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Hannah Taunton
Savannah Corbin
05/07/2020
The Death of Social Z. Skills
Social Z. Skills, 20, died April 20, 2020 as a result of crashing his parents’ car. He is presumed to have been texting his girlfriend, Mary Jane, while driving. He was born October 3, 1999 and will be succeeded by both his parents and grandparents. Due to the limits on social gatherings, the funeral will be held via Facebook live Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.
Mr. Skills loved reaching out to new people and making new connections. He was constantly traveling from state to state to meet all of his new acquaintances that he met on Twitter and Instagram. Sadly, due to his constant traveling and use of these media, Mr. Skills missed many family dinners and holidays with his family. Even when he was able to be with his family, he was constantly on his phone or using the newest filters on Snap Chat. Sadly, he had difficulties putting his phone down at family events to socialize, but he will be dearly missed.
11:01 AM - 21 April 2020
500 Retweets 3,000 Likes
We all know that too much smartphone usage is bad for us. We have heard it repeatedly. While there has been much research conducted on both the negative and positive effects of smartphones, little has been done to address the mindsets and assumptions that lead to generational divides. Specifically, the divide between older generations, Generation X and the Baby Boomers, and the post-2000 generation, Generation Z. Complaints about the degree to which Gen Z-ers seem to be immersed in their digital devices are common.
We aim to address the assumption that this generation is engaged in smartphone usage to a degree that severely, negatively impacts interpersonal social skills. In the process of analyzing the truths and falsehoods behind this stereotype, our goal is to present the viewpoints of both Gen Z and the older generations in a unique manner. By examining the impact of smartphones on relationships with the self, at school, at work, and within the family, we intend to foster a healthy relationship between Gen Z-ers and older generations that spans the assumptions and clarifies existing differences in a way that encourages mutual respect.
Emotional Health
BB/GEN X: I’ll tell you, the problem with this younger generation is that y'all get your feelings hurt too easily.
GEN Z: What makes you say that?
BB/GEN X: You think you need safe spaces and trigger warnings. You spend all your time on social media and that makes it harder for you to handle interaction with real people
GEN Z: Well I'll admit that my generation has serious issues with self esteem and pretty high rates of depression.(Yang et. al. 2019)
BB/GEN X: I’d say it's because you're so caught up in social media and taking selfies. The world gets a lot harder when you're not looking at it through a screen.
GEN Z: You’re not wrong there. It's actually been shown that people who spend a lot of time on social media tend to have issues with depression and self esteem. (Yang.et. al.2019)
BB/GEN X: See! There's your problem!
GEN Z: But I think our mindfulness of our mental health is a good thing. My generation knows that we’ve got issues, believe me.
BB/GEN X: So you need the safe spaces and trigger warnings?
GEN Z: I think my generation knows we’ve got problems and those things are an attempt to mitigate the underlying issues. I'm not saying they're exactly what is needed here but I think they are an attempt to confront the problems we’re seeing. It's been shown that mindfulness and remaining aware of your screens time is actually good for our emotional and mental health (Vogel et. al.). After all, we agree that my generation’s issues with self esteem and mental health are big problems.
BB/GEN X: Doesn't that mean that you should just cut screen time altogether?
GEN Z: Yes, partially. We know that over reliance on social media is a problem for us. We use it to replace face to face interaction. But, you have to understand that we’ve never known a world without social media in some form or another. Also, the way we use different forms of technology is different from you. For instance, research shows that older generations get satisfaction and enjoyment out of vocal communication, like phone calls. Whereas younger generations display anxiety with phone calls. But, they got the most enjoyment out of written communication in messaging apps like Whatsapp. (Chan, 2018)
BB/GEN X: I suppose it makes sense that you’d have a different outlook, what with growing up with all this growing technology
GEN Z: Precisely, it's actually been shown that my generation associates using messaging apps and Facebook with feeling socially supported. But, I'll admit that it also shows we’ve got increasing feelings of entrapment, feeling like we cant get away from social media too. We always have to be available, which can get exhausting (Chan, 2018)
Classroom discussion
BB/Gen X: I’m going to need to ask you to get off your phone while we’re in class. You’ll get distracted and miss lecture notes.
Gen Z: I will for you now, but can we have a conversation about it when the lecture is over? If you don’t mind?
BB/Gen X: Sure sweetie as long as you aren’t disrespectful in the meantime.
*The lecture is over so there is extra class time. They come back to talk.*
BB/Gen X: What did you want to have a conversation about?
Gen Z: I want to talk to you about what your opinions on phones are in class since you asked me to put mine away, and then maybe let me tell you a little about my own opinion if that’s alright.
BB/Gen X: Oh this sounds fun! To be honest, darling the phones in class is a big pet peeve for me. I have noticed in my class that if a student is not on their phone they take more notes, and they remember more from the lesson. It also is a distraction during exams, and in some cases just leads to cyberbullying.
Gen Z: Have you noticed that when students use their phones for class related content they earn higher grades and recall information better than students who just use them for social media or a game?
BB/Gen X: I have seen that in certain classes, but students are not always mature enough to handle the privilege of a phone in class for educational purposes. I do know students enjoy my classes more when I let them play Kahoot or another learning game on their phone in class.
Gen Z: Why did you say phone use is a pet peeve for you?
BB/Gen X: Because of how excessively some age groups use their phones. They’ll be up all night on their phone, and come to class the next day falling asleep while I’m trying to teach. The school isn’t a parent who can set boundaries for them, but I would love to see someone trying to help students who do that because there are usually other risky behaviors that manifest alongside the phone use.
Gen Z: That’s some serious stuff and I can see where you’re coming from. I believe phones in the classroom can also encourage creativity, and sometimes keep us more engaged in a lesson. I like the idea of using them for school related uses, but you can also use them to take a little break before refocusing on an activity. It helps us feel less overwhelmed, especially if we can listen to music.
BB/Gen X: I know y’all love to have earbuds in while you work, but sometimes students take it too far like being distracted during a lesson rather than listening. It can be a great focusing tool, but also a hindrance to absorbing information if they listen to music the whole class time.
Gen Z: I suppose it really depends on the student then. But you can’t favor one over the other so it has to be fair for everyone.
BB/Gen X: You’ve got that right. Phones for all or phones for none…
The Dialogue
The Dialogue
The Dialogue
The Dialogue
These kinds of differences are what lead to tensions between older and younger generations generally - they simply have very different reasons for using smartphones at all.
Combine two-way online communication with in-person get-togethers in a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly until feelings of entrapment, depression, nomophobia, and anxiety are no longer visible and you see increased depth/satisfaction in your relationships.
Slowly add material-focused phone use in the classroom with digital studying games to promote creative, relevant learning via smartphone while decreasing distractions. Mix well.
Stir in time and effort to meet with bosses/coworkers face-to-face, then add focus on work-related phone tasks. This should result in a cohesive, sticky base that will not crumble easily in the future.
Finally, gently fold sharing smartphone entertainment with family and being present in the room with family into your batter to make those relationships sweeter. Mix carefully and press into a 5.5-inch pan.
Bake in 350-degree oven for up to 20 minutes.
1 cup two-way online communication (NOT to be confused with browsing updates, which are one-way)
1 cup in-person get-togethers
¾ cup material-focused phone use
½ cup digital studying games
½ cup meeting with bosses/coworkers face-to-face
¾ teaspoon focus on work-related phone tasks
½ teaspoon sharing smartphone entertainment with family (example: memes, songs, games, videos)
¾ cup being present in the room with family
Combine Baby Boomer/Generation X’s willingness to learn and adapt with Generation Z’s willingness to learn and teach together in a heavy-duty saucepan. Boil for as long as it takes, stirring constantly.
Stir in promoting digitally based homework assignments, pairing employees of different generations together at work, and encouraging digital & traditional family games one at a time until melted together. This will promote the kind of mutual compromising and learning that will ensure your topping sticks securely to your base.
Sprinkle liberally with humility.
Pour mixture carefully over your relationship base until completely covered.
Refrigerate until firm. Serve as many helpings as needed!
2 tablespoons Baby Boomer/Generation X learning & adapting
2 tablespoons Generation Z learning & teaching
1 can promoting digitally based homework (example: making a music play list for a historical character)
1 ½ cups pairing employees of different generations together
1 ¾ cups encouraging digital & traditional family games
A heaping scoop of humility
We’ve all heard that an excess of anything is bad for us. Because this complaint is heard so commonly when it comes to using a smartphone, it is easy for us to dismiss it. However, it is indeed the case that Gen Z’s reliance on digital communication, to a greater degree than any other generation, can negatively affect relationships in all aspects of life. When young people use smartphones as the primary means of establishing rapport, rather than a complimentary means to establish long-lasting, deep connections, they suffer mentally at school, at work, and at home as a result.
At the same time, this does not mean that all assumptions made about the post-2000 generation are truthful or helpful. Gen Z-ers want to know other people, they want to connect, they want life to have purpose and they seek these things using the tools available to them. Smartphone use benefits them in finding information quickly and keeping up with relationships easily.
The solution for both generations is to understand that they are different, but not worse, than the other. Smartphones are a part of Gen Z, a part that can be used to make the world better and can also be an obstacle to overcome. With people of all ages sharing knowledge and learning from each other, we are better prepared to face new challenges as they arise.
A special thanks to Mrs. Corbin and Ms Abi Badger for thier guest
performances in our Dialogue!
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