Growing up in the digital age has always been a controversial topic. So many people have been riddled with, giving their children tablets or just simply letting them explore nature as many children have done before. The digital age has many benefits for the upcoming generations; quicker access to information, consistent communication. Though, alongside all of the benefits, there are also many negatives.
Later generations, such as Gen Alpha and Gen Beta, have suffered from a diminished attention span as patience. With online information, everything you need is there at the exact time you need it. When in reality, with processing and finding certain information, it will take a lot longer time to obtain. Senior E’meree Fleming, is one of the many people who disagree with the uprising of technology use. “I grew up in the time period where technology was being heavily introduced, but all of us still went outside and played in the park,” Fleming said.
Another thing would be access to social media. Younger generations have unfortunately become more gullible and are more susceptible to believing the things they see on social media. Senior Sofia Job, has witnessed the decline in children’s self esteem due to social media access. “Early exposure to social media can have a negative impact on young kids, the way the algorithms work can lead them to grow up and become narrow-minded people.” Job said.
The use of technology and social media has been integrated into schoolwork as well, children are no longer able to use correct penmanship due to the consistent use of a computer and its keyboard. “With things like Chat GPT, people have lost the ability to do both basic and hard things for themselves. Essentially, with the use of technology we’ve stopped thinking for ourselves, and are now reliant on a computer to do the work for us.” Job said.
Many people born in the earlier generations; such as “millennials” have also recognized how the digital age has begun to affect children. Science teacher, Elizabeth Fields, is one of the many people who have recognized the change, seeing as she works with children of the new generation. “Growing up with constant access to technology has fundamentally “rewired” how younger generations’ brains work and interact with the world because of a shifted attention span, reduced “boredom tolerance”, lower patience and the need for constant stimulation.” Fields said.
In recent society, there has been an influx of the amount of technology being used. In fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, Dunkin and more places, are replacing the cashiers with kiosk. Because of this, young children who are ordering food, won’t have the ability to have a human interaction or learn common courtesy. They’re going to become accustomed to clicking on a screen, which isn’t allowing them to learn how to interact in specific places.
When screens are the ones raising children before they’ve had the chance to explore and understand the real world, something important gets lost along the way. Younger kids deserve the time to build social skills, creativity and curiosity without a glowing tablet screen guiding every moment. And often, in the wrong direction.
If we want the next generation to grow into thoughtful, capable people, we have to protect the parts of childhood that technology can’t replace. The future shouldn’t just be digital—it should still be human.