iGeneration

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Although social media can provide many benefits for communication of pre teens, it can also have negative effects and risks, the most prominent is self development. Pre teens are undergoing a large change in self development and I believe that technology can assist and harm this developemental process. There is evidence involving risks and positivity.  Technology is an important tool that will forever be apart of our daily lives. It is a matter of understanding the problems and teaching children, specifically pre teens, how to use it properly. College classroom's are beginning to "flip their classroom's" by giving students iPads. Computers are being used in grade school, middle school, high school, and college classes. Teachers can even send mass texts to their students. A public speaking class at Ball State University used twitter to read questions out loud during lecture from the students. When I made an observation at Ball State University, I noticed that many students were on cell phones and social media. This goes for all universities across the country. Social media can be distracting and unsafe, but it has educational and life benefits as well. In order to ensure safety, you must educate your children properly. Professor Jim Taylor states, "As I have often argued, technology is neither good nor bad, but at the same time, it isn't neutral either The impact that technology has on your children depends not on the technology itself, but rather on how you educate them about it and the experiences they have with it" (Taylor 1) Awareness and communication are the key pointers parents need to address with their children. Proper education and supervision would allow school administrators to work in conjunction with parents and the school community to teach their students about the dangers of social networking sites and cyberbullying. (Kite 2)