The Negative Effects of Technology on Children’s Social Development Essays

The Negative Effects of Technology on Children’s Social Development Essays The Negative Effects of Technology on Children’s Social Development Paper The Negative Effects of Technology on Children’s Social Development Paper Children are being exposed to technology at a younger age every generation. The average age that a child received a cell phone in 2006 was thirteen (Carter). In 2009 that age dropped down to eight, according to Tribune Business Journal. The use of technology by children negatively affects interpersonal communication skills because it limits social interactions and development and this is important because it affects future jobs, relationships and health. Cognitive development is the construction of thought process, including remembering, problem solving and decision making from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. † (Lloyd 15) If, during â€Å"critical periods of development† (Cole 13), the child misses an important developmental skill, the ball is set rolling, and the child will be behind his or her peers. One critical period is around when a child is about eight years old. Here, they begin to learn how to communicate their needs effectively and polish their thought process. These specific thought process skills include assimilation, accommodation, and adaptation. According to Piaget, assimilation is the process by which various experiences are mentally taken in and incorporated into existing schemas. Accommodation is taking what is experienced and applying it to new and old information and adaptation is taking the information processed and changing their behavior based on the experience. This is the very core of the human thought process. If this stage of mental development is missed, the foundation for future developmental skills is fragile. How a child at eight years old might miss this stage is by replacing face to face conversations with adults, with texting or fragmented phone call conversations with peers. The evidence of the effects of technology on children’s social skills is most notable in school, where they do the most socializing. However, when observing students in school today, versus ten years ago, there are drastic differences. At first glance in an average high school, the hallways are buzzing with the sounds of chatter and laughter, but when you look closely many of the students are at their lockers texting. Most schools prohibit the use of cell phones in class; hence the time that the students spend together in the halls is also spent attached to their phones texting each other instead of socializing face to face. On the bus rides to and from school, most students choose to listen to their MP3 players and play handheld gaming systems instead of attempting to make conversations. By making conversations, not only do they expand their network of friends, but their vocabulary and socializing skills. After school, students ride the silent bus home, to go straight to their rooms and computers. Here they isolate themselves from friends in their neighborhood, playing in online virtual worlds they create. These online â€Å"selves† can project identities that are not their own, morphing them into what they want to be seen as, instead of who they really are. This creates a self image conflict and children continue to isolate themselves to preserve their virtual â€Å"image† or become the person they are pretending to be. Even social networks is a virtual community where children are opting to socialize instead of going over to a friend’s house. Less face to face conversation also inhibits emotional exchange. Texting and typing responses on a computer, hardly make up for the social interactions children once had ten years ago. Academically, technology has adverse affects on students who overuse it. Within class, students who are less socially developed are less likely to partake in group activities. Over time, this forces teachers to change their teaching styles to accommodate those students. Group projects in school is more than just being able to assign larger more in depth projects. This is where students learn how to problem solve, give and receive constructive criticism, work together, and learn leadership skills. However, these group projects are more painful than helpful because students lack the foundation of interpersonal communication skills. Teachers resort to teaching verbally and rely on the students capabilities in auditory processing. School is becoming boring to students to overuse technology. They are so used to being constantly stimulated and needing to multitask every moment, that school is no longer stimulating enough. Since their attention spans are so limited, their auditory processing is also limited. Because of the heavy use of abbreviations used while texting, students grades are being negatively impacted because they are using the slang and abbreviations in assignments and formal papers. Most of the problems children are having today can be prevented by parents and school systems. As research is continuing to be done, schools are trying to adapt. Even though some schools have banned cell phones, that does not mean the students keep them at home. They resort to secretly texting during class, which means they are not focusing on their lessons. They are able to multitask but their attention spans are shortened. : Carter, O. K. Students are Facing New Addiction: Cellphones. McClatchy Tribune Business News (2006): 1. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. Cole, Michael, Sheila R. Cole, and Cynthia Lightfoot. The Development of Children. New York: Worth, 2001. 13-15. Print Collis, Betty. Children and Computers in School. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1996. Print. Johnson, Teddi Dineley. Excessive texting, social networking linked to health risks for teenagers. Nations Health 40. 10 (2011): 11. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. Lloyd, Peter, and Charles Fernyhough. Lev Vygotsky: Critical Assessments. Vol. 1. London: Routledge, 1999. Print Plester, Beverly, Clare Wood, and Victoria Bell. Txt msg n school literacy: does texting and knowledge of text abbreviations adversely affect childrens literacy attainment?. Literacy 42. 3 (2008): 137-144. 139 Charts Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. Tomei, Lawrence A. Challenges of Teaching with Technology across the Curriculum: Issues and Solutions. Hershey, Pa: Information Science, 2003. Print.

Social Impact Assessment Critical Articles Review

Social Impact Assessment Critical Articles Review Environmental impact assessment is a critical part of every project that is carried out in the community. This assessment looks at the impacts that the project will have on the various aspects of the human environment. This includes the impact on economic and physical environments of the community.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Social Impact Assessment: Critical Articles’ Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Social environment is such one aspect of the human environment that is affected by projects carried out in the society. Social impact assessment looks at the positive and negative effects of these projects and how to manage them. The articles critiqued below touch on the subject of environmental impact assessment, and especially on social impact assessment. The first article is Guidelines for Social Impact Assessments for Mining Projects in Greenland. This article was written in the year 2009 by the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, Greenland. The article provides information on the guidelines that mining projects should follow when doing social impact assessment in Greenland. The article highlights the process of carrying out this assessment plus the format of an SIA report required for mining projects in Greenland (Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, Greenland [BMP] 7). The second article is The Significance of Social and Economic Impacts in Environmental Assessment by Lawrence David. The article provides information on how to determine social and economic impacts and the importance of the same in environmental assessment in Canada (Lawrence 19). The third article is Guide to Free Prior and Informed Consent by Hill, Lillywhite and Simon. This Oxfam article provides information on how communities can engage project implementers in their society and how to negotiate for shared benefits from the project in addition to learning more about the same and giving informed consent (Hill, Lillywhite and Simon 19). The first article can be very useful to investors that are intending to start mining projects in Greenland. However, the scope of the article is considerable narrow as compared to the other two articles. This is given that it focuses solely on Greenland and mining activities therein. As such, the information on the article cannot be confidently generalized to apply to other countries or to other projects that are carried out in Greenland outside the scope of mining. However, the information therein may be more accurate, in-depth and analytical given the special focus on one country and one form of activity. It is similar to the other two articles, especially the second one, considering that they both touch on the subject of social impact assessment.Advertising Looking for report on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The second article by Lawrence tends to have a bigger s cope than the first one. It focuses on both social and economic impacts of projects. It is also not limited to one form of project; rather, the information therein can be consumed by stakeholders in many fields who are interested in social and economic impact assessment. However, the similarity with the first article is that it also tends to focus on one country (Canada), albeit obliquely. It is identical to the third article in the sense that both address the significance of projects on the indigenous community. The third article deviates significantly from the first two as far as the target audience is concerned. This article targets indigenous communities and gives them information on how to engage project implementers in their society. The article is of little value to a project manager, benefitting community rights’ activists more. However, the article provides a refreshing look on the issue of the impact of projects from the perspective of the community. In conclusion, it is important to note that all the three articles provide credible information on the topics that they are addressing. This is considering that they are authored by noteworthy individuals affiliated to noteworthy institutions. For example, the first article is affiliated to the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, Greenland (BMP 5). The second is affiliated to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s Research and Development Program (Lawrence 2), while the third is affiliated to the Oxfam organization (Hill et al 4). However, one major weakness in all the three articles is that they contain complicated and technical information that is intended for the consumption of the professionals and not for the layman. This even includes the third article that alleges to target the indigenous communities. Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, Greenland. 2009. Guidelines for Social Impact Assessments for Mining Projects in Greenland. BMP, November 2009.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Social Impact Assessment: Critical Articles’ Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hill, Christina, Lillywhite, Serena and Simon, Michael. 2010. Guide to Free Prior and Informed Consent. Oxfam Australia, June 2010. Lawrence, David P. 2004. The Significance of Social and Economic Impacts in Environmental Assessment. Research and Development Program, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, March 2003.

Steve Jobs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Steve Jobs - Essay Example Jobs actively get involved in the process whether that is his department of operation or not. Due to his different style of management and remarkable success in global business, most references relating to entrepreneurship are drawn from him. He portrays a different way of doing the same things we are used to, and sees the normal things that we see in a different version. Any start up businessperson who aims to succeed has to draw quite a lot of inference from Jobs, and then apply creativity in running of the enterprise. Most start up business actually does not live beyond the initial stages and end up collapsing a few days in operation. Their owners loose hope, focus, and vision too fast that their dream becomes nothing more than a curse. At liquidation, the owners loose capital invested, time, and efforts. It is due to these reasons that learning how Steve Jobs managed to put Apple Corporation and provide great products to the world is important for any aspiring start up business o wner (Napier, 2006). A start up business requires owner involvement and participation in the running of the business. Just as Steve Jobs was involved in every aspect of the production process of the products Apple manufactured and was able to monitor them to the product, a startup business owner should be there to monitor the progress of the business. Understanding the weaknesses and majoring on these weaknesses are the strengths of a business. The entrepreneur understands the various difficulties that the business is facing. Environment of operation of the business is yet another aspect of a business the entrepreneur understands by involvement in the daily operations of the business. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses the business faces is key in its success. For Steve, the simple things regarded as final touches of a product matter to him a lot. The color of the computer casing, the sound a product produces when opened or closed or the size of the product to him is strengt h. He asks questions relating to these issues, and makes sure that he understands every bit of them, for example, why the designers opted for a black casing instead of a blue or yellow one. Through this, Steve has managed to understand the kind of weaknesses the business face with in its operations. For a businessperson, understanding the simple things goes a long way in understanding the needs of customers. Prioritizing on these needs wins the business more customers and gives a competitive advantage over other companies (McDaniel & Gitman, 2009). Knowing where an entrepreneur’s talent and passion lies is a better way to develop a business idea. According to Jobs, his area of passion is what brought the huge success that he is today. Entrepreneurship is a hard task and requires patience and not unless a potential entrepreneur majors on his area of strengths and where he feels he is more passionate, the hurdles experienced in the field would be will definitely break him (McDa niel & Gitman, 2009). Jobs, while advising young entrepreneurs said, â€Å"Go out and get a job as a busboy until you find something you’re really passionate about.† Passion drives desire and investing in a passionate field makes a person look forward to working the following day. Great ideas are born out of creativity, with a broader understanding of a particular phenomenon or aspect of a product leading to a