There’s nothing more contradictory than seeing someone write a lengthy post about their hate of technology and how it’s affecting our youth, and then posting it on Facebook. Did they send that post with a book?
Young people shouldn’t be shamed for using technology because it is a required tool for their world. Whether it’s good or bad is dependent on how it is used.They aren’t being lazy when they use technology, they use technology because they have no choice but to.
They are told to write essays on laptops, not typewriters. Those scholarly sources they’re required to find, they’re usually on online databases, not libraries.
Once they go into the workforce, they’re asked if they have a LinkedIn before a resume. Young people need to know how to use Microsoft Excel before the Dewey decimal system.
Since the younger generation, (let’s say 1990-now, since the terms Millennial or Gen-Z are debatable), have grown up with technology for most of their lives, they have a better grip on how to use it responsibly. Modern technology has taught the youth to be more innovative and adapt to change, which are required qualities in any productive citizen, no matter the generation.
Older generations assume that younger people don’t understand how social media affects professional life. They’re quite wrong.
Young people know social media presence can make or break a job opportunity. Jobs have been gained and lost because the youth used social media as a tool.
19-year-old college student Anok Yai signed a modeling contract with Next Models after a picture of her at Howard University’s homecoming went viral.
White supremacists lost their jobs after the Charlottesville riots when photos and videos of them with torches went viral.
The youth know exactly what they’re doing. They are shaking the system and challenging norms.
Knowing a simple retweet can make or break their chances at an opportunity makes the youth even more responsible, more vigilant than before. Every move they make is being watched, and they know it.
If older generations are worried about how technology affects interpersonal communication, then we should work on media literacy and how to balance online life with “real” life, rather than eliminating it from their lives in total. Remind younger generations that technology is a tool, and their own personalities and skills make it what it is.
Telling the youth to not be as tech savvy will make them unprepared for their future, which is undoubtedly dominated by technology.
While you’re posting that rant about technology destroying the youth, a young person working at Facebook HQ is coding behind the scenes, making sure that post goes live.
Let the youth be great.