First a confession, I am not a fan of mainstream news media. Most of the crap they report is pointless or horrible. But with some of the stories I have read, my interests has gone up, only because it is getting so ridicules that I actually laugh at the articles. These kinds of reports will put poor Jon Stewart out of business.
They do it late at night when their parents are asleep. They do it in restaurants and while crossing busy streets. They do it in the classroom with their hands behind their back. They do it so much their thumbs hurt.
That isn't something I wrote, that is actually the first paragraph of an article by Katie Hafner for the New York Times. What they are talking about is *Gasp* TEXTING! The evils of advance technology will be the downfall of our youth.
The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.
Why are they treating it as if it is a plague? Drugs, teen pregnancies, bullying? Nah, not as much of a problem as texting. I don't get how texting can cause anxiety, I mean, it isn't like teens have to go through enough crap as it is with school, tests and homework, not to mention social cliques and shit like that. But how the hell does texting cause anxiety?
Distraction in school? That is given, but is it an added distraction? Think about it, texting is merely just a new form of note passing which is more noticeable by the teacher due to the tone or vibration noise. Falling of grades? For Christ sake stop blaming that shit on technology or whatever, it is the god damn kid and parents fault! I am getting sick of people blaming inanimate objects for the cause bad grades. Shit, that is as relevant as blaming a gun for the death of someone, not the one who pulled the trigger.
Repetitive stress injury is a given in any situation of... well, repetitive stuff.
Texting may also be taking a toll on teenagers’ thumbs. Annie Wagner, 15, a ninth-grade honor student in Bethesda, Md., used to text on her tiny LG phone as fast as she typed on a regular keyboard. A few months ago, she noticed a painful cramping in her thumbs. (Lately, she has been using the iPhone she got for her 15th birthday, and she says texting is slower and less painful.)
See parents? best answer is just to buy them a new trendy iPhone.
Sleep deprivation is another item they shouldn't blame on texting but the parent and/or teen. Hell, why not just blame it on the actual companies... not like they played a role in it.
The truth is mainstream news likes to report on a single view of every issue, but try to make it neutral by adding one or two paragraphs near the end of the other side. They will take every new story or technology advancement and write specifically on one side or the other. As I wrote before, Texting is the next step for IMing between friends, and the Times already enjoyed criticizing both IMing and the internet so I don't get the importance of this article or why it needs to be addressed, especially for new york times.
But srsly Katie, keep this shit on your personal blog and off mainstream news mediums only because it will give something else for soccer moms to whine about. Teens have enough crap they need to go through, the last thing they need is their parents taking away their text capabilities with no proof that it is actually affecting their kid. Oh, and making it seem more sexual in the beginning just shows how much you like to exploit parent's ignorant fears.
Original Source: Gizmodo
