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Artificial Children

When I was ten years old my dad took me to get my first phone. It was a cold, dreary day

in January and as we were pulling up to the AT&T store on the border of Pleasant Hill and

Concord, my stomach began to feel tight with knots of excitement and anticipation. We went

inside to browse the store’s contents and it was in that moment that my world changed. The new

iPhone 3GS was all mine, and I could not wait to see where this device would take me. I spent

hours on wallpaper apps saving pictures of dogs and inspirational quotes; and I even learned how

to text and communicate with my friends and family. I was obsessed; and through this obsession

I noticed that I was not the only kid with this special gift.

When I graduated onto middle school, I became aware that almost every person I knew

was glued to small screen in their hands. It was the age of technology and everyone was deeply

captivated by it.Teachers began to forgo the classic white board and were starting to use Elmo

projectors, whereas students spent less time in class talking, and more time texting. A new game

was being introduced: whoever whips their phone out THE second the teacher stops talking wins

a prize. That prize was popularity. I went along with the fad. In those days I wanted to fit in as

much as possible. Middle school is an awkward age for anyone, and during those three years I

had two goals: to be liked and to be popular. I was bullied a lot when I was younger for the way

that I looked or for how challenged I was when it came to my athletic capabilities. This made me

feel like an object, and I was tired of feeling objectified. I ventured out to find some new friends,

and with the use of my phone, it became a lot easier to establish these new relationships. I never

did achieve my goal of being the most known girl in school, but because of that I realized I’m

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fine with being different. As I’ve grown older, I have grown to become less attached to the

social norms of our society. It shouldn’t matter about what other people think of you or how

many “likes” on a picture you get in one day. Yet recently, it seems like all teens care about is

their image. Teens, especially teenage girls, are being negatively targeted when being present

online and this is a growing issue that needs to be faced.

Girls on social media are fighting for the top spot in a popularity contest that cannot be

won. These young girls are being told that they must have expensive clothes, clear skin, and

bodies with no imperfections. They are being forced to try to please others when these young

girls should be trying to please themselves. This mindset of trying to be perfect has personally

affected my household. My younger sister Olivia is a 7th grader at Foothill Middle School. When

she got her phone, the change was subtle at first, but gradually her self esteem started to

decrease. It all originated when she began to straighten her naturally curly hair, and eventually

she started to eat less and even stopped wearing the glasses that were necessary for her to see.

She was unhappy with her appearance and locked herself in her room so that no one could get a

look. After watching her go through this disheartening and secluded phase, I wondered if there

were more teens than just my sister who were being targeted by their devices? And if so, how are

they being negatively affected by social media and other aspects of technology? Should kids

even be given cell phones at such a young age? All of these queries are what led to me the

question: How has modern technology affected today’s youth both physically and socially?

Although cell phones currently dominate our society, they have been around in one form

or another for nearly a century. In fact, before there were even cell phones, there were car

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phones. “In 1947, an engineer at Bell Labs envisioned a futuristic phone network for their car

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phones. A call would bounce uninterrupted between ‘cells’ of coverage” (Protin). These devices

were known as “car phones” because they were too heavy to carry around in a pocket or a purse.

Some were even known to be around eighty pounds each! When the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x

appeared on the technological market in 1983, the world was truly transformed because this

model was classified as the first ever cell phone due to it small size. “The phone took 10 hours to

charge, lasted 35 minutes, and cost $3,995, which would be about $10,000 today” (Protin). This

new and expensive phone instantly became a symbol of pop culture. “‘You always have the

trendsetters who are not afraid of trying new things and then everyone else follows,’ says Patricia

Grullon, an Industrial Design instructor at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. ‘These

trendsetters are key to make any product popular’” (Ray). While these new icons were very

popular, they were primarily used by businessmen for work related communication instead of for

personal communication like we see today. It wasn’t until 2007, when Apple introduced the first

iPhone, that cell phones were considered mainstream. This was the first advanced cell phone to

have a touch screen; and just by owning it one was considered cool. Today cell phones are a

necessity, a basic need if you will. We use them as communication devices, as maps, for

entertainment, and for countless other reasons. We as a society crave the constant need to have

the world at our fingertips, and because of this craving, humanity has grown an addiction to

technology. Day by day this addiction grows, as well as the youth who are affected by it.

Back when I was a kid I would play dress-up with my favorite stuffed animals, or pretend

to be Matilda with a makeshift library set up in my bedroom. Unfortunately the children of today

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experience digital childhoods, rather than imaginative ones. By spending an increasing amount

of time playing games on tablets and phones, a child’s social skills start to deteriorate; as well as

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their health. At any age, spending too much time staring at a screen is considered unhealthy, but

due to the constant growth that children and teenagers face, they are easily more susceptible to

these health risks.

“Children’s developing sensory, motor, and attachment systems have biologically not
evolved to accommodate this sedentary, yet frenzied and chaotic nature of today’s
technology. The impact of rapidly advancing technology on the developing child has seen
an increase of physical, psychological and behavioral disorders that the health and
education systems are just beginning to detect, much less understand. Diagnoses of
ADHD, autism, coordination disorder, developmental delays, unintelligible speech,
learning difficulties, sensory processing disorder, anxiety,
depression, and sleep disorders are associated with technology overuse, and are
increasing at an alarming rate.” (Rowan).

Children need to have constant movement, human connection, as well as structure in their lives

when it comes to their development. By allowing children and teenagers to spend large quantities

of time on their devices, we as a society are robbing these youth of the basic social functions that

they need to be successful.

Not only do cellphones lead to behavior disorders, but they also disrupt the sleeping

patterns that these kids desperately need. The healthy amount of sleep that adolescents are

instructed to get is a specific 9 hours and 15 minutes each night. While that is the goal, the reality

is that teenagers normally only get at the most 7 hours of sleep each night. Teens are struggling

to get sleep during the week, which results in them oversleeping on the weekends. By

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oversleeping, the sleep cycle is disturbed and it can affect a teenager both physically and

mentally.

“Cell phones are an addiction for many teens. From sleep deprivation to texting and
driving, cell phones present a health hazard for teens who cannot break away from the
social pressures of constant contact via cell phone...According to Science Daily, many

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 youngsters develop an addiction to their cell phone and feel a group pressure to remain
connected and reachable around the clock. However, sleep that is consistently interrupted
results in a decreased ability to focus on daily activities, such as school work or sports.
Teens often become irritable when sleep deprived.According to psychologist Suzanne
Phillips, writing for PBS, ‘texting is instantly gratifying but it's also anxiety producing.
The instant connection can cause feelings of elation and self-value only to be replaced by
the disappointment of no response, a delayed response or the misinterpretation of a short
or seemingly curt response’” (Berry).

Social media and texting is a lot more entertaining than homework, and because of this, many

teenagers procrastinate and put off their homework until the latest that they possibly can. If a

teenager stays up late at night doing homework, they are jeopardizing their sleep and their

cognitive ability. If a person’s cognitive functions are interrupted through inadequate sleep,

“problems with attention, memory, decision making, reaction time, and creativity, all of which

are important in school” (Mindell), may occur. This wreaks havoc on a teenager’s development,

and greatly affects the most important part of their body: their brain.

The human brain does not cease to grow until a person is roughly 25 years old. When it

comes to teenagers, their brains are still very much developing. This makes them more

susceptible to making rash decisions and having little to no impulse control. In our brains it is the

prefrontal cortex, or the frontal lobe, that helps us think about our actions and the possible

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consequences those actions could create. According to Dr. Frances Jensen, the author of the book

The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults,

“‘Teenagers do have frontal lobes, which are the seat of our executive, adult-like
functioning like impulse control, judgment and empathy. But the frontal lobes haven’t
been connected with fast-acting connections yet. The brain actually connects regions
from the back of the brain to the front, so the last place to have these fast-acting
connections is the frontal lobe. But there is another part of the brain that is fully active in
adolescents, and that’s the limbic system. And that is the seat of risk, reward, impulsivity,

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 sexual behavior and emotion. So they are built to be novelty-seeking at this point in their
lives. Their frontal lobe isn’t able to say, ‘That’s a bad idea, don’t do that.’ That’s not
happening to the extent it will in adulthood’” (Scott).

It’s not that teenagers always want to make impulsive decisions or choose to have erratic mood

swings, it’s their own bodies during development working against them. With underdeveloped

brains, teenagers are just not mature enough to handle the intensity of our reality. When kids are

in the midst of experiencing the wonder of their childhood, adults filter out the raw and real

aspects of life in hopes of keeping those children oblivious for as long as possible. Yet when it

comes to social media, there is no adult filtering out the mature content.

On social media sites such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter children are exposed to

sex, violence, drugs, and many more adult topics that they previously have not been introduced

to. Since social media is used widely all over the world, a pressure is put on kids to join these

sites so that they can assimilate into our technology craved culture. Michele Simpson, an

employee at Futures Explored and a mother of her 13 year old daughter Sophia, is a firm believer

that social media should never be exposed to children. When asked if she believes that her

daughter and other teens are negatively affected by their phones, she stated, “ Yes I do believe

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teens are negatively affected by cell phones. I see it with my own eyes that teens cannot seem to

do anything without their phones. Even in a group setting, teens are on their phones texting each

other instead of having a personal conversation. To me there is something to be said about having

a face to face conversation...Teens today are addicted to it and it impacts every morphous of their

lives.” Michele believes that teens are the most vulnerable when it comes to social media. “I

think that the more time teenagers spend on sites like Instagram and Snapchat, they lower their

self esteem because they are constantly comparing themselves to others who are seemingly

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prettier, smarter, more talented than they are.” Teenagers, especially young teenage girls, are

being targeted throughout these popular sites due to the oversexualization of females in the

media and the entertainment industry.

All over the internet, the media showcases a narrowly defined body type ideal. For

females the goal is to be slim, but not too slim. Whereas for boys, the ultimate man is muscular

and in great shape. This creates something called body dissatisfaction. According to Joseph, C.

and Shiffrar, M. “Body dissatisfaction is defined as a negative subjective evaluation of the

weight and shape of one’s own body ”. Body dissatisfaction can lead to eating disorders and

depression because as a teenager goes through puberty, they experience increased concerns about

the physical changes that their bodies are going through. “This period is also marked by the

increased interest in the opposite sex, and many teens strive to have the ‘right body’ so that they

will be found desirable and attractive. To the extent that the media defines this right body that the

opposite sex seeks, teens are faced with largely unattainable ideals” (Burns). In movies and on

TV, the actors and actresses are picture perfect when it comes to their appearances. This

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emphasis on the perfect leads many teenagers to disapprove of their own bodies because they do

not match their icons on the screen. This isn’t a little problem that we experience every now and

then, no, this lack of body positivity happens every day worldwide. “By age thirteen, 53% of

American girls are unhappy with their bodies, by age seventeen, 78% are dissatisfied.” (Burns).

Is it healthy that we are putting polished individuals on a pedestal for our youth to see?

Social media creates a sense of vulnerability that has been targeting teenagers for too long. Our

focus should be on creating safe environments that support our children instead of attacking

them. One safe environment in our community that I have known to grow and love is The Creek;

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a middle school youth center located at Foothill. It is at this location where I planned to interview

the Site Director Colleen White, who engages with kids, ages 10-14, on a more personal level.

As I hopped into my outdated Volkswagen beetle, a sense of uneasiness rushed over me.

A surge of thoughts such as, “What if I mess up?”, entered my head as I drove on the familiar

road towards a place of my past. The parking lot I turned into was crowded with a swarm of

parents who were shuffling their kids into an assortment of minivans. I gathered my questions

and my lucky blue pen and started walking down memory lane. I strolled by the classroom where

I handcrafted my first piggy bank, and peered into another where I emerged on stage as Juliet in

Shakespeare’s most romantic tragedy. I knew I was getting close when the sound of children’s

laughter and the thundering boom of a basketball on the pavement echoed through my ears. I

pulled opened the heavy metal door of The Creek and was welcomed by many smiling, familiar

faces. I spotted Colleen over by the snack table and greeted her as she ushered me into the

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“quiet” of her personal office. Even with the door closed, you couldn’t escape the loud chattering

of the children outside.

As Site Director of The Creek, Colleen works hands-on with over a hundred young teens

to make sure that they are in a healthy environment. “I do a lot more of the building up of the

program and coming up with a core curriculum for the kids. With this program they still get to

engage with each other, and build skills being around other teens just not in a school setting.

They can also focus on homework here if they need to; and if we bring in that curriculum aspect,

they may find other things they may enjoy outside of what they already know.” Colleen and the

rest of the staff work hard to incorporate fun activities such as cooking clubs, and talent shows,

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into the everyday lives of these kids. They hope that through these activities the kids will interact

with each other, instead of being on their phones.

To make sure that the amount of screen time these teens have access to is limited, there

are strict rules when it comes to cell phones. “So at first we originally said no cell phones at

all...After about ten years we were like, you know how about they have em out that first half

hour? This was my idea. That first half hour they come in and have it out because they haven’t

technically had it all day at school.” Colleen then began to tell me that at The Creek, 90% of the

kids who have cell phones use them during that first half hour.This is a good example of how cell

phones are affecting their social lives because it shows the reality of separation anxiety.This lack

of separation from their phones causes teens to become less interactive with their peers.

“Do you think it’s starting to affect their friendships socially?” I asked Colleen, to which she

responded enthusiastically.

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“Yes! I think cell phones, period, affect all interactions across the board. Especially
because through text messages or through group messages things can be construed a
different way...it definitely affects how the person feels and the social interaction around
that. It’s not like the honest conversations that teens used to have where you have to
address something. It’s more hiding behind the cell phone as a loophole.”

Social interaction is a key factor for predicting the well-being of a person. By hiding behind a

screen, teens are starting to lose touch of reality, which allows them to only understand what the

world looks like online. It is through our interactions with others that we can express our

emotions and address our problems in an honest way. One of the last things that Colleen said to

me during the interview that stuck in my head was, “I think it’s very prevalent...I think it’s

getting better at being addressed right away. As I said, in this community I believe that parents

are very aware of what’s going on, I hope, with what’s going on with their children’s cell

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phones.” This statement stuck with me because it made me think: Are we actually getting better

at addressing this issue?

Technology is continuing to grow at a quickening pace. It’s in our schools, it’s in our

homes, it’s everywhere. We can’t hide from the fact that the world is advancing, and as a result

we must advance with it. As we continue to grow, we need to establish a healthy relationship in

order to prevent this addiction from spreading. As the famous poet E.E. Cummings once said,

“Progress is a comfortable disease...A world of made is not a world of born”. We need to take

care of ourselves before we become comfortable and get trapped in our progress. This problem

isn’t going to go away unless we continuously spread awareness on the negative effects that

phones have on our lives. We need to better ourselves to save our children. If we don’t help

them, who will?

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Works Cited

Book Source:

“The Media's Impact on Adolescent Body Dissatisfaction .” The American Teenager, by Kate

Burns, Greenhaven Press, 2003, pp. 100–101.

Interview:

Simpson, Michele. “Concerned Mother of a 13 Year Old Girl Who Distrusts Technology.” 13

Mar. 2018.

White, Colleen. “BA in Human Development with Emphasis in Adolescence and the Director of

The Creek, a Middle School Youth Center.” 17 Apr. 2018.

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Web Source:

Berry, Kristen. “How Do Cell Phones Negatively Affect the Health of

Teens?”LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 13 Aug. 2015,

www.livestrong.com/article/1005653-cell-phones-negatively-affect-health-teens/.

Accessed 12 Jan. 2018.

Mindell, J A, and J A Owens. “Sleep in Adolescents (13-18 Years).” Sleep in Adolescents

:: Nationwide Children's Hospital, Nationwide Children's Hospital, 2003,

www.nationwidechildrens.org/sleep-in-adolescents.

Accessed 3 Feb. 2018.

Protin, Corey. “Here's How Drastically Cell Phones Have Changed over the Past 40

Years.”Business Insider, Business Insider, 27 July 2017, www.businessinsider.com/cell-

phone-history-cars-mobile-motorola-apple-bell-labs-samsung-google-2017-7. Accessed

10 Mar. 2018.

Ray, Amanda. “The History and Evolution of Cell Phones.” The Art Institue, The Art Institute,

22 Jan.

2015, www.artinstitutes.edu/about/blog/the-history-and-evolution-of-cell-phones.

Accessed 10 Mar. 2018.

Rowan, Cris. “The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child.” The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 May 2013, 11:29, www.huffingtonpost.com/cris-

rowan/technology-children-negative-impact_b_3343245.html.

Scott, Julia. “Why Is the Teenage Brain so Unpredictable? A Neurobiologist Explains.” PBS,

Public Broadcasting Service, 24 May 2017, 1:49 ,

www.pbs.org/newshour/health/teenage-brain-unpredictable-neurobiologist-explains.

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Shiffrar, Maggie. “ Eating Disorders .” Maggie Shiffrar, Ph.D. - Visual Cognition Lab, May

2011, nwkpsych.rutgers.edu/roar/EatingDisorders.html. Accessed 13 Mar, 2018.

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Works Consulted

Book Source:

Schor, Juliet B. Born to Buy: Marketing and the Transformation of Childhood and Culture.

Scribner, 2004.

Web Source:

BRODY, JANE E. “How Smartphone Addiction Is Affecting Our Physical and Mental

Health.”The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 22 Jan. 2017,

www.seattletimes.com/life/wellness/how-smartphone-addiction-is-affecting-our-physical

-and-mental-health/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2018.

Castillo, Lilisbeth. “Cell Phones: Physical Effects on Teenagers.” The Composition of Happiness,

24 Nov. 2014, openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/the-composition-of-happiness-

f2014/2014/11/24/cell-phones-physical-effects-on-teenagers/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2018.

Carlton, Lindsay. “Teen Cellphone Addiction: How Bad Has It Gotten?” FoxNews.com, 12 Jan.

2018,

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 www.foxnews.com/health/2018/01/12/teen-cell-phone-addiction-how-bad-has-it-

gotten.html. Accessed 17 Feb. 2018.

Lenhart, Amanda, et al. “Teens and Mobile Phones.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science &

Tech, Pew Research Center, 19 Apr. 2010,

www.pewinternet.org/2010/04/20/teens-and-mobile-phones/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.

Myers, PhD Robert. “The Pros and Cons of Giving a Mobile Phone to a Teenager -.” Child

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Development Institute, 4 Jan. 2015, childdevelopmentinfo.com/parenting/pros-cons-

giving-mobile-phone-teenager/#.Wou1B6inFGM. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.

News, CBS. “What Do Mobile Phones Do to Teenage Brains?” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 20

May 2014, www.cbsnews.com/news/what-do-mobile-phones-do-to-teenage-brains/.

Accessed 12 Feb. 2018.

TeenSafe. “How Does Smartphone Addiction Effect Teen Health?” TeenSafe, 16 June 2015,

www.teensafe.com/blog/smartphone-addiction-effect-teen-health/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2018.

Ungar, Michael. “Nurturing Resilience.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 16 Jan. 2018,

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/nurturing-resilience/201801/teens-and-dangerous-

levels-cell-phone-use. Accessed 12 Feb. 2018.

Voegeli, Allison. “SiOWfa14 Science in Our World: Certainty and Cont.” SiOWfa14 Science in

Our World Certainty and Cont, Pennsylvania State University , 7 Sept. 2014,

sites.psu.edu/siowfa14/2014/09/07/the-affects-cell-phones-have-on-social-skills/.

Accessed 7 Feb. 2018.

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