Impact of New Media on Teenagers | Research

Impact of New Media on Teenagers | Research THE IMPACT OF NEW MEDIA ON TEENAGERS CONDUCT Emily Shaba The data was obtained through interviews at two high schools and through the below interview questions. Interview questions The majority of teenagers in schools access new media through their phones and laptops. The main sites that are used or the most used form of new media is Facebook and Whatsapp as well as the internet in general through Google to find out things they are curious about. Most of the youth as well admitted to having used new media frequently some even admit to being addicted to it. According to the research however new media has positively impacted teenagers in a lot of positive ways the first being it helps them with research in school work and finding out about other things that they may be curious about. Social sites help to build a closer relationship between teenagers and their friends plus relatives that may be far away. It provides quick and cheap communication as compared to phone calls and text messages or travelling to meet their friends and relatives. It also helps with making new friends for teenagers that are naturally shy and cannot or find it had to make friends or interact with others physically. They get a chance to find someone to interact with and talk to when need be. Makes them understand new technology that is coming in and how to use it effectively. They are however also some negative ways in which new media impacts teenagers firstly being that despite the ability to make new friends they are not trustworthy. This may be imposter’s people with bad manners that may end up sharing them with the teenagers or worse criminals who end up harming innocent teens or stealing from them. Most teenagers also admitted to the fact that it is too tempting, it gives them the chance to see things that may be inappropriate to them on a silver platter it is like leaving chocolate on the table for a kid and telling them not to eat when its alone with them in the room for days and nobody has the ability to know if they eat it. This also results in teens being exposed to porn and other inappropriate pictures which later trigger things like premarital sex and early pregnancies. Teens are also exposed to a western way of life and tend to think drugs and alcohols are part of life and if you do not drink go clubbing or use media then you feel left out and backwards in time. It is so addictive that teens can not focus on anything else other than it. It also gives wrong information about various things and teens get wrong advice from their new internet found friends about different things which ends up corrupting their character. Most teenagers agreed to there being a change in the way they act or view things since they started using new media. They know more things than they did in the past and they are pickier about things more especially the way they dress or act around friends. New media from an academic point of view has also impacted them positively in that it helps them with homework and research when their given something to work on at school. It also helps them to find notes, books and past papers that their school may not be able to provide which also helps with their performance in class. They also learn a lot of new things online that they may not be able to learn in school. They are able to get inspiration from other people that they are able to look up and find out about their lives online. It helps with their spellings and grammar. New media however also has academic disadvantages which according to the research included: It reduces concentration on school as the time that would be used for studying is rather used on new media or social sites. Instead of concentrating in class teens are busy on their phones using social media or thinking about what to say to who, their next Facebook or WhatsApp profile picture and status. It makes them lazy and increases chances of plagiarism as they might as well take an already written paper and just change it than spend time on writing a paper rather than on the internet. Due to the many abbreviations used on social sites the teens spellings are sometimes affected and their language too. It provides them sometimes with the wrong information on their school work too. It has also impacted the way they relate to their friends in that they have more time to chat and hence it brings them closer. However other friends that do not use new media are isolated. It reduces interaction between teens instead of them meeting up to chat or do another thing they only want to talk using social media. Most teens start to feel that their culture is left behind and start to despise it. They, as a result, they forsake culture and tradition which ends up leading them astray. This also destroys the spreading of our African culture and heritage with other as it is slowly dying. People end up following western culture and values and even dressing which may be inappropriate for the African society. Like not doing house chores or ignoring guests when they come instead of greeting them and making them feel at home. Most admit to their principles being bent to some extent to fit in which may not, however, be an appositive thing, especially If what they are fitting into is inappropriate and destructive. I was also shocked to find out that their other teens that do not use any form of new media or social site and some that only use new media for school in this day of age and time. This was due to parents denying them access to it after witnessing a reduction in their grades. Others were because of their religion not permitting them to do so or simply not wanting to do so after being affected by it negatively in some ways. They said the was an increase in their performance due to this in class as they had more time to study but however lacked some friends and often felt left out. Most teens did say they should be an age restriction on sites as to what they can and cannot view. They should be appropriate pictures on social sites. And finally, parents should mind the time that their children are given internet access. Some teens suggested being given access in the evening, weekends and on holidays. The Victorian Era: Social Classes Of England The Victorian Era: Social Classes Of England The Victorian Era social classes of England are unlike any other social system; every rule could be bent or broken (An Ancestry.com Community, par. 1). A person could be born into the lowest class, and could end up being part of the nobility by marriage (An Ancestry.com Community, par. 1). Some heiresses were married to local families (Thornber par. 10). An example of the odd rules would be how the aristocracy and gentry, in mid-nineteenth century, would become the upper class(Cody par.2). The Victorian Era is viewed as a period of great opportunity for every class.(Loftus par. 1). Each class can be divided by power, authority, wealth, working and living conditions, life-styles, education, and culture(Cody par. 2). At times, the middle class took power, not the upper class(Loftus, par. 1)The lower class was divided mainly by the wealth and working conditions of families(Channe14.com, par. 19). The main groups consist of upper class -aristocracy and gentry-, middle class, and lower cl ass. The gentry were lines of land-owning families from noble men (Thornber, pars. 2 and 4). Their system of inheriting the land from their father helped the gentry, but it eventually destructed them (Thornber par. 4). A main reason was the decline of agriculture after the Napoleonic Wars (Thornber par. 4). Some of the gentry managed to keep their estates (Thornber par. 8). Another reason for the gentrys fall was the male inheritors decline into moral sin (French and Rothery 403). The landed gentry was in control until the younger sons started to put the families financial security in danger; they were soon sent to an outside school (French and Rothery 403-405). This moral decline was soon blamed on the parents teaching of their children (French and Rothery 404). Although the kids did go to school, their circle of activity still revolved around society (French and Rothery 405). Although one might think the gentry to be powerful, the aristocrats retain the power (Channe14.com, pars.8). The sinple definition of aristocracy is rule of the best or superior (Aristocracy, par. 2). It has the least change out of all the social classes (Channe14.com, pars.8). Most people who made up the aristocracy were politicians who came from noble families (Channe14.com, pars.8). The unelected House of Lords is mainly made up of aristocrats (Channe14.com, par. 8). If you were part of the British aristocracy, by birth, you were a gentleman (The Gentleman, par.2). To be an aristocrat one had to have land (An Ancestry.com community, par. 1). Oddly enough, most aristocrats were not of the richest or most powerful families (An Ancestry.com Community, par. 3). The aristocrats were also head of the social life (Channe14.com, par.10). The great families filled the main circles, through their youth, with fashion and culture (Escott par. 2). They lived on grand country estates where they would go hunting and fishing (Channe14.com, par.10). Some aristocrats even had London estates which would opened up during certain seasons (Channe14.com, par. 10). Aristocrats eventually came to a point where they did not do anything but flaunted their wealth, and politics became a game (Escott par. 2). They realized they needed to step up their game when the middle class began to rise (Escott par. 2). The middle class consisted of businessman, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, merchants, and any other men just above the lower class (Loftus par. 2). To be part of the middle class, one had to take care of ones self, their family, and ones community (Loftus par. 4). It is safe to say that a definition of the middle class is impossible (Loftus par. 1).The dream of the businessmen in the middle class was to become part of the aristocracy (Channe14.com, par. 11). Over time, the middle class changed into a small group mainly made up of professionals, factory owners, merchants, and writers (Channe14.com, par 12). An example of one of these would be the writer, Conan Doyle (Hammer 56 65). The middle class, unlike the aristocracy, made their society on rights not by hereditary gain (Loftus par. 1). The middle class has two main sections, the upper middle class and the lower middle class (Channe14.com, pars. 13 17). The upper middle class was between professionals, and industrialists (Channe14.com, par. 14). Professionals were the doctors, lawyers, clergy, and top civil servants (Channe14.com, par. 14). The lower middle class was made up of mostly women (Channe14.com, par. 16). Many upper middle class men worked in banks or climb up the ladder to rule the empire (Channe14.com, par. 15). These men were usually the ones who used their riches to buy homes and became just as rich as the aristocracy (Loftus par. 3). The middle classs economy and financial variations were made by differences on background, politics, and religion (Loftus par. 3). They mainly came from political coherence (Loftus par. 4). Emphasized by competition, thrift, and self-reliance, the middle class began to rise into power (Loftus par. 4). All their success was due to their principles on individuality (Loftus par. 5). Every middle class person, through hard work and self- reliance, could have had economic and social success (Loftus par. 5). Many critics, like Thomas Carlyle, were fearful that the middle class individualism would be a threat to the community (Loftus par. 5). Much of the middle class success came from the political economy as well as the social economy (Loftus par. 8). They were always ready for improvement; it was key to their culture (Loftus par. 8). The middle class defined themselves by attempting to make the lower class see their potential (Loftus par. 9). The lower class was more commonly known to the Victorians as the working class (Channe14.com, par. 18). The workers of the working class can be divided into six groups: high-paid labor, regular standard earners, small regular earners, intermittent earners, casual earners, and the lowest class (Channe14.com, pars. 18 and 19). The largest group division were the regular standard earners, which had more people than the other five groups put together (Channe14.com, par. 20). The regular standard earners were men who made their wages from the Victorian economy; as it rose, so did their wages (Channe14.com, par. 20). When the economy boomed, people had less children, which meant more time for relaxing (Channe14.com, par. 20). The Victorian Era was the best time for one to spend their days in leisurely activity (Channe14.com, par. 24). As life became better for the higher working classes, who are known as deserving poor, the poor became more desperate (Channe14.com, par. 21). While the deserving poor get charity, if and when they need it, the lowest class gets nothing (Channe14.com, par. 21). This class made up about a quarter of all the outskirt areas (Channe14.com, par. 21). Some of these people may be criminals or unemployed, but each of them live in conditions beyond their control (Channe14.com, pars. 22 23). Times became so bad that one might have seen another selling dog droppings (Channe14.com, par. 22). Country poverty was even more sad (Channe14.com, par. 23). Most people survived on eight pounds a year (Channe14.com, par. 23). Some teenagers were forced to join gangs and mothers had to give their babies opium so they would not cry (Channe14.com, par. 22 23). Though, if one of these men could save enough money to start a small business, he could move up into middle class (Loftus par. 11). The Victorian era was the best time for leisurely activity (Channe14.com, par. 24). The upper class, middle class and lower class began to fade away shortly after this end of this period (French and Rothery 402-422). As stated earlier, the Victorian Era gave opportunity to most everyone (Loftus par. 1). Each class opportunity was shown through power, authority, and wealth (Cody par. 2). At the close of this era, the higher middle class sat with the upper middle class at operas in the royal box, thus showing the opportunity in the classes (Channe14.com, par. 3). Interestingly enough, there are a few noble families still left in England today (An Ancestry.com Community, par. 18). Work Cited An Ancestry.com Community. 31 March 2010. English Social Classes. 08 November 2010 . aristocracy. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2010 ed. Channe14.com. 2010 Time Travelers Guide to Victorian Britain. 2010. . Fordham.edu. 2010. Modern History Sourcebook. 2010. . French, Henry and Mark Rothery. Upon Your Entry into the World: masculine values and the threshold of adulthood among landed elites in England 1680-1800.Social History. 33 (4 Nov. 2008) : 402 422. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Brandon Public Library. 01 November 2010. . Hammer, Joshua. Sherlock Holmes London. Smithsonian January 2010:56-65 David, Cody. The Victorian Web. 2002. The Victorian Web. 22 July 2002 Social Class. 27 October 2010 . David, Cody. The Victorian Web. 2002. The Victorian Web. 22 July 2002 The Gentlemen. 01 November 2010 . Loftus, Donna. BBC. 15 October 2010 The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class. 08 November 2010 . Thornber, Craig. Cheshire Antiquities. 2010 The East Cheshire Gentry. 08 November 2010 .