The 21st century has presented the world with a new developed version, where students or rather young people are getting to learn about different forms of technology. Technology has come in many versions where today’s young people have adopted every form of technology that emerges. Engineers and other scientists have dedicated their focus on developing new technology gadgets that suit the needs of students and all young people. Cell phones have become part of peoples’ lives where they communicate with their friends, family or peers throughout the world. Young people have embraced the new forms of technology available to learn new things. This improvement has been rendered more useful than what they learn in schools. The new forms of technology have impacted our life in various ways, positively and negatively.
Technology has enabled young people to get connected to their peers and the world in a way that they share information every minute of the day. However, this might have negative influences on the young people in that they will most likely associate with what seems necessary to them. The technological gadgets available in the world today have made people get attached to them and rely on them. This has negatively affected young people as they feel that they have all the information they require and thus no need for attending school. This has been attributed to the large number of school drop outs who believe that schools is not the right environment for them as they want to be treated more like individuals and not like part of a group or class. This negative impact can also be related to the notion that teachers fail to deliver what the students want in the ways that they need it (Prensky, 6).
Young people in the world today want to be respected, trusted and give platforms where they can air their views and opinions. They want to be given chances to follow their own interests and passions as well as create their own time depending on the tools they use. They want the chance to interact with their peers to work on group work and projects and make decisions that help them share control. They also want to cooperate and compete with each other and express their emotions in class and the whole world. These are all important aspects about the young people that should be considered by the teachers at school, parents and the society at large. However, they all affect the culture and society in life in that they only allow young people to relate to other people across the world instead of addressing them with the help of their parents or teachers. This negatively impacts in that they prevent the social interaction that might seek them help. Expressing their emotions and feelings on social media sites might get them engaged in the wrong company. They might get wrong advice from their friends and since they get to make decisions they will most likely to do the wrong thing.
In addition to this, technological tools have enabled people to gather information on basically everything in the world which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is good as it helps people interact and share ideas that are developmental and may bring better innovations. It also facilitates spread of information within a short time to people across the world. Computer games and movies enable kids to remain preoccupied rather than get involved with crime. However, every coin has two sides and the negative part about the new communication technology is that it has led to the spread of immoral and unjustifiable ideas and thoughts. The spread and occurrence of pornography on such communication technology tools has corrupted the young people and the society at large (Weiss, 47). In most cases reported today, rape and other social crimes have emanated from the spread of immorality on the internet and videos. The popular culture too has led to the spread of such activities in that music video and the mode of dressing has totally changed. Young people will want to associate with the new mode of living and copy the people they see on the videos and the internet. Therefore, they will end up copying and associating with the relevant things.
Works cited
Prensky, Marc. From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom: Hopeful Essays for 21st Century Learning. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin, 2012. Print.
Prensky, Marc. Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin, 2010. Print.
Weiss, Meredith; Hanson-Baldauf, Dana. "E-Mail in Academia: Expectations, Use, and Instructional Impact." EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 31.1 (2008): 42-50. Web.
