useful for connecting people, I couldn't just write this comment without a smartphone.
And yes, it is a bit frightening to see all these teenagers (and people) always eyes on their smartphone. In the bus, in the subway, in the shops, everytime they have 2 minutes actually.
They just don't look around anymore.

You can't do much about it, because it is free will.
In the end it is up to everyone to ask him/herself : what kind of life do I want ?
A real one or a virtual one ?

wow what interesting statistics, i love your posts soldier!! i resteem and up vote everything you do.

They have came up with the term Mobophobia. The fear of not having access to your mobile phone. It's crazy. (As I type this on my phone)

There is a free app called Moment. Once installed, it analyzes your phone usage and suggests changes to your habits.

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