Many parents and older people state that youth and technology is a bad mix and that it is overused and unnecessary. Whilst in some circumstances this statement rings true, many uses of technology are yet unknown but will be amazingly beneficial for people of all ages.
People give the youth of today a bad rap. This could be caused by the small minority who seemingly spend their days addicted to online gaming; always chasing the next win. This addiction is all that the adults see – a creature that steals away their teenagers and disengages them from their family and friend and hides them behind locked doors and computer screens into all hours of the night.
It may come as a surprise to many people however, that not all children are just consumers of technology. Many tech savvy teens can debug issues and fix cruxes faster than their parents can make a call to their local computer tech store for help. They can create new technology for the future that includes intricate coding learnt through working collaboratively with others - as it is known teaching something to someone else helps you consolidate your knowledge and help others, which needs to happen to advance the technology in the world even further.
With the technological advancement of our world occurring at such an alarmingly rapid rate, we need to be able to keep up to ensure that we don’t get left behind. If we don’t encourage youth to take the lead and develop their skills, we risk missing important breakthroughs and hinder advancement. We need to recognise and cultivate the skills and creativity of our youth and give them permission to learn and to lead.
Students in the classrooms of today are building and programming robots, prototyping, wire framing and coding apps that can be used in the real world. They are using technology to interact with classrooms across the other side of their schools, their states, their countries and their world. At the touch of a button they can talk to experts in their fields and enhance their learning to places never thought possible. They can access virtual and augmented reality to bring learning to life in front of them. Students possess the skills to manipulate technology and have the ability to use these skills to advance our world.
The world has moved in leaps and bounds in the past thirty years, and I attribute this to the creation and widespread adoption of computers, the internet and technology. While it may seem that we all have lost our human connection with the rise of gaming etc, we have gained so much more and can we can undoubtedly turn to our tech savvy youth to lead the way towards the future.