Teenagers are connected into a new world with the increased popularity of text messaging and social networking during the 2000s. Interactions and relationships that teenagers hold have experienced negative effects due to cell phone and internet use. Teenagers in particular are victims of this matter because of their low cognitive and self-control ability. The detrimental impacts upon teens' relationships can be seen between conversations amongst peers, with their parents, or even teachers. Some analysts of this technological era argue that social networking and text messaging for interaction among relationships is inevitable and necessary, however moderation should be set and lines should be drawn when teenagers use their mobile devices or the internet which gives satisfaction to their relationship and interaction needs.
The relationships that teenagers have with each other are vastly different than they were twenty years ago. Where daily conversations between two friends took place sitting next to each other in a bedroom or over the telephone, today's conversations take place on wall posts or status comments via Facebook. Books worth of dialogue are present through instant text messages at the teenagers' convenience. With the adolescents lives of today's generation constantly revolving around technological use, teenagers' relationships with their friends revolve around it as well. The reason this is predominantly perceived as a negative issue is because of the attachment and obsession that teenagers' have with their technological devices that allow them to communicate with the outside world. Furthermore, social isolation can occur amongst teens if they do not have access to their mobile phone or computer. According to Emory professor Mark Baurelin, the pieces of technology that teenagers' hold "are more than communication devices; they are the primary means of relating to one another" (Tucker 17), so when these devices are taken away, the relation of one teen to another is also removed. This is how the reliance amongst the internet and text messaging to communicate with peers can be harmful.
The negative effects of text messaging and social networking doesn't stop with peer-to-peer interactions. Relationships between parents and their teenage children have also been significantly dampened. First, with a parent's authority of a child, they have the ability to prevent their teenagers' use of their mobile device or laptop, especially if they are paying for them. This fact alone can significantly fuel anger towards the parent, more so than when parents would ground their children from going to a friend's birthday party or from watching television. If a parent takes away their teens' sole source of interaction with the outside world, this can cause more harm than good. Second, the issue of trust between teen and parent emerges. Due to the attachment teens have to their social networking or texting devices, teenagers will without hesitation lie to their parents about use of cell phones or hide internet use from them. This causes yet another tear in the relationship with their parent.
Even a particular relationship that teenagers hold dear--romantic relationships-- can take a serious fall through the use of text messaging. In a detailed communication report on the role of the mobile phone in romantic relationships, Professor Jorge F. Pena from Cornell University unveils the findings of C. Licoppe in his book "‘Connected’ presence: The emergence of a new repertoire for managing social
relationships in a changing communication technoscape.", to say that the presence of technology today in close relationships has evidently presented a pattern of the "connected mode of communication" (Jin 40). Before cell phones were ever invented, a couple would have to call their love partners house phone or go over to their house to stay in contact with them. Now, frequent text messages are sent between lovers to ensure a feeling of connectedness and to keep up-to-date with each others daily activities. While many would argue that the use of mobile phones or even social networking could prove beneficial to their relationships, the level of attachment one has to their phone can create an unhealthy attachment between two love partners. This was seen also between peer and friend relationships. This isn't even to mention the constant mis-communication that love partners receive via text messaging due to misconceiving connotations of texts. Teenagers' reliance upon text messaging and social networking can prove harmful to love relationships just like it can with peer relationships and relationships with parents, and there needs to be a way for this to be stopped.
In searching for solutions to the current matter of the negative impact that text messaing and social networking interactions has upon key relationships in a teenagers life the answer could appear quite simple: stop use of these devices. However, it is considerably easier said than done. If teenagers need their communication devices to get by in everyday life of today's generation, then there must be an alternative approach to solve this matter. The key to solving these issues is in large part attributed to moderation. First, if teenagers are simply aware of the harmful effects that their cell phones and computers can have upon important relationships in their life, then perhaps they would work harder to moderate cell phone use and cut back on a lot of it. In the concluding statement of a report of a current research carried about by Professor Kim Junghyun from the Department of Communication at Kent State University and Professors Robert LaRose and Wei Peng from Michigan State University conclude that the pattern seen in their research of the negative effects of internet use can be a "potential malicious cycle of unregulated Internet use if not moderated" ( 455). The ultimate solution to the negative effects of teenagers' cellular phone and computer use that give way to their constant text messaging and social networking, is to simply put their activities into moderation. This is how lines can be drawn between telecommunication and adverse outcomes.
--Lucretia Renee Welsh
Works Cited:
Jin, Borae, and Jorge F. Peña. "Mobile Communication in Romantic Relationships: Mobile Phone Use, Relational Uncertainty, Love, Commitment, and Attachment Styles." Communication Reports 23.1 (2010): 39-51. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.
Junghyun, Kim, Robert LaRose, and Peng Wei. "Loneliness as the Cause and the Effect of Problematic Internet Use: The Relationship between Internet Use and Psychological Well-Being." CyberPsychology & Behavior 12.4 (2009): 451-455. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.
Tucker, Patrick. "Hooked Up or Just Hooked." Futurist 43.2 (2009): 16-17. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010.
