I was given my first cellphone the summer before my first year of middle school. It was a nauseatingly pink slide phone, and was able to call exactly two numbers: my mother’s phone and 911. I was obviously not exceedingly thrilled with it, but it was a phone so I was pleased nonetheless. I didn’t have a smart phone until halfway through my freshmen year of high school, a big step up from the Nokia flip phone I had previously been using. Given this, you can imagine my surprise when last week, my friend’s nine-year-old sister requested to follow my Instagram account. I was baffled to think a child in the third grade would have access to a smart device, let alone be allowed to create social media accounts.

The way people grow up is changing drastically. They aren’t limited to whoever is physically around them anymore. Texting, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have fundamentally altered the way people are able to communicate with each other. This development is most notable in the younger generations; the young adults and children born after the mid 1990s have grown up in the era of the iPhone, and the effects of this influence are just now beginning to fully reveal themselves, creating a kairotic moment to address the phenomenon.

Jean M. Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, exploits this kairotic occasion to discuss what she believes are the negative effects smartphones have on (as Twenge calls it) the iGeneration. In her Atlantic article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation,” Twenge asserts that the influence of technology and social media have been extremely detrimental to today’s young adults and children. She reinforces her perspective by referencing the increased rates of adolescent’s sleep deprivation, depression, and suicide attempts. Twenge makes a point to claim that the use of social media and technology need to be limited in regards to young children in order to let them develop socially in a more natural way and learn how to be a member of society.

The author spends the majority of her piece analyzing the evils of social media and technology, as well as comparing present generations to past. According to the article, children today go out less, are more depressed, feel more lonely, and have less meaningful connections with other people than children of different eras. By appealing to a sort of nostalgia of ‘better’ times, Twenge appeals to what is perhaps her core audience: Baby Boomers and Generation X (people born in the mid 1950s to the late 1970s), a group of people who are already highly critical of our present day youth. Even as a member of the “iGen,” I see some validity in the author’s claims. Personally, social media doesn’t make me truly happy, I see it as a requirement to interact socially and fit into our niche of society.

Though I agree with the author’s overarching opinion (that social media is generally harmful to a child’s well being), the manner in which Twenge presents her argument weakens her effectiveness. Despite this recognition, Millennials and the “iGeneration” have been bashed too relentlessly for opinions such as Twenge’s to hold much credibility.  Instead of posing her article as overwhelmingly negative, the piece would have been far more effective if it would have been presented in a more positive manner. It is reasonable to consider the negative effects of technology and social media, but what is wrong with discussing the benefits as well? Despite its sometimes poor reputation, the technology we utilize today is an integral part of our society, and as an integral part of our society, it shouldn’t be a surprise that technology has an influence on our youth. Given this, it is important to create healthy habits with regards to technology and media. Twenge’s article would have registered as far more effective if it promoted the balance of technology use instead of discrediting social media and cellular devices all together.