Morgan McNabb, 16, a sophomore at Capital High School, sends a text during her lunch period.
Creating a "fear of missing out"?
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The advent of social networking has made it easier to stay connected, but some worry the need for up-to-the-minute updates is negatively impacting a younger generation's ability to mature socially and could be stunting academic growth.
"I do understand and can appreciate the digital age we live in," said Capital High School Principal Clinton Giles. "We speak of young people now as being digital immigrants, as they have not lived at a time when there has not been all this technology."
But, "for every benefit, I have seen at least one negative, especially here in the school setting. You can say anything about anyone, anytime, anywhere and not fear any repercussions, except someone else might write something nasty about you."
Although Capital has a strict cellphone policy that limits use to before and after school and during a student's lunch period, some high school administrators think the constant tie to screen interaction could be negative.
"The thing that I worry about is the addiction. I have children that I will be speaking to in my office, and they will have their phone in their pocket and when they hear that buzz ... you can tell that they are not even listening to you and they are only thinking about what's on the phone," said Capital counselor Lisa Dorsey.
"They are so programmed to respond to that so quickly and to be 'in the know' right now about what is going with their friends that they don't see the message as an interruption in communication," she said, but continuing to connect.
"They don't see it as disrespectful, but it is. That has kind of changed our culture as far as what is appropriate in a face-to-face conversation. To have someone interrupt it, because it is by phone, it's acceptable," Dorsey said.
That addiction to be connected, as Dorsey calls it, spills over at the classroom level.
"It's very hard for them to pay attention on what is going on in the classroom when they are focused on what is going on on that phone," she said. "I think they are oblivious a lot of times and are missing out on daily activities because they are so focused on what is going on in that piece of technology."
Dorsey's fears were echoed in the most recent findings of the 2011 Cisco Connected World Technology Report, which found that social life for younger generations is less about personal interaction and more about being connected.
The report -- based on surveys of nearly 3,000 college students and professionals 30 years old and younger in 14 countries -- said 2 in 5 college students found the Internet, and social media, to be more important than dating or going out with friends.
Globally, more than 1 in 4 college students said staying updated on Facebook was more important than partying, dating, listening to music or hanging out with friends. The same 27 percent said that their preferred method of interaction is online, a shift from previous generations.
And interaction among a younger generation, who has never been without technology, is shifting to follow that trend.
"Last week at lunch, there was a full table of kids sitting there. Every single one of them had their cellphones out and none of them were talking to each other," said Susan Young, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Capital. "I made a comment to [another teacher] and said, 'Look at them. They're not talking.' All they are doing is texting and Facebooking. And they are probably texting each other."
Some Capital students disagree and do see social networking and constant communication as another layer to their social interaction.
Senior and Student Council President Catherine Blackwood, 17, said she found her future college roommate via Facebook.
"I think it would have been a little more difficult to find someone without that," she said.
Blackwood uses Facebook to get information to about 60 students who participate in student government at the high school.
Although she still prefers to talk to people in person, using Facebook is the easiest way to get information to lots of people at once.
Outside of school, Blackwood said she doesn't see texting as an interruption to a conversation, but rather a more polite way to reach out to someone.
"If I was going to go out with friends, I would text them about it before I would call because it's easier, and I wouldn't want to take up their time if they were busy with something else," she said.
She applies to the same rule to her mother, a nurse.
Creating a "fear of missing out"?CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The advent of social networking has made it easier to stay connected, but some worry the need for up-to-the-minute updates is negatively impacting a younger generation's ability to mature socially and could be stunting academic growth.
"I do understand and can appreciate the digital age we live in," said Capital High School Principal Clinton Giles. "We speak of young people now as being digital immigrants, as they have not lived at a time when there has not been all this technology."
But, "for every benefit, I have seen at least one negative, especially here in the school setting. You can say anything about anyone, anytime, anywhere and not fear any repercussions, except someone else might write something nasty about you."
Although Capital has a strict cellphone policy that limits use to before and after school and during a student's lunch period, some high school administrators think the constant tie to screen interaction could be negative.
"The thing that I worry about is the addiction. I have children that I will be speaking to in my office, and they will have their phone in their pocket and when they hear that buzz ... you can tell that they are not even listening to you and they are only thinking about what's on the phone," said Capital counselor Lisa Dorsey.
"They are so programmed to respond to that so quickly and to be 'in the know' right now about what is going with their friends that they don't see the message as an interruption in communication," she said, but continuing to connect.
"They don't see it as disrespectful, but it is. That has kind of changed our culture as far as what is appropriate in a face-to-face conversation. To have someone interrupt it, because it is by phone, it's acceptable," Dorsey said.
That addiction to be connected, as Dorsey calls it, spills over at the classroom level.
"It's very hard for them to pay attention on what is going on in the classroom when they are focused on what is going on on that phone," she said. "I think they are oblivious a lot of times and are missing out on daily activities because they are so focused on what is going on in that piece of technology."
Dorsey's fears were echoed in the most recent findings of the 2011 Cisco Connected World Technology Report, which found that social life for younger generations is less about personal interaction and more about being connected.
The report -- based on surveys of nearly 3,000 college students and professionals 30 years old and younger in 14 countries -- said 2 in 5 college students found the Internet, and social media, to be more important than dating or going out with friends.
Globally, more than 1 in 4 college students said staying updated on Facebook was more important than partying, dating, listening to music or hanging out with friends. The same 27 percent said that their preferred method of interaction is online, a shift from previous generations.
And interaction among a younger generation, who has never been without technology, is shifting to follow that trend.
"Last week at lunch, there was a full table of kids sitting there. Every single one of them had their cellphones out and none of them were talking to each other," said Susan Young, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Capital. "I made a comment to [another teacher] and said, 'Look at them. They're not talking.' All they are doing is texting and Facebooking. And they are probably texting each other."
Some Capital students disagree and do see social networking and constant communication as another layer to their social interaction.
Senior and Student Council President Catherine Blackwood, 17, said she found her future college roommate via Facebook.
"I think it would have been a little more difficult to find someone without that," she said.
Blackwood uses Facebook to get information to about 60 students who participate in student government at the high school.
Although she still prefers to talk to people in person, using Facebook is the easiest way to get information to lots of people at once.
Outside of school, Blackwood said she doesn't see texting as an interruption to a conversation, but rather a more polite way to reach out to someone.
"If I was going to go out with friends, I would text them about it before I would call because it's easier, and I wouldn't want to take up their time if they were busy with something else," she said.
She applies to the same rule to her mother, a nurse.
"I never know if she is with a patient or just in her office, so I can send her a message saying my sister has band practice and I'll just stay [at school] and take her home."
Young said that although Facebook and texting open up massive opportunities for communication, it hinders developmental communication at the same time.
"If you're at a doctor's office and you don't know those people, you take away the opportunity to meet and make new contacts because you are on the phone talking with other people," Young said.
That loss of the ease of communication and making in-person contacts is something Young fears will come back and be a detriment to most high school students when they become adults.
"They are losing the skills. One day they are going to become a leader and they are going to have to have some tough conversations with co-workers, and they are not going to know how to do that because they have lost that ability to talk," she said.
Giles, however, thinks the problem is deeper than that.
"It's not that they've lost it; they did not acquire it in the first place."
Assistant Principal for Pupil Services Wendy Bailey said continual communication of a virtual level can also hinder relationship development and cause emotional distress.
"You lose so much context. You can send a message to someone that you in your mind know is not threatening. But when you send a text or a message over Facebook and someone can't hear you, they often times take it out of context," she said, which can lead to fights, rumors or various other problems that leak into the academic setting.
Not only is the mass use of text messaging or Facebooking at the high school level seemingly a problem in the social sphere, some think it is also adversely affects students' performance in the classroom.
Bailey said that a few years ago there was a student who wrote the word "you" as "u" on a writing assessment.
Using shorthand in a text is fine, but when that usage leaks into the classroom, it is "impeding progress in their written communication skills," Bailey said.
And when people rely solely on virtual communication, "they are not benefiting from the experience of personal interactions and involvements, and that impedes their maturation," Giles said.
Logan Garrison, 15, said he doesn't think it's inhibiting personal interactions.
"I talk to my friends in person the most, but I text with people I don't see all the time in school," the sophomore and student council secretary said.
He said although almost everyone he knows has a cellphone, he doesn't think people are addicted to using it.
"It depends on how social you are," he said.
That social factor is something Young said can very much benefit students who may be shy or not have a large group of friends.
"I think it helps with the self-esteem of some students because they can get positive reinforcement as soon as they put something out there. Maybe it's a picture they took or some accomplishment they have. Ten minutes later, they will have 15 replies that say that's awesome, and they maybe wouldn't get that from their peers or even at home from their parents," Young said.
Dorsey added that it makes students more independent and self-reliant, which is an important skill to develop before leaving home for college.
Although administrators are worried that constant communication is negatively impacting the next generation, they can't deny the impact that social media or technology has had on their own lives.
"Information is right at your fingertips. It changes the way people look at the world," Giles said. "I think technology has allowed us to reinvent ourselves. It compels us to be lifelong learners."
Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathr...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.
