December 27, 2009
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Digital Natives
I was just reading about a college that challenged students to turn off their technology for a short time one evening.
The idea of the evening was to have total silence without computers, cell phones and iPods.
The president of the college said mentioned “digital natives.” “Digital natives” are “teenagers who grew up with ‘the Internet as part of their operating assumption in the world.’” The president felt her students considered “their cell phones a social necessity.” Here is the link: Link
Do you consider your cell phone a social necessity?
Comments (66)
Yes, of course. It is also how my parents get in touch with me, there are not even phones in our residence hall.
Mm. I consider my email more of a necessity than anything else.
No. I haz real life.
Yes. And I don’t care for silence.
Absolutely. I’m commenting from it… or actually I might be if Xanga supported mobile browsers even a bit…
My cell phone is a necessity…screw a “social necessity.” If I’m driving and get into a car accident and my daughter and I are all alone…what am I to do? Flag down a car and hope it isn’t a murderer? No thank you.
I trust both real life and the internet for the people I meet. Its nice to meet somebody overseas that you could be great friends with.
no i hate it…phones in general really.
as long as im connected to the internet in some way, im good. whether its thru my phone or computer, but yeah i do see it as a necessity, atleast in america. the world is spinning so fast that we need more effiecient ways of getting things done or we’ll be left behind
Yes. Although, I hate the phone I have right now. I can’t wait to buy the one I want!!
Yes. It keeps me connected to friends I can’t see.
pft yeah.
I don’t even use my cell phone hardly. It’s usually lost.
Yes.
Nope.
I have dangled obscene amounts of money in front of my oldest two if they could go 24 hours without internet, cellphone, video games or tv. Neither of them could do it. They are hopelessly addicted. It makes me so sad for them.
The irony of this is that colleges have embraced email and text messages as a way to cut costs by eliminating paper. No more tuition bills or report cards in your mailbox; check your inbox.
I’m much more attached to my computer than my cell phone. I sometimes forget to turn on my cell phone for days at a time if I’m not traveling.
Yes and no. I don’t own a phone but will in a few days time…and when I do it will be important to me only in keeping in touch with someone who is at a distance. But the computer is more importnat to me then the phone.
Nope, I don’t have one.
No, I don’t really need it but it’s great for entertainment.
It is, usually.
I feel lost without it.
Especially since I can’t tell time from a regular clock.
And there aren’t many clocks around where I’m usually hanging out.
Plus, I don’t wear a watch because I hate things around my wrists.
Pretty much. It’s the only phone I have now.
Not really, sometimes I wish I didn’t have one.
Live like fight club – don’t let consumer goods control you!
I think it is now. Pay phones are hard to find and people don’t stop to help if you get in an accident or if you have a flat tire.
I don’t even have a cell phone, so no.
I could survive just fine without it.
I rarely use my cell phone, though I do use the internets a lot on my computer.
I could do it, but it would be a slow, rough start.
@chrispycrunch - win!
no….
lol i was born in the 50′s
Not in the least.
@chrispycrunch - you broke rule #1! and rule #2 D:
yes. my phone is out of commission till i get a new SIM card….i’m lost w/o it!
Yeah pretty well everyone I know contacts me via cell phone
Sometimes, there are days when I don’t think about my cell phone until it’s time for my daughter’s dad to call. Then there are other days when I text almost every second.
hmm.. yes, for my xanga friends… it’s really one of the only ways we communicate… besides AIM
911 works if the phone has service or not, just sayin’
I think it is. That’s how I keep in touch with my friends. If I did not have it, I would have no means of communication. I live in NYC, so there are many school and kids who commute. I have some friends from different boroughs comming to my school, so honestly the phone is a serious nessesity.
No. Being partially blind makes texting too slow for me.
To me it’s a safety commodity, don’t go anywhere without in ase I need to get hold of a family member or the kids’ school need to reach me.
I’ve turned off my phone before just because I wanted it off and… apparently everything went to hell when I did so.
Even if I don’t think it’s a social necessity, my friends are under a different opinion.
No, i just have it so when i wanna ask my parents something i can contact them where evere/ when ever.
yes.
No way. I suggest that no one should ever get so dependent on their cell that they don’t know what to do in an emergency if they have no cell phone.
yes.
I do think my Blackberry is very useful for many things, but I can definitely live without it. Sometimes, on a day off, I’ll turn my cell phone off and go on with my day. When I turn it back on, most of the time, I have 20 text messages and at least 1 voice mail. My boss hates it when I do it because he always tries to get a hold of me all the time on my days off…
No. I just graduated from college where there was lots of kids 18 and 19 years old. I could not believe how they could not go for 50 minutes without texing on their phones. Totally crazy!!!
since i have been land line free for about 10 years, it is a necessity, but it can be turned off. it is probably one of the handiest inventions since the light bulb ! i never in a million years thought i would ever use texting, now i couldn’t live without it !
I don’t like not having it, but it’s not a necessity.
No I don’t.
For me it’s as necessary as a house landline becuase I don’t have a landline, so other than the internet and face to face talking, my cellphone is my only efficient method of communication
No because I don’t have one….
Absolutely!
I hate not only the phone but the doorbell; these new-fangled electrical devices are always dragging me away from the computer.
Nope, it wasn’t that hard for me to not have it here in Iraq. It would be a lot harder to have no laptop (especially with no books either).
Well I can live without it. But God knows when I do have a phone I’m on it 24/7. I finally got a new phone for xmas after 2 months without one. Constantly texting, IMing, calling, and emailing.
Um no. I didn’t have one until I was 18 years old.
Cell phone? Yes.
Texting? No.
I have a cell/mobile phone one of the cheapest models available, I been putting my foot down not having one for the last 10 years, but the lack of pay phones around.
I don’t used it at all, however it is there if you need to use it.
As for Xanga I could not go without it for a few days, Facebook no problem as I have not many friends request and I don’t get many or sent any messages.
No, I don’t. But it sure is helpful!
We often have media free day here. The only all electronic media, besides music, is banned. And phones are only allowed for making calls, no games, texting, or internet.
Not a necessity, but something I’m very grateful for!
I do not need to use it but it is the only phone I have ,got rid of the house line.
I don’t use my phone very much. My computer, however, is another story.
Social convenience for sure, but my business would be infinitely more difficult without one. It hasn’t been that long ago when truckstops had pay phones at the tables and you got to talk to your wife once a day if you actually sat down at the truck stop to eat.
i remember a time when society functioned as well as it ever has completely without cellphones, email, or other time wasting soul sucking diversions.