Introduction
Nowadays, children receive a cellphone at the age of nine and use it daily afterward, which, for their parents, serves as a way of protecting a young individual. As the year’s pass, teenagers begin to feel the constant need to be connected to others through their smartphones. Technology has become a source of help and support because it makes people’s lives easier, yet at the same time, it creates new boundaries and requirements for young adults. One issue is that, similarly to the previous generations, modern-day teenagers need time to discover themselves, develop their personalities, and find their identities. But, since they have grown up during times when being connected and having one’s life on display through social media is the norm, these teenagers are devoid of this opportunity, which can be a threat to their mental health. Teenagers use technology for emotional support to connect and communicate with their friends and families, however, it hinders their experience of separation and discovering of self.
Teenagers Using Technology
Technology has become an integral part of life for contemporary people. The best example of this is a smartphone – a device one carries every day and uses to call friends and family, chat, find information, order food, and perform other activities. Smartphones have become so integrated into people’s lives that it is difficult to imagine not having one. According to the Pew Research Center, 95% of teenagers have smartphones, and 45% state that they stay online all day (1). Additionally, 45% report that they do not feel a positive or negative effect of social media use on their lives. Some of the respondents say that technology created an important communication source for them. For example, one girl states that it is “an outlet to express their opinions and emotions and connect with people who feel the same way” (Pew Research Center 5). Therefore, most individuals in the United States, aged from 13 to 17 have a smartphone, although there is no consensus on the impact that technology has on their lives.
Since the use of technology by young individuals has become widespread, researchers and scholars began to explore the effect that technology has on teenagers’ life, to determine whether it harms them or serves as a source of emotional support. In her work, Turkle refers to modern teenagers as “tethered” because they are very connected to their mobile devices (429). Moreover, through the author’s research of the technology used by teenagers, Turkle concluded that young people are wired to their phones, they have to reply to messages and calls, or see new posts they were tagged in because otherwise, they feel unsettled. While this may be an example of the negative impact that smartphones have on teenagers, one should consider the aspect of emotional support.
Due to the fact that teenagers continuously check their phones to reply to messages and phone calls, they have a better opportunity to communicate with peers when compared to previous generations. This can be a valuable source of emotional support, because these individuals can share their fears and anxieties, either with friends or other teenagers online. However, this creates a problem of separating one’s self from others, which is an integral part of a person’s development. According to Turkle, “intimacy without privacy reinvents what intimacy means. Separation, too, is being reinvented” (430). Therefore, it is possible that technology is transforming the different aspects of a person’s physiological development, changing the perceptions of intimacy and independence. In that case, technology becomes an essential source of help and support for young adults.
Psychological Implications of Technology Use
From the perspective of an individual’s development, separation, cooperation, and self-presentation are essential elements that technology is affecting. Turkle discusses the theories of separation as the primary psychological theory explaining the issues that arise from the constant connectivity or tethering of the teenagers. Traditionally, in every adolescent’s life, there would be a time when they had to separate from their parents and begin to live independently. Technology mitigates this necessity since children can stay connected to their parents all the time, through messaging, phone calls, and other means of communication. As a result, they do not develop the independence, necessary to live the life of an adult person.
Separation as a way of becoming an adult, independent from others, is a challenging process in modern times. Turkle states that children, on average, receive a smartphone when they are about nine years old (432). This becomes a social contract between them and their parents – the child can go out, while the parents know what the latter is doing. However, as a child grows, this connectivity to their parents may become a problem. The transition towards adulthood is now possible with continuous support from one’s parents. From the perspective of emotional support, this is a positive aspect, since one may feel less anxious about being alone, for example, when moving to a new city, when they can call their caregiver. However, Turkle points out the importance of separation for one’s psychological development – it is a way of becoming an independent person, an individual that does not rely on others. Therefore, from the perspective of separation, technology allows one to receive emotional support but also hinders the transition towards adulthood.
Social media, for example, Facebook, requires teenagers to create a digital profile, which serves as a representation of themselves. Turkle reports that most teenagers perceive this process as a way of crafting their personality (430). Some teenagers describe this process as similar to crafting a high school or college application, where you have to present a persona that the admission committee will like. However, in the case of social media, it is difficult to make a distinction between facts and lies. As a result, one should consider ways in which the need to craft an online persona affects these young adults. As with the issue of separation, because they have a limited opportunity to discover their true self and because they may feel pressure from their peers to be someone, they may present themselves as a different person. From this perspective, teenagers require support to adequately perceive themselves and separate themselves between their images online and in real life.
Narcissism, as the fragility of an individual, is one example of how technology can become a source of emotional support for teenagers. For example, Turkle discusses a teenager from Branscomb, who sends texts to her friends any time she feels sad (433). Moreover, the girl’s narrative implies that she sees little distinction between her friends in real life and text message interactions. At the same time, it should be noted that for narcissistic people, emotional support is vital because their personality is very fragile, and technology can help such people receive the support they need. Since teenagers are so connected to their mobile devices, their ability to reach friends and family when necessary is an essential aspect of emotional help and the main benefit of technology use.
Others Scholar’s Opinions
Apart from Turkle, other scholars have also reflected on the harmful and beneficial effects that the use of technology has on young people. For instance, Sussman and DeJong state that mental health professionals have an ethical obligation to be familiar with teenage technology use and mental health issues associated with it (113). Hence, the widespread use of technology by teenagers makes it necessary to advocate for digital health and to help them navigate the digital space to avoid mental health conditions induced by social media or smartphone communications.
Teenagers are comfortable with using technology to communicate and receive emotional support. In a study by Aschbrenner et al., 121 respondents shared their opinions on smartphone use, which revealed that many see this as a way of communicating with peers (178). The findings support the arguments by Turkle regarding the importance of technology for teenagers. Moreover, Aschbrenner et al. state that “adolescents were interested in receiving strengths-based mobile health coaching, and they preferred structured online peer-to-peer interactions” (178). The main implication of this study is that it is possible to leverage the youths’ obsession with technology, smartphones in particular, and use it to combat mental health illnesses. This can be achieved by designing an application, for example, for communication, where teenagers can interact with others under the supervision of mental health specialists (Aschbrenner et al. 178). Therefore, digital technology can be used to promote mental health among teenagers and serve as a source of emotional support for them.
Teenagers have to balance between being tethered and having their independence. Turkle discusses a large number of issues, such as the need to continually check their phones to reply to calls or messages, inability to spend time alone (430). Hence, it is vital to ensure that these individuals can manage their use of technology correctly and in a way that is not harmful to their mental health. For example, by focusing on emotional support, they can receive from peers instead of having to respond to text messages and phone calls consistently. The widespread application of technology, however, will inevitably affect the way individuals perceive their self-image and intimacy (Turkle 433). Thus, there are many issues that modern teenagers face due to their involvement with technology and a need to be tethered to their phones.
Conclusion
Overall, technology use is now an inseparable part of teenagers’ lives. In this context, it is vital to understand how this “tethering” affects their daily activities and their emotional development. Turkle explores the ideas of self-development, separation, and collectives in the context of youth being connected to technology. Despite the negative impact that technology has on self-portrait and the process of separation from parents and peers, there are many benefits to it. The primary example is the emotional support that teenagers can receive instantly from their friends through texting or calls. Some teenagers make no distinction between real-life interactions and those conducted through a smartphone. However, as Turkle notes, it is crucial to understand that technology changes the way people interact and develop psychologically, for example, by altering the sense of intimacy and emotional response.
Works Cited
Aschbrenner, Kelly A et al. “Adolescents’ Use of Digital Technologies and Preferences for Mobile Health Coaching in Public Mental Health Settings.” Frontiers in Public Health, vol. 7, p. 178.
Pew Research Center. “Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018.” Pew Research Center, 2020. Web.
Sussman, Nicole and Sandra DeJong. “Ethical Considerations for Mental Health Clinicians Working with Adolescents in the Digital Age.” Current Psychiatry Reports, vol. 20, 2018, p. 113.
Turkle, Sherry. “Growing Up Tethered.” UC San Diego. 2020. Web.