Just Technology?

By Brielle Kirk



Did you ever have to yell at anyone to put their phone away at dinner? Has a teen you know been bullied or hurt over a social networking site? In schools around the nation teens are prohibited to use their cell phones in school and that is rightfully so. Cell phones and social networking are ruining the minds of youth around the country. Every student should spend less time on his or her cell phone and social networking pages because teens will be better behaved, spend more time with the family, their grades will improve, and there will be less bullying.



“You failed this marking period Johnny! Say good-bye to your cell phone until those grades come up!” This is what happens in homes around the country. Eighth grader Abigail Taylor says “Each night I spend more time on facebook than I do doing homework.” That is upsetting, everyday schoolwork goes out the door and is replaced by social networking and cell phones. If teenagers did not spend so much time on the computer and their cell phones they would have better grades. Furthermore, students would pay more attention in class because they won’t be texting notes back and forth which they think is just fine. On average 31 percent of seniors don’t graduate in the United States! Is this because of technology? Who knows, but because of cell phones and social networking school grades and graduates are going in a downward spiral.


The dinner table is one place where families are all together, but keeping everyone away from their cell phones is not an easy task. Every single parent gets upset up with their child every once in a while and most of the time is has to do with work not getting done or bad behavior, which can be caused by cell phones and social networking. For example, seventy-seven percent of teens have a cell phone and that means that seventy-seven percent of parents have to deal with their child spending less and less time with the family. On average a teen from age thirteen to seventeen send 2,899 texts a month and when they are texting they are not spending time with their parents are they? Parents pay a massive phone bills just so their children can ignore them. Is that right?


Teens talk back all the time but isn’t that just their way of life? Some teens are given detentions for having their cell phones out in class and some are in detentions for cyber bullying. The fact of the matter is seventy-five percent of teens admit that they have been cyber bullied and some of them have probably retaliated. I addition, teenagers are behaving badly and before anyone knows it a teen has a detention, caught up in a law suit, or in the worst case scenario someone commits suicide. If a child is always behind the eight ball parents might want to read what he/she says online and on their cell phones because that might just be the cause for the fights and other disciplinary problems.


Have you ever seen a student crying in the halls or on the streets walking home from school? Have you ever thought of the cause? It could be because he/she fell down the stairs or it could be that they have been bullied. Most of all bullying goes on online or over the phone. Thirty-two percent of parents fear for their child’s safety at school and it all starts when one teen is rude and mean online or over the phone. Have you ever heard the stories of teens killing themselves over being bullied online? Well those teens were not liked, hated if you will and most were pushed over the edge by the comments that they saw everyday on social networking sites. Unfortunately, cell phones and social networking are the cause of most bullying in schools and it is not just in U.S, so next time you see a student crying on the street or in the halls tell them that they should not listen to the bullies because the bullies break you down to build themselves up.


Cell phones and social networking are not all wonderful, and not using them can improve grades, improve behavior, lessen bullying, and teens will spend more time with the family. Education has really been affected by the technology age and now education has taken a back seat to cell phones and social networking. We need education not to be affected by technology, so let’s get cell phones and social networking out of schools and home environments.