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

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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