“Growing up Tethered” by Sherry Turkle can be considered an effective representation of today’s world of technological advancement. This particular article explains the idea about the immense level of technological effect on the lives of people, especially since it drastically changes the life patterns of teenagers’ lives. The focus of the Turkle through this article is to apprehend the role of technology concerning to the current youth. She focuses on different life examples to explain how technology, particularly cell phones, replaces social positions in different facets of life. Sherry Turkle presents the idea that nowadays, people are too tethered to their cell phones. Here, the focus is to support the idea proposed by Turkle by giving real-life examples.
The main idea delivered by the author through this particular article is that today, people are becoming tethered to their phones which means that people are immensely attached to the technological devices named as cell phones. They immensely rely on technology, and this aspect ultimately detaches them from the perspective of daily life. She argues that excessive attachment to cell phones undoubtedly changes the rules of engagement (Turkle, 172). Connectivity with other people through verbal discussions becomes less and less every day. This particular argument can be evident with the help of daily routines, in which people spend most of their time using cell phones rather than communicating with other people who might sit next to them.
The author effectively raises another crucial feature of cell phone addiction in the form of a comprehensive discussion on the upbringing of children. She indicates that the immense usage of technology also changes the overall structure of the fact that how children are nowadays. The particular argument of the author seems true by analyzing the daily routine and lifestyle of the children and parents. Children have access to the cell phone easily, and they can connect with their parents easily and efficiently. This particular prospect is explained by the author as today parents are text or a call away to their children. This feature can be characterized as the effective element of the usage of cell phones, which provides a sense of independence and security to the children on their own.
Sherry Turkle successfully apprehends the idea of the lifestyle of the new generation, which is tethered with the facet of technology and, more importantly, their cell phones. Undoubtedly, youngsters become slaves to their cell phones as they seem unable to observe the world with its realities. Teenagers consider their cell phones as their best friends as they believe that their lives are incomplete without the necessity of cell phones. People use advancement of the technology to establish their online personas as they are alarmingly losing their actual identities of lives. This particular negative impact of cell phone addiction can be exemplified with the help of those teenagers who considered their friendships and associations on social networks more seriously than the true paradigm of the bond with the actual people who exist in their lives.
To conclude this, it is necessary to mention that technological advancement, particularly cell phones, is the primary reality of the today’s generation, which cannot be ignored. The critical element related to the use of cell phones is to consider the immense level of balance between the actual lives and the features of the cell phone. It will be a viable approach to use technology for the sake of benefits and never become drastically addicted to the use of cell phones.
Work Cited
Turkle, S. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited, 2011, https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=hc7SYAPVlXwC.
