Final Results

After going to three restaurants i did come to the conclusion that younger kids and teens use their phones ALOT... even compared to adults they are on their phones constantly which can be rude in social situations.  I noticed that at Houlihans and Applebees there was a few adults on their phones but only for a few seconds but the kids were on their phones for minutes just constantly looking down and checking them.  This is worrying because how are they going to develop social skills when they get older? I saw a few times even parents giving their kids ipads/iphones to keep them quiet.  This was extremely confusing to me because how are these kids ever supposed to learn to talk and socialize with people if all they know is to go on their phones or ipads.  All together this observation was very beneficial to me because i learned that what people are concerned about is true, young children and teens are being socialized with technology and are starting to lack social skills.

Revised Summary and Plan

So what i have done so far is i've gone to two different restaurants.  One called Seasons 52 which was very nice and Houlihans which is nice but not as fancy as the first.  At each place i timed people who were on their cellphones or other types of technology.  So far the fancier restaurant, Seasons 52, only had one child on a phone, but he was on the phone the entire night! Houlihans there was only about 6 kids/ teens on their phones for about an hour and then 4 adults for about 15 minutes.  I still have to go to applebees to finish my observation but so far it seems that younger kids are on their phones a lot more in social situations.

Plan for my Research

My plan for the naturalistic observation is that i am going to go to 3 restaurants.  A very nice one, and then applebees, and houlihans.  I have already done the research in the really nice restaurant and will be going to the two others this upcoming week.  What i am doing is looking for younger people (kids, teens, young adults) who are on their phones/ipads etc. during dinner.  I am going to time how long each person is on it and i will be counting how many people were using their phones and what not.  I will also be writing down their ages and genders.

Project Summary

For my project i am going to do a naturalistic observation.  I want to see how many kids and adults use technology when they are out in public.  I plan on going to three different places, a mall and two restaurants to see how many and how long people will be using technology.  I will mostly be looking for kids using ipads to play games or teens and parents using their phones.  I want to see if technology is really taking over people's lives even when they are out to eat or socializing in public.

Attention and Memory in children who use technology

In the article how technology is changing the way kids think and focus the author discusses how technology will lower our attention levels and memory.  It was stated that reading books and actual hand printed texts helps a person memorize and pay more attention rather then just reading something online.  He used an anology saying that reading is like scuba diving where you have to focus more and can see the deeper meaning (which is a good thing) and that technology (the internet) is like jet skiing; you only get quick things of information from surfing the web and are less likely to remember most.   It was also said that children who watch a lot of tv will have a short attention span and lack of imagination.  I feel like i can really agree with this author.  The points he makes about the internet ring true to me because even i notice that studying for a test from something online i tend to remember less then when i have something printed out for it.  Also if im on the computer during class in most cases i pay less attention to whats going on in the classroom and more attention to whats going on on my computer.  I feel like all of this technology really does slow us down and makes our memory worse.  The generation behind us is going to grow up depending on technology and they will never really have to pick up a book because their books will soon be online.  I am an advocate for reading because i feel like reading is necessary to learn and without it learning just won't be the same.

Children and play

I recently read an interesting article called Is technology sapping away children's creativity?  Through most of the article it discussed that not a lot of studies have been done with children and technology but with the few they have noticed certain things that are happening.  With all of the new technology it is taking away from kid's "play".  It is said that our most important times as a child are when we go out and play and make new friends and learn new things everyday.  Games and apps on ipads, tablets and other electronics are taking away from children.  They spend most of their time playing these games and really never get out and experience anything anymore.  This was shocking to think because as a kid i always would go out and play on my block and to think that doing this is becoming something that is basically unknown is alarming.  It also said that these games really do take away from a child's creativity because they are doing things that "the programmer" wants them to do.  The games they play on these electronics are not made up by them but by someone else so they start to lack creativity.
It is a very scary thought that technology is starting to really take over children's lives now a days.  It is even scary to think that parents are okay with letting it happen.  They sometimes will just give them a game to play so they dont have to deal with the problem.  The sad part is that technology can't be taken back and what is happening to the children of our society can't be changed.

Children with technology... good or bad?

In a recent article I just read from the New York Times Antisocial Networking.  In this article I found out that teens and kids spend about 7 1/2 hours a day on phones or the computer.  Researchers do not know for sure how it will affect kids because they haven't done enough research.  But what i found interesting about this article were the people arguing for and against technology.  I was surprised to find that a lot of parents were okay with their kids always being on their phones.  Some parents think that its easier for them to make plans with and get in touch with them through texting.  Other parents like it because sometimes their kids are shyer and it is easier for them to branch out and make more friends.  But on the other side parents thought that their kids aren't making as good of connection as they did when they were kids.  Reading this made me really think about how kids on their phones all the time might be a good thing.  These parents brought up good points and I thought about how personally its so much easier to just text my mom from where i am then call her.  I am very split on this situation and i feel like having technology all the time is something that can be good or bad just depends on the circumstances.