Page 15 - My FlipBook

Athena told Twenge that she spent most of her summer

vacation alone in her bedroom with her smartphone.
“We didn’t have a choice to

know any life without iPads “We didn’t have a choice to know any
life without iPads or iPhones. I think
or iPhones,” Athena said. we like our phones more than we like
actual people.” 12
“I think we like our phones —Athena, a thirteen-year-old
more than we like actual smartphone user from Texas

people.” 12

Researchers have also discovered that some people use

their smartphones to avoid interacting with others. Results

from the 2018 Pew Research Center survey showed that

about 43 percent of US teens often or sometimes use their
phones to avoid social interactions. They use their phones

while around other people so they appear distracted. That

way, people do not approach them and try to talk to them.

THE INFLUENCE OF SMARTPHONES

In her research, Twenge found many differences between

young people today and earlier generations of teens. These

differences are evident in the way today’s teens view the
world and how they spend their time. Twenge pinpoints the

dramatic shifts in behavior to the year 2012. In that year,

the proportion of Americans who owned smartphones
surpassed 50 percent.

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