Is the internet helping or hindering the current generation?

[DeadBall]

We have a ready and unparalleled amount of information on the internet which the world has never seen before. The question is what are the new generation (our future) using it for?

In the West I just see them following the Kardashians, Cash me outside or Sexy gang member idiots (My daughter referenced that to me). They just blindly follow anything which doesn't require critical thinking and just requires a short attention span. Even my daughter who is really trusted by us and doesn't have enough time to indulge in all this as she has professional Ballet, Choir and Piano lessons apart from school knows about this and is also somewhat deviating towards it as it is quite seductive but she always tells us everything and we try to convince her of its uselessness instead of forcing our view on her. We do allow her one hour of free time to unwind per day, which she usually uses to watch documentaries, listen to music along with some youtube to catch up on whats going on in the teen world. No FB, Twitter, Snapchat etc though and a half an hour of actual book reading before bed.

However I think I may have digressed. Most of the new generation I see are idiots to put it mildly and especially the desi youth are so hate filled that whether it is about Pak/India or not they just turn it into one and just spew filth.

I wouldn't have really cared but they are our future and it is really sad to see this world of information available at their fingertips (which we didn't have growing up) being lost due to this youtube clips, hashtags and what not.

 

[Abdul]

I hate social media now. It's just toxic and depressing.

 

[TM Riddle]

I hate social media now. It's just toxic and depressing.

Quitting Facebook and Instagram is the best decision I have made in my life.
So relaxed and refreshing

 

[DeadBall]

The thing is anytime someone gives us a like or thumbs up the brain releases a dose of dopamine. In the past we usually got that from our elders, friends, family etc and when actually merited. Now we can just change our statuses, post pictures from Makkah, put pictures of our newborns, or copy inspiring quotes from others etc to be appreciated and get that dopamine fix, and I am just talking about the adults here.

 

[Syed1]

Snapchat generation is the worst

 

[DeadBall]

Snapchat generation is the worst

Even FB is fading and looking like AIM/IRC next to it now.

 

[Abdul]

I still go on Snapchat but that's about it. That because I don't get to see my closest friends frequently anymore (after high school ended) so it's just a way to stay in touch with them.

 

[R3verse Swing]

Hindering, Brainwashing, Dumbing down. You name it.

 

[babajee]

The one thing I hate is people who are obsessed with maintaining a certain “image” on social media.

 

[Rayyman]

Was talking to a random 7 year old boy once, he asked me if I watched Logan Paul. Had no idea who that was. A few months later this guy was banned from YouTube, for not only filming a man who had hung himself, but mocking and making fun of him. I feel very scared for children to be exposed to this. Could just imagine what it would be like if my own (future) kids were watching.

 

[Abdullah719]

Was talking to a random 7 year old boy once, he asked me if I watched Logan Paul. Had no idea who that was. A few months later this guy was banned from YouTube, for not only filming a man who had hung himself, but mocking and making fun of him. I feel very scared for children to be exposed to this. Could just imagine what it would be like if my own (future) kids were watching.

He isn't banned... and probably won't be banned despite crossing the limits on multiple occasions.

YouTube is a cesspool of clickbait and nonsense nowadays.

 

[babajee]

YouTube is a cesspool of clickbait and nonsense nowadays.

What about your own videos... are they clickbait

 

[DeadBall]

What about your own videos... are they clickbait

Tsk Tsk. After all the effort this guy puts in editing and uploading these videos for you freeloaders. Qadar naam ki koi cheez hi nahi bachi.

On a different note, they are click bait though, as I usually can't resist to click them.

 

[kingusama92]

We do allow her one hour of free time to unwind per day, which she usually uses to watch documentaries, listen to music along with some youtube to catch up on whats going on in the teen world. No FB, Twitter, Snapchat etc though and a half an hour of actual book reading before bed.

Just one hour of free time as a teen?

 

[JaDed]

Social media yes, Internet nope.Free learning so many things can just be youtubed now,its upto us and strict parenting how much we are focused.

 

[UP]

Social media is corrupt. Parents should monitor their kids.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Owe a lot to internet which allows me to work for overseas teams from the comfort of my home, and when I am travelling. Gives me a window into the lives of the rich and middle class who would ignore me in offline world, but are forced to engage with me online. Their anger is my reward.

 

[good guy]

The more things change, the more they stay the same: A collection of complaints about the youth throughout history

“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances.
...
They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it
Rhetoric, Aristotle
4th Century BC

“The beardless youth… does not foresee what is useful, squandering his money.”
Horace
1st Century BC

Our sires' age was worse than our grandsires'. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt
Book III of Odes, Horace
circa 20 BC

Youth were never more sawcie, yea never more savagely saucie . . . the ancient are scorned, the honourable are contemned, the magistrate is not dreaded.
The Wise-Man's Forecast against the Evill Time, Thomas Barnes
1624

“Whither are the manly vigour and athletic appearance of our forefathers flown? Can these be their legitimate heirs? Surely, no; a race of effeminate, self-admiring, emaciated fribbles can never have descended in a direct line from the heroes of Potiers and Agincourt
Letter in Town and Country magazine republished in Paris Fashion: A Cultural History
1771

The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth; and prevented others from improving their minds in useful knowledge. Parents take care to feed their children with wholesome diet; and yet how unconcerned about the provision for the mind, whether they are furnished with salutary food, or with trash, chaff, or poison?
Memoirs of the Bloomsgrove Family, Reverend Enos Hitchcock
1790

a fearful multitude of untutored savages... [boys] with dogs at their heels and other evidence of dissolute habits...[girls who] drive coal-carts, ride astride upon horses, drink, swear, fight, smoke, whistle, and care for nobody...the morals of children are tenfold worse than formerly
Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, Speech to the House of Commons
February 28, 1843

in youth clubs were young people who would not take part in boxing, wrestling or similar exercises which did not appeal to them. The ‘tough guy’ of the films made some appeal but when it came to something that led to physical strain or risk they would not take it
Young People Who Spend Too Much, Dundee Evening Telegraph
1945

“What really distinguishes this generation from those before it is that it's the first generation in American history to live so well and complain so bitterly about it
The Boring Twenties, Washington Post
1993

They have trouble making decisions. They would rather hike in the Himalayas than climb a corporate ladder. They have few heroes, no anthems, no style to call their own. They crave entertainment, but their attention span is as short as one zap of a TV dial
Proceeding with Caution, Time
2001

 

[DeadBall]

Just one hour of free time as a teen?

Her day is packed with school, ballet, choir and piano lessons. She barely even has that one hour sometimes.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I do find myself worrying about the younger generation and social media, but my kids seem to be handling it quite well, and to be honest, I think kids in general are less filled with hatred than some of the older generation, especially self hatred which can be very damaging. I can't imagine a world without internet now, although no doubt we have lost something with permanently being connected. But you can manage it by restricting yourself to what is useful and ignoring the rest.

 

[DeadBall]

It all comes down to educating and supervising (subtly) the children. We live in a city where almost everyone uses bicycles from transport and I see most of the teenagers texting while on the bikes riding along cars on the main road, I have even seen mothers with their kids in the carry along doing that.

Something like this but they're cycling on the main road with cars inches next to them. Truly mind boggling.

View attachment 79803

 

[Madplayer]

It all comes down to educating and supervising (subtly) the children. We live in a city where almost everyone uses bicycles from transport and I see most of the teenagers texting while on the bikes riding along cars on the main road, I have even seen mothers with their kids in the carry along doing that.

Something like this but they're cycling on the main road with cars inches next to them. Truly mind boggling.

View attachment 79803

That woman is not a child though. But thats the point isnt it, everyone is addicted.

 

[DeadBall]

That woman is not a child though. But thats the point isnt it, everyone is addicted.

That was just the pic I could find but there are many women as I stated who do the above with their toddlers in tow.

 

[MenInG]

That woman is not a child though. But thats the point isnt it, everyone is addicted.

fantastic balancing skills!

 

[finalfantasy7]

Well that Indian women in India - in the wifi thread disagrees

 

[Sachin136]

We have a ready and unparalleled amount of information on the internet which the world has never seen before. The question is what are the new generation (our future) using it for?

In the West I just see them following the Kardashians, Cash me outside or Sexy gang member idiots (My daughter referenced that to me). They just blindly follow anything which doesn't require critical thinking and just requires a short attention span. Even my daughter who is really trusted by us and doesn't have enough time to indulge in all this as she has professional Ballet, Choir and Piano lessons apart from school knows about this and is also somewhat deviating towards it as it is quite seductive but she always tells us everything and we try to convince her of its uselessness instead of forcing our view on her. We do allow her one hour of free time to unwind per day, which she usually uses to watch documentaries, listen to music along with some youtube to catch up on whats going on in the teen world. No FB, Twitter, Snapchat etc though and a half an hour of actual book reading before bed.

However I think I may have digressed. Most of the new generation I see are idiots to put it mildly and especially the desi youth are so hate filled that whether it is about Pak/India or not they just turn it into one and just spew filth.

I wouldn't have really cared but they are our future and it is really sad to see this world of information available at their fingertips (which we didn't have growing up) being lost due to this youtube clips, hashtags and what not.

Well, they can use it for whatever they want. If they get entertained by watching those things, then what's the problem?

 

[DeadBall]

Well, they can use it for whatever they want. If they get entertained by watching those things, then what's the problem?

Because there is entertainment and then there's entertainment. I would like my child to adhere to a higher level as these cheap useless Jerry Springer, Kim Kardashian kind of stuff does not help her evolve in any way whatsoever.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

One example which I'm sure everyone is familiar with, you have a room full of people and everyone is staring into their phone or tapping away on some message. Used to be the TV which people complained was turning everyone into a vegetable, now I find myself getting annoyed if we are watching a great film and someone's got their head down looking at their phone.

 

[Sachin136]

Because there is entertainment and then there's entertainment. I would like my child to adhere to a higher level as these cheap useless Jerry Springer, Kim Kardashian kind of stuff does not help her evolve in any way whatsoever.

I don't think there's any such distinction. Whatever a person enjoys is up to them to decide.

Not sure what you mean by helping her evolve. Will listening to classical someone help her evolve (whatever that means) as opposed to listening to pop? Or reading a book instead of watching a TV show?

 

[DeadBall]

I don't think there's any such distinction. Whatever a person enjoys is up to them to decide.

Not sure what you mean by helping her evolve. Will listening to classical someone help her evolve (whatever that means) as opposed to listening to pop? Or reading a book instead of watching a TV show?

I was talking about kids and teens. They do not really know what they enjoy and mostly just give into peer pressure. They will follow whatever everyone else is following. My daughter listens and plays to classical music, as well as pop, as is normal for any teen, we don't restrict her but advise her, the decision is hers in the end. She also reads a book or watches TV shows but not trash TV.

 

[WC-Passion]

Probably hindering. Definitely helps in ramping up the immaturity levels, and the ignorance and lack of knowledge of certain topics is shocking, as they're stuck in their own little worlds because of social media. The internet can be extremely helpful, however the majority of the current generation lack the ability to use for anything worthwhile most of the time. It also helps waste a lot of time.

 

[PakLFC]

To much of anything is a bad thing. The internet can be damaging as well as beneficial but generally it is more then latter then former.

 

[MenInG]

Its making us lazy!

 

[TQ89]

Hindering because adults as well as kids get that dopamine addiction which desensitizes their brain which isn't good for anybody in the long term.

 

[Dead Ball]

The internet is the one of the best things to happen to me.

I have learnt more online listening to podcasts in the last 2 years, than i did in my entire school/college life, and discovered people/musicians/movies that have changed my life forever (music on TV today is mostly garbage, you have to look really hard to discover good stuff)

People dissing the internet due to facebook/instagram? Man...