Week 10 Journal
Adolescent Interview
For this interview, I spoke to a 16 year old girl, who I will call Mary. Mary was more than happy to assist me in this journal entry and was very excited to be interviewed. The purpose of the interview was for me to understand how new technology effects her day to day life as well as her surrounding peers. I wanted to get an adolescent perspective into how much of a role technology plays in school and at home.
The following is part of the interview:
Q: What do you do when you're online?
A: I use social media, I watch videos on YouTube, school work, Instagram, snap chat, twitter...
Q: Why do you enjoy using technology? What do you get out of it?
A: Well, I like to see what's going on in my friends lives. It's nice to be able to talk with people who aren't with you. I also like listening to music and it's easier to hand in homework.
Q: How many times a day do you think you see your classmates texting on their phone during classes?
A: A lot, even in my advanced classes. Lunch is definitely crazy when it comes to people texting on their phones.
Q: Do you think students are addicted to being online? Why?
A: YES! Very addicted. I'm not sure why though.
Q: How would you feel without your cell phone and online access for 1 month?
A: Well, I used up all my data this month so I am basically away from my phone right now. It's hard because I sometimes feel away from friends and I feel worried in some way. I don't know, it's hard.
While interviewing Mary, the one answer that surprised me the most was when I asked her if she thought that students are addicted to being online. She just about yelled the answer "yes!" I suppose I thought that because she was a young student herself, she wouldn't fully understand or agree with the notion that many young people are becoming more and more addicted to technology, their phones and being online.
I also found her answer to being without her cell phone and online access for 1 month to be very interesting. She stated that she felt away from her friends and worried in some way, even though she sees her friends everyday in school.
I believe that the internet and being online is where many students now come together to communicate socially. If you are not online and a part of that communication, it is easy to feel left out and vulnerable.
It was an overall good interview and conversation as I learned details into how adolescents view the internet and being online.
Laura-
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that even she makes notice that many teens her age are also addicted to technology and social media sites. I noticed many of my students feel the same way, they are addicted and they don't know why or how to break their addiction. I think even adults nowadays are even becoming addicted to these technologies and we as a society have begun to become so readily dependent upon them.
I am not surprised that she feels young people are addicted to technology because as an older person, I feel like I am addicted to it as well. I think that technology is such a huge part of growing up now. I used to race home to get on the phone with my best friends so I guess I see social media as a similar more advanced way of connecting with friends.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mary said that she felt "...away from friends and I feel worried in some way", about not having access to her phone/data/ internet access, I find this emotional response to be inline with the experience of people of whom a part of their social lives are attached to social media/ online access. Online, students make friends and receive likes a lot more than they do offline. For a lot of people, the friends they have online are usually distant and that relationship cannot endure if one person become disconnected from the internet/social media for a long period of time. I'm not saying that internet/ social media relationships are shallow, rather for some people it is the only connection they have with some of their friends. And as the say goes (I just invented this saying): social media absence makes the heart grows anxious and distant.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the refreshing insight Laura.
I found it interesting to read Mary's response to the question of feeling alienated from her friends because she used all of her data. It is very ironic, that the young folks in this country, who attend school with their friends everyday and have the opportunity for much face-to-face interaction, would feel left out because they couldn't connect technologically.
ReplyDeleteReading her responses to your questions, makes me feel a bit sad, why does the internet/technology have such a powerful hold on adolescents. It makes me want to question her responses & find out more - it seems like you would feel more connected with your friends that you are with and interacting with everyday, but since you don't have the data to connect with them online you don't feel connected, so interesting to put that whole scenario into play & really sit down and contemplate. It is quite surprising that she views teens as being addicted, I would have assumed that she would have said No to that question - since internet usage among teens is just an automatic thing in life today.
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