Essay On The Impact Of Technology On Youth

Technology has advanced significant amounts in the last twenty years, it has revolutionized almost every aspect of our life and work, through communication, education and travel. Technology is used in the workplace, schools, homes and even in supermarkets, with the self-service checkouts. There are organizations who believe that technology specifically mobile phones, tablets, computers and video games have negative impacts on young people, whereas others believe that they have positive impacts. Today, “88% of Americans aged twelve to seventeen have cell phones, tablets and/or other devices whereas in 2006 it was 63%” (“Growing Wireless”). This clearly shows that technology is becoming more and more popular, available and affordable. Many students have these

However, it is important that a compromise is met between these two stakeholders so that going forward, students, parents and schools can understand what is best for them and their studies.
The stakeholder that thinks that moderate use of technology is beneficial for young people is the Office of Educational Technology. They believe that technology allows adolescents to express themselves and allows them to succeed in all areas of academic disciplines later in life. With this being said they have four guiding principles that they believe will ensure the proper use of technology on youth. One being, that technology should only be used as a tool for learning and to strengthen relationships among parents, families, early educators and young children. In the article it states, “The thoughtful use of technology by parents and early educators can engage youths in key skills such as play, self-expression, and computational thinking which will support later success across all academic disciplines and help maintain young people’s natural curiosity” (Guiding Principles for Use of Technology with Early Learners). With technologies ability of enhancing academic