Anna Gaysynsky, a junior at NYU’s Steinhardt School for Education, had some very insightful thoughts on the “technology overload” and its impact on Generation Y.

When asked about her own habits when it comes to using technology….

“Because I multitask in terms of using media while doing other things, it is probably anytime that I am not in classes really.”

“I have noticed that I have had to take up certain forms of technology in order to stay in touch with my friends. I don’t like to use Facebook, but I have been forced to use it because everyone else is using it.”

Her response to Bauerlein‘s work….

“In stating that this issue is technology’s fault, I think that he is oversimplifying the problem. He isn’t considering the agency people have in choosing how to use the technology. There are very useful aspects of technology, like for instance the radio. I listen to NPR and it gives me information that I cannot get from my direct experiences with the world. There is no way to know what is going on in Afghanistan if you just walk down the streets of New York.I do think that technology offers opportunities to expand horizons and become an educated, trustworthy person, which previous generations didn’t have access too. It is just that as a generation, we are using the technology wrong.”

I think that Anna makes some great points. Similar to Dr. Junco, she views the issue of technology as something that is not necessarily placing GenY in danger but more an element of our lifestyle that may need some reflection.

Dr. Junco

Photo Courtesy of Dr. Junco’s Webpage

On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak with Dr. Reynol Junco on the phone! We spoke for about an hour, and he had some very interesting things to say…..

Here are some of the highlights of our conversation!

When I asked about his current research, which has to do with social media and technology and its relationship to psychological development….

Junco believes that it is important to define the type of Internet activity when discussing its impact on psychological development. For instance, Junco stated that some research has shown a correlation between high Internet use and emotional loneliness and depression. However, “Internet use” in these studies refers to being online for non-communicative purposes, which does not include Facebook, Skype, Instant Messaging, etc. Junco highlighted research that shows positive relationships between Internet use for communicative purposes and psychological well-being.

Recently, Mark Bauerlein published his book “The Dumbest Generation: How Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30),” in which he suggests that “too much” technology is having a negative impact on Generation Y. Do you agree that Generation Y is in danger? If so, what kind of danger?

“My take on this is based on my current work. I don’t think that Generation Y is in danger. I think it is very provocative to say that a generation is in danger because of technology use. Clearly, it sells books. However, if this generation is in danger, it is in danger of the media’s unfair stereotypes and generalizations.”

“His [Bauerlein's] critique sounds a lot like the old ‘the generation that comes after mine is not motivated, smart, etc’ thing. I find this interesting because he is from the generation that watched a lot of television and got most of their news from that one source. Yet, he is making these evaluations about a generation that is actually full of citizen journalists. Generation Y actually has to sift through more information and has to think more critically than people used to.”

What do members of Generation Y lose by choosing to “text” instead of “talk” or search the Internet instead of read a book?

“This is an unfair dichotomy here. I work with a lot of students and I have never met any student that will text message to the exclusion of talking or that won’t read a book because they are too preoccupied searching the Internet. In actuality, we are a busy society and I think using technological tools to text when we have things to do actually helps us maintain connections. We are on information overload all of the time, but it is the reality. Members of the Net Generation are trying to work hard and build their careers.”

At this point it was clear that Dr. Rey had a substantially different take on the impact of technology on GenY.

“I learned from my research that the Net Generation (Junco’s term for Generation Y) is actually more engaged in their community than previous generations, and they use technology to connect in natural ways, which strengthens their engagement.”

He highlighted three benefits of technology for Generation Y

1. Students that use social networking are more engaged on college campuses and so they feel like they have a higher connection to their institution and their friends.

2. Establishing connections relates to student persistence and success.

3. In this kind of society where we have a lot of information and a lot of things to do, people from this generation feel more pressure to do well. They work very hard and social media helps us to keep up with people in ways that we wouldn’t be able to do without it.

While Dr. Junco promotes the use of technology amongst Generation Y, he did see Bauerlein’s point about the easy access to information on the Internet and the importance of having guidance.

“Our job as educators is to help students think critically about the information they find online, just like years ago when it was presented via television and newspapers.”

Dr. Reynol's Book

“In a survey of 7,705 college students….

A. 97 percent of students own a computer

B. 94 percent of students own a cell phone

C. 74 percent use Instant Messaging

D. 75 percent have a Facebook account

E. 60 percent own some type of portable media device like an iPod.

I will also be speaking with Dr. Junco later today…..Stick around to hear his thoughts/comments/opinions!

Professor Mark Bauerlein

1. Why did you first become interested in this topic (generation Y and the impact of a technology overload)?

“Well, when I was at the National Endowment for the Arts, we did a study eventually entitled “Reading at Risk.” It got a lot of attention, and I hit the road to speak about the results, the main one of which is that leisure reading by young-uns is way down.”

(Learn more about “Reading at Risk”)

2. Could you provide any first-hand experience/account that prompted you to take on this concept?

“You watch and listen over the years, and you see and hear different things. Stand in a quad between classes and watch how many students pass by with a cell phone to their ears or in front of their eyes. Go into a cafe and count the laptops on the tables, then compare it to the number of books being read. Go to the library and count the kids at computer terminals, than go up to the stacks and search for any of them. We all see the trend, but only a curmudgeonly reactionary will see the terrible cost.”

3. In your opinion, is Generation Y truly in danger? If so, to what extent? What do we loose by overusing technology?

“Sure they are. They spend far too much of their formative years texting, networking, photoshopping...These are the only years in which they will read books, look at great art, and face challenging ideas as an educational experience. They’ll never get this chance again. Instead of going to the cafe to update facebook, they should head to their professor’s office for a chat about Lady Macbeth. Instead of doing 2272 messages a month (Nielsen rating from last January), they should read about Gettysburg or Tet. Get a little learning while you can. If you don’t, you enter your thirties a lesser citizen and a lesser person.”

4. Could you be more specific? When members of Gen Y choose to text instead of talk, or browse the Internet instead of read, what are they losing?

It is a matter of citizenship: democracy puts a heavy burden of knowledge on people. Totalitarian governments don’t–on the contrary, the more ignorance the better for them. Democracy makes people into decision-makers, voting, protesting, and lobbying… And if they are going to do so responsibly, they must bear an awareness of the Bill of Rights, the great examples from the past (heroes and villains), the principles of liberty, free speech etc., Supreme Court decisions, and so on. If people don’t keep history and civics close at hand, they end up operating out of selfish and consumerist interests. They respond to political candidates on shallow grounds. They make fundamental mistakes such as believing George W. Bush to be a conservative. Now, civicm and historical knowledge is largely gained in high school and college years. If those matters are not reflected in their leisure lives, they won’t pursue them out of school (by reading about the Civil War) and they won’t remember them once they’ve left civics class. It has no personal meaning, so once the paper is done and the test taken, it disappears.”

5. What would you say is a healthy amount of time for teens to spend on the Internet/on social networking sites?

“Let’s put it another way. I have a 4-year old boy. If I get a solid hour of reading time and a good hour of talking time (cultivating his opinions, memories, judgments…not just “did you have fun today?”) and see him outside playing for another two hours, I don’t mind if he had an hour of TV and some web browsing later on. It’s all a question of balance. Just remember, though, that TV and web don’t want to share a child’s attention with books and play. Ratings are everything.”

6. Are there any solutions to this problem that you see among teens today?

“Not on any broad level, only at the individual level of parents, teachers, and other mentors in kids’ lives pulling them out of the technology/social circuit for a few hours each day. Let them know that there are bigger heroes in life than the popular crowd, that the triumphs of adolescence don’t mean much later on.”

7. Who do you feel is to blame?

“My generation. My colleagues gave up on general education and core knowledge, preferring to substitute child-centered learning and self-esteem building for genuine instruction. They lost faith in a tradition of history and literature and civics that everyone had to know because that tradition bore racist and sexist elements. And they didn’t want to grow old, so they don’t like to play the role of the stern elder to the young. But that role is essential to help the young grow up. Without it, they keep their adolescence long past age 20.”

“If you think our incessant use of the Internet, Blackberrys, iPods, text-messaging and video games has changed our lives and our children’s lives, here’s some breaking news: Technology has not only altered our lives, its altered our brains.”

Those are the words of Dr. Gary Small, the Director of the UCLA Memory and Aging Research Center recently wrote “IBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.” His work focuses on the impact of technology on the brain and how the brain has been evolving/changing over the past few years. This is interesting to think about in relation to Blauerlein’s work and our discussion of Generation Y growing up in an Age of Technology. Small’s work proves not only insightful, but it also provides a scientific look at this issue. With an understanding of his assertions, we may be better able to tackle the question of whether or not we are in any danger.

Dr. Small's Work

Small spoke out about his work, as many were wondering if this so-called “brain alteration” was positive or negative. It seems to be a little of both. Watch this video clip of Small explaining some of his findings.

In addition, on KNBC Channel 4 news, Small was asked whether technology does anything bad. He explained,

“There are people who are losing their face to face human contact skills because they;re in a sense overdeveloping their technology skills. And you can’t have conversations with them. The other day I said to my teenage daughter, Rachel, I’m talking to you and your looking at your iPod/iPhone. So the major point; learn the technology. Use it; it may help your brain stay healthy. But don’t lose sight of the people, the social part of your life. Take breaks; days even weeks where people are your only technology.”

I am a little more at ease now. Small does not seem to be as worried about our generation as Bauerlein does. However, the two men may have to duke it out in a battle of some sort….

Visit Dr. Small’s blog on Psychology Today.

Say What?

Doing what us GenYers do best, I spent some time researching on the Internet. I came across Mark Bauerlein’s 8 Reasons why to “not trust anyone under 30,” on Boston.com. which I thought was interesting. It provides a summary of his very much talked about book as well as a justification for his rather intense stab at Generation Y.

(I use “they” in the following list, but I am referring to Generation Y, myself included).

1. They make excellent “Jaywalking” Targets-Basically, our generation is shut out from the realities of the world because we are more concerned with friends, work, clothes, pop music, television, and social networking sites such as Facebook.

2. They don’t read books—and don’t want to either-We would rather be doing other things.

3. They can’t spell-We are so used to the abbreviations and the lack of punctuation that we utilize on the Internet that often times our mistakes go unnoticed in our formal writing.

4.  They get ridiculed for original thought, good writing-It is ridiculous to even try and write formally on Myspace, Facebook, etc.

5. Grand Theft Auto IV, etc.-(This one confused me), but I think he is trying to say that our Generation is HOOKED on video games. Bauerlein used this stat to prove his point. The first week of sales for Grand Theft Auto IV was $500 million. Too much time devoted to video games and other technology often results in the need for remedial reading and writing classes.

6. They don’t store the information-The Internet is a delivery system. We go there to get information and than pass it on. We don’t try to consume and save knowledge for later use.

7. Because their teachers don’t tell them so-We don’t have enough guidance at home or in school. “It is the era of child-centered classrooms and self-esteem grading.”

8. Because they’re young-Well, I think that pretty much explains itself.

It is tough to read/write about this, knowing that I am part of the “they” that he is talking about. However, I am still wondering if we are in any “real danger” and if so, what kind of danger are we in?

Lets explore what others have to say……

Bauerlein's Book

It was actually quite shocking, interesting, and scary all at the same time.

He makes the claim that “cyberculture is turning us into a nation of know-nothings,” which basically spells out a major problem faced by Generation Y in regards to the technology overload.

Quite fascinating was a short bit in the first chapter of his book, “Knowledge Deficits,” in which he recounts the popular “Jaywalking” skit on The Tonight Show. For those unfamiliar with this skit (as I was, due to the fact that I do not really watch late night television), it features Jay Leno walking on the streets of LA with a cameraman. He stops pedestrians on the street for a quick test of their knowledge. By knowledge we are talking about quick facts/”street smarts”.

Here is a short piece that Bauerlein included in his book:

“Do you remember the last book you read?” Leno queries a young man.

“Do magazines count?” he wonders. Moments later, a long haired guy replies, “Maybe a comic book.”

Another:

“Where does the Pope live?”

“England.”

“Where in England?” Leno follows, keeping a straight face.

“Ummm. Paris.”

Bauerlein includes some more short interactions between Leno and young pedestrians who unable to answer questions about the creator of the light bulb and classic reading such as Charles Dickens.

Although it is somewhat humorous to read in the moment, when you take a step back from the book, it is actually a lot more serious than we would like to think. Bauerlein insists that the young people interviewed on Jay Leno are not very different from a large and rising portion of Generation Y itself.

Are we doomed?

Bauerlein insists,

“Most young Americans possess little of the knowledge that makes for an informed citizen, and too few of them master the skills needed to negotiate an information-heavy, communication-based society and economy. Furthermore, they avoid the resources and media that might enlighten them and boost their talents. An anti-intellectual outlook prevails in their leisure lives, squashing the lessons of school, and instead of producing a knowledgeable and querulous young mind, the youth culture of American society yields an adolescent consumer enmeshed in juvenile matters and secluded from adult realities.“

It seems as though Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, text messaging, YouTube, etc. are taking the place of writing, reading, and exploring the world. We have so much access at our fingertips that often times we are confined to our rooms, in front of our laptops. And even when we are in school classes, who is to say that students are not on the internet while “taking notes” or attending a lecture? Although it is nice to have the world almost in our hands, as I can attest to being a Facebook member and a texter, I am also a little concerned for the long-term damage that it may be doing.

What do you think?

In relation to the idea that Generation Y is on “technological overload,” I found this video to be quite humorous. Enjoy!

Technology Overload?

How many text messages do you send a month?

50? 75? 100? 300?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Why Gen-Y Johnny Can’t Read Nonverbal Cues,” Nielsen Mobile recently announced that teenagers sent and received 2,272 text messages a month. THAT IS A LOT

How long do you spend on Facebook/Twitter each week?

1 hour? 3 hours?

The National School Board Association estimated that students devote about an average of nine hours social networking each week. THAT IS ALSO A LOT

What does this mean in the grand scheme of things?

Well, Mark Bauerlein, author of “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future,” insists that we are doing more damaging than we think.

“We live in a culture where young people–outfitted with iPhone and laptop devoting hours every evening from age 10 onward to messaging of one kind and another–are ever less likely to develop the “silent fluency” that comes from face-to-face interaction. It is a skill that we all must learn, in actual social settings, from people (often older) who are adept in the idiom. As text-centered messaging increases, such occasions diminish. The digital natives improve their adroitness at the keyboard, but when it comes to their capacity to “read” the behaviors of others, they are all thumbs.”

For members of Generation Y, the iGeneration, what exactly are we supposed to do? We have grown up with technology  and it seems as though technology has been changing and evolving with our own lives. Technological innovation is extremely important in this day and age but we must stop to ask, have things gotten out of hand?

What do you think?