Emily
Current Event Posting #1
A period Sanderson
2/3/12
Topic:Does Technology Affect Happiness?
Published by: NYTimes
Date published: January 25, 2012
Original Article Author: Matt Richtel
A recent study from Stanford University handles a new question: How does
technology affect happiness? As the youth of today spend more and more
hours on electrical devices, researchers are questioning how that
affects teenager's ability to learn and focus. The answer is simple,
preteen girls are generally happier with less on screen usage, because
they are drawn to retreating to a "virtual world." However, researchers
also think the heavy use of media contributes to the social challenges
of girls as well, because girls need face to face contact overall. the
study also says that some girls that seek online friendships are not
social otherwise. In a study of over 3,000 girls, scientists found that
the average amount of time using media a day was just under seven hours,
while socializing was just over two hours. Basically, to live a
balanced life girls need quality face to face interaction.
The results of the Stanford study are not what i would have expected. I thought that girls would be more social if they talk to more of their friends, even it it is through online communication. The first thing i noticed was that there wasn't any mention of boys in the study. It would have been helpful if the blogger would have mentioned whether any boys were studied. It would have been interesting to know whether this was a local study and if all 3000 girls came from the Bay Area. I agree with the blogger that a balanced life with fewer hours of technology would be better for girls that age.
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