Technology and its Effects on Young People

A little while ago, I was contacted by a book publisher who was interested in my work. He asked me to write a short essay on technology from the perspective of a 15 year old. The essay will be published in a book hopefully sometime this year.

Here's what I wrote:

"Technology is anything released after you are born." - I first heard something like this a few years ago. At the time the Apple computer was obese, PCs were in style, and kids spent their days playing dodge ball instead of Call of Duty 4. What is technology to my parents is nothing like what technology is to me. When my dad was a kid he and his friends immersed themselves in sports, arguing over who could throw a baseball faster. When I was in Kindergarten, we spent our recesses playing a Dr. Zeus adventure game, arguing over who could finish the maze faster while gaining the most points.
My first real experience with a computer was when I was in third grade. As usual, the teacher aid was freaking out over a non-obedient computer that locked her out. I can remember sitting in front of the monitor, staring up at the glowing screen while the aid was panting, taking a break from ripping the hair from her scalp and throwing an I-hate-technology tantrum. I slowly tapped out the word “admin”, key by key, in the password box. I confidently pushed enter, and the computer sprang to life. The teacher aid swayed back in fourth in shock, and stared down at me with a look of terror streaked across her face. Before that moment she knew me only as the loud, somewhat obnoxious yet innocent third grader who cowered in power shortages and wailed uncontrollably at knee scrapes. From that point on, in her eyes I was a malicious computer hacker, unbound by library pass codes and login prompts. I was unknown, and I was horrifying.
Six years later computers are small, sleek, and powerful. Instead of kids pretending to play Army with sticks, they chase each other with the iPhone Gun application. Html is a markup language taught to many along with their ABCs, in between snack time and recess. A couple years ago, I showed my 8 year old cousin some Python code I had written, and he nodded along as I explained if… else statements and for loops. Now, he’s building complete videogames with MIT’s Scratch program and knows more about computers than his parents ever will.
Technology has transformed the lives of every child in America. Each and every kid who owns a computer has access to literally everything they could ever want to know. Quantum Physics, English literature, World Economics, it’s all a click away and yet my generation’s thirst for knowledge seems to have been lost. This endless sea of information is littered with distractions and can snatch away what precious time we have. When I walk into a library, I’ve grown accustomed to seeing students on the computers playing “Buffy the Boy Scout Slayer” and “Zombie Wars.” If you ask the average American teen what his passion is, chances are he’ll shrug and say “videogames”.
Technology is neither good nor evil, it is just a tool. The key is how we use it and if we use it to better our lives or just to fill our time.