Dear Ms Samantha Taylor,

I have read the article in which Clive Thompson states “the digital age is making teenagers uniquely shallow and the kids are unable to form meaningful relationships” and it has come to my attention that this is presenting teenagers to be in a sense, soulless people who cannot create substantive relationships with one another.  As a teenager myself, I believe it is my duty to speak out on behalf of my fellow teens as to why I agree with this statement  and why I disagree with you, with the hope of making our generation less self-dependent on technology.  It is clear to see that you disagree with Clive Thompson, however social networking sites and other digital devices such as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has taken priority in the lives of teenagers, over their school work and studies. Some teenagers even claim that they could not live without their mobile phones and Wi-Fi.

Digital devices have the potential to be great learning devices however, they serve as a greater distraction.  Firstly, when students should be taking down notes and doing their homework, they are instead using the internet to listen to music, updating social networking sites, streaming videos, or checking celebrity gossip.  Secondly, the lack of handwriting letters and completing homework on a piece of paper instead of Microsoft word and other writing software has affected the handwriting of the youth in a negative way.  Finally, students can copy and paste answers from the internet onto their own document and claim the work as their own, this encourages the use of plagiarism.  Cyber bullying has also raised concerns for parents as the social media and social networking sites has made it easier for people to gossip and bully online.  81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person.  Instead of using the internet to build and create more meaningful relationships, teenagers are rather using social networking sites to hurt other people and damage what little relationships they have left.

Although I agree with what Clive Thompson is saying, there is some truth to your argument, because I use social networking sites a lot and the reason why is to communicate with other people.  He has shaped this article in a very biased way, and has not looked at the advantages of young teenagers using digital devices and has overcrowded the article with negative statistics.  The Common Sense data also reports that 52 percent of teens feel as though social media has “mainly helped their friendships,” opposed to the 4 percent who believe connecting online “mainly hurts their friendships.” Social networking is a free and faster way of conversing with friends.  It is a faster way of meeting up with friends to go out and creating new relationships.  This statement is almost making it out as though teenagers are soulless human beings who are unable to make substantive relationships with one another.  Though smart phones are one of the biggest distractions to young teens, it is one of the most effective ways for parents to keep track of their child’s whereabouts.  For example.  Gps tracking applications. It is also easier to look up information on certain things and get access to the latest news, as opposed to reading books which could take up a considerable amount of time.

Despite the advantages of the use of digital devices within the youth community, if you weigh the pros and cons, you will unquestionably see that young teens are being affected by the use of digital devices in a disadvantageous manner.  Looking at the statistics, 71% of teenagers post information on the town where they live and the school they attend. This makes it very easy for people to track these teens putting themselves in a very vulnerable position.  20% post their mobile number (compared with 2% in 2006).  This statistic is the most shocking.  This shows that as the digital age has rapidly evolved since 2006, the percentage of teens willing to post their phone numbers on the internet has increased tenfold.  91% of the 12-to-17-year-olds surveyed post photos of themselves (an increase from 79% in the last such survey, in 2006).  All these facts and statistics will obviously put teenagers in a bad light and leave them exposed to weekly attacks in the press.

People may think that teenagers using digital devices is a great way to communicate with each other strengthening relationships and expanding knowledge using learning devices, therefore they would disagree with myself and Clive Thompson.  Some people also believe that you and Clive Thompson are neither right nor wrong.  Some people believe that not all teenagers are unable to create meaningful relationships, however some people such as yourself do and that it is not fair to judge all teenagers in a negative way.  On the other hand other people think Clive Thompson is right such as myself and that the digital age is affecting teenager’s ability to create meaningful relationships.  In conclusion I believe that your article highlights the key information needed for the youth to take into consideration what they do online and whether it is useful or counter-productive to their learning.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Jed Ampiah