What is true, and what’s not? This generation is growing up with technology in their hands. It has only been a couple of years of prime social networking, yet most high school students have managed to be a part of at least one network. Some high school students sit for hours creeping on friends and waiting for exciting information to pop up.
“I am constantly on Twitter; I tweet all day,” said Kylee Meier (14). “[If I deleted my Twitter account] I would suffer from withdrawals.”
Phones, computers, iPods; these electronics assist students express themselves through social media. Facebook and Twitter are the most common of the social media sites. These sites allow anyone to constantly change their statuses via phones, upload pictures and scroll through information posted by friends.
What does “Facebook Official” actually mean? Some people suppose that if the relationship isn’t posted on Facebook, it’s not official. Others are the more traditional type; believing that relationships can be sustained without the whole social media community’s knowledge.
“You are letting your entire social network contacts know your personal business when you post that you are in a relationship,” said Jennifer Havlik a reading teacher.
I decided to test this theory, to see what kind of reaction I would get if I changed my relationship status. Hesitantly, I navigated through the confusing layout of Facebook and changed my relationship status from “single” to “in a relationship”. Within a mere ten minutes, I had responses. I was flooded with texts and questions in my inbox from distanced family and friends who were trying to get the inside scoop. Unfortunately, I had no exciting news, but what I realized is that I had no idea that so many people are constantly watching and waiting for something exciting to pop up on their news feed. It almost scares me that so many people see every move I make on Facebook.
“I think as a society we become more desensitized and more unsocial because of social networks. Because people aren’t even face to face, not even calls. It’s just texts and writing on peoples’ walls,” said Havlik.
This proposes another problem teachers face at Dakota Valley is students are turning final drafted papers that are written in short hand, or “texting language”.
“It is destroying the whole concept of capitalization. People are getting more comfortable talking online. Their grammar skills are not used, and some students will turn in assignments similar to what they would say over Facebook. It complicates things when I want a developed, thought-out paragraph. It is a skill that is being lost,” said English teacher, Kim Bacon.
With all of these technological gadgets today, it is easy to get lost in the excitement of it all. However, think about how our generation is going to be remembered. Don’t make us be thought of as the generation who sat on the computer and didn’t know how to write a sentence in correct form. If we can only express ourselves over texts and instant messages, then what is our children’s generation going to be like? What will we teach them?
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