Do you think teens spend to much time on electronic devices?

well. almost everything we touch and interact with in today’s world either has a battery or uses electricity, so by definition, we’re been doing it since the 80’s. Now its just so widely available, its almost a necessity in everyday life.

@kiev749 i’m trying to get at is are teens spending to much time on like phones or the computer for stupid reasons like facebook?

in that case, i dont think so. as a consensus from my friends, i hardly use my phone or check facebook. i’d say more to keep groups together after high school. (as i am a college student and so are my friends) i only use facebook or the cell to get a group of people to hang out. not for texting every second of the day…

Yes,yes, and yes. They need to get up and get out. Experience the world and all it has to offer.

It sure seems that way…now could you please step aside?You’re blocking the monitor ;)

I’d give a long honest answer but my kid needs the laptop.

Yes. They should get outside and play like they used to a thousand years ago.

Doesn’t most everyone? I spend a lot of time on my BlackBerry, my laptop, watching my DVR, but who’s to say how much is too much?

thanks everyone.. does anyone know the song that they played at the very beginning of the superbowl?

Yes!

What is it called?

Yes, the economy isn’t the only reason restaurants are closing left and right, malls are emptying out, and visitor counts are down in every tourist attraction and park in the country. One Big reason is video games and social network sites. People simply do not want to leave their houses anymore.

Well, I think that’s the sign of the times. Everybody lives on devices relayed with silicon and microprocessors to perform many of their tasks. I myself live off of my iPhone because of its capabilities and business value. I think their is definatly such thing as “cyber addiction” and like any other ‘diction, needs to be attended to. I think this is just a sign of the world we live in now.

No. I don’t see how teens spending too much time on the computer or their cell phone today is any different than when I was a teen and we spent time watching Fresh Prince or playing Super Nintendo all weekend.

The internet and online gaming is the height of technology when it comes to entertainment, and what’s new always attracts the quickly developing and curious nature of a teenager, so it might stick out as a lot of them doing just that, because it’s going on.
But people still go outside and play sports, walk around, go to parties, go to the beach, go play Hackysack in the park, mess around on playgrounds, go to the mall (Too many people every time I go, I hate it haha.) go fishing, I see it all the time.

I daresay if you don’t, then maybe you should get out more yourself.

Yes I know, there’s also the fact that extremely insecure or antisocial people love the Internet and that’s a new niche of expression for them as declared by the psychological association of America, but as in the radius of teenagers they’re a minority, and their ranks hold plenty of adults as well.

I’m sure when the wheel was invented, people were complaining how the younger generation spends too much time using it.

Teens and adults both. I’ve been on my laptop and reading my Amazon Kindle for most of the day.

Adopting new electronics has been going on for almost a century, starting with vacuum tube radios and phonograph amplifiers. Each step of the way, it seems, it’s teens who lead in embracing new technology developed by older adults. Some kind of sociological epiphenomenon, as it were, that probably predates the modern era. Perhaps 100 years from now someone will ask, “Are teens spending too much time on photonics? or nanotech? or some such.

What if I where to say that I’m a teen and I spend more time on here than facebook. Would that make a difference?

Yes I do. Spending so much time on electronic devices, a lot of young people today do not know how to interact in public anymore——they lack the proper social skills and manners when dealing with strangers. You see this all the time in stores that hire young people. Poor customer service, apathy, non-attentiveness, etc. Most of the bad customer service I get in stores are from young people, around the ages of 16 to 23. One time I went into a store, and the two teens behind the counter didn’t even notice me as I walked in. I was the only customer there, and they didn’t even look at me, say hi, or ask if I needed assistance. As I walked to the counter to make my purchase, I noticed the reason why——the two boys were too busy playing on a computer and fiddling around with their cell phones! A lot of these kids are socially awkward——with their pre-occupation with electronic devices, they have become people “unfriendly”. Little or no social propriety.

@Bluefreedom yeah but reading your kindle is a little different.. i mean, its atleast a book. well, part of a book. a book on an lcd! you know what i mean!

@Kiev749. That’s a very good point. I don’t feel so guilty when I see it from your perspective. =)

Being on Fluther is like reading a book… you read text and gain knowledge/are entertained by it.