Social Networking: Here to Stay

Twitter, Facebook, Youtube: websites that we can't go a day without checking. These sites can be very addicting and have major negative affects on our future children of America.  Every year, the age group of children joining social networking sites gets younger.  So if these children are getting involved with social media at such a young age, what significance does school have in their lives? The article that I read also touches upon the positive ways of social media, but negative affects each make a stronger argument.  One particular affect is that due to social website, kids try to multi-task.  They try to balance refreshing their Facebook and Twitter pages while studying.  There is a proven study that shows reduced academic performance in kids who study on these websites because come on, the test will not be based on your friend Ally's profile who you stalked instead of studying the American Revolution. Another negative affect is spell check.  Everyone relies on spell check! Another study has shown that students lack the ability to write without relying on spell check and other grammar checking features.  I can admit that I am guilty of this habit!

Social media is a scary yet very helpful aspect of today's society.  It teaches us skills we need to survive in the business world and helps us to prepare for the future, which is heading in the direction of more and more advanced technology.  The future of our children's education is in our hands.  We are shaping a society based on technology and not focused on education.  Most parents allow their children to be on these website, but not many monitor how much time their kids spend on the computer.  At IHA, being required to use laptops can cause even more issues regarding this topic.  If we have to do our homework on our computers, the social networking sites are literally calling our names and all they do is distract us.  Social media is definitely an agent of socialization because it has shaped and will continuing changing our society today.  The affects that it has on education is what is so scary about this topic though.  The picture below has a young baby on the computer, symbolizing the younger population being engrossed in social media at such a young age.  If these kid's are put in the corner of the room with an iPad to shut them up, they aren't going to value their future education.  They aren't going to possess the desire to be successful in life and receive a good education.  Instead of these kids posting pictures of their 5th birthday party, maybe they can open a book or do some extra math practice.