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Running Head: Digital Dependency

Digital Dependency
Sarah Buck
Loyola University of Maryland
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Digital Dependency

In Maushart’s (2009) book she quotes an idea of “seeing choice” while on a lunch date

with a friend, when she came to the realization that families are fostering the use of digital

dependency. Grown children are now calling their parents at the drop of the hat to ask which

train they need to get on instead of asking someone at the station, or even a person right next to

them. According to Lenhart, Ling, Campbell, & Purcell (2010), “The mobile phone has become

the favored communication hub for the majority of American teens. Among cell-owning teens,

using the phone for calling is a critically important function, especially when it comes to

connecting with their parents” (p. 3). We are becoming a slave to our cell phones allowing them

to summon us while we drive, eat, or sleep, thus clearly causing us to be blind to “choice”. The

choice is to not let technology run your life, but to choose to reform our instincts (Maushart,

2009, p.119). We need to learn to ignore that ringing cell phone and put down that laptop, take a

step back and reconnect with family. Scrolling through Facebook doesn’t make us more

connected, it is making us less socially responsible. “Seeing choice” can help technology users

better use technology, by allowing them to realize that face-to-face contact is vital to ensure they

can maintain positive social relationships. According to Vidales-Bolaños & Sádaba-Chalezquer

(2017);

Aside from the capacity to differentiate between both online and offline spaces (i.e., to

ensure positive communication), it is necessary to grow the number of contacts and

maintain equilibrium by paying proper attention to physical and social elements that

permit interactions with other people. (p. 25)

Toombs found that as adolescents become quick and intuitive technology users, they become

more independent from their parents (as cited in EL Nabawy Ahmed Moawad & Gad Soliman

Ebrahem, 2016, p. 174). This means that adolescents today are more tech savvy then generations
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before them. Parents need to educate themselves about their child’s social media use, common

risks that come with using social media, and helping them understand and navigating the

technology. Having set rules, conversations, and accountability are key to keeping adolescents

safe on line while keeping the communication between the parent and child open.

Digital technology makes up a large portion of an adolescent’s day; including family

time, during educational settings, and in social settings. We need to be aware and able to know

when technology is being use and abused. Adolescents were born into the information age,

making them among the highest users of technology. With the frequently changing of

technology, adolescents are spending more time online, thus causing a decline in face-to-face

relationships. Research by Dean (1995) finds, “The fact that technology is becoming easier to

use leads to its increased use, whether it is needed or not.” With time online there has been a

negative relation to time spent interacting with parents (Jung Lee, 2009). Low interaction with

their parents is a lower priority to adolescents because they are more attractive to peer

interactions. However, family time is very crucial for adolescents to ensure a healthy

development.

Adolescents are also multitasking using so many technology devices, that it is having a

negative effect on their social and emotional behaviors. The rise always being “plugged in” has

created a state of anxiety for connected users. Dean stated, “While instructional technology

strives for interaction, it is interaction between people and, machines. Replacing people with

machinery is a very dangerous proposition” (p.7); he is talking about the dangers of the

technological momentum and warns that control is a necessary part of technology. According to

Soykan (2015), “Technology use in lessons, affects positively the student’s attitude both towards

lesson and technology as well as contributing indirectly to the increase of success” (p. 229).
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Soykan (2015) found, that a problem was “that students do not use iPads for educational

purposes, and they continue to use them for personal purposes (listening to music, watching

videos, accessing social networks) and as a result they do not use their tablets at an effective

level in class” (p 239). Control is something we are taking away from the teachers and giving it

to the students in the hopes of involving them in their own education (Dean, 1995, p. 5).

Technology use is on the rise in schools and educators need to make sure they are individualizing

their lessons to fit their students needs to ensure they can “see choice” and not feel connected all

the time. Teachers today use more technology in the classroom because they are trying to make

their lessons more engaging and meaningful to students. However, with some of the new

technology that schools have access too, the teachers do not yet have the knowledge and comfort

to implement them in meaningful ways. According to Ruthmann & Dillon (2018)” The

difference in comfort level with technology between the teacher and student worlds is often quite

wide” (p. 7).

Similar to what Maushart’s family went through with Sussi’s and her lack of sleep

because she was up all hours of the night on her devices. She claimed to be multitasking, but we

then saw a decline in her attitude, efforts, and grades. DeWeese (2014) stated: “Students are

constantly trying to focus on several things at once while being “plugged in,” connected at all

times to the tethers of their devices” (p. 23). Moulin & Chung (2017) found, “A majority of

students are using devices immediately before and into bed. This practice is clearly affecting the

amount of healthy uninterrupted sleep that students are getting” (p. 317); which they found

brings stress to the students in an always-on connection. They also found that many students

sleep with their devices and some even woke up to respond (Moulin & Chung, 2017, p. 317).

When students are not physically equipped by the sleep they need on a regular basis, they are not
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equipped to be anywhere near the best students they can be and are at risk of experiencing great

distress. With too much technology students are losing their individuality. We need to have

control, or we will have a failing system. Parents and schools should talk about the need for

control over technology. Parents can set limits on content and time spent on digital devices, and

schools can ensure they are “individualizing each student's education and making each student's

education relevant to their life”. (Dean, 1995, p. 5) Technology use among several subject areas

such as math and physical sciences tend to fit into the instructional design, whereas, creativity,

attitudes, and understandings fall into behavioral objectives (Dean, 1995, p. 5). Schools can help

students by learning about finding information but also helping them know how to go back and

forth between different medias. Teachers need to use technology to enrich lessons, while keeping

the adult guidance and peer interactions going throughout.

Maushart resorted to “desperate measures” in order to relinquish control of her family’s

digital dependency. She came to the realization that she and her family required a more extreme

approach to becoming less dependent on technology. To start off “The Experiment” Maushart’s

family spent the first two weeks without electricity. The plan of the “Blackout Bootcamp” was

to “pry us out of respective digital cells and into that e-mail-free zone call life itself” (Maushart,

2010). She used this time as a detox period to cleanse themselves of their technology addictions.

While this is an extreme way to help curb the digital dependency, it probably isn’t the most

accepted way to detox. Parents today, while most are digital immigrants, have been exposed to

digital technology and are also active online. Setting limitations for our kid’s technology use is

vital. Parents should make rules about the amount of time and what types of media content their

child spends in front of a screen. In a study by MacGill (2007) claims;

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The majority of parents have media rules for both content and time. However, parents

that only have one type of rule are more likely to make rules about media content rather

than the time spent with the media device. If the parent does not institute both types of

rules, he or she is more likely to have no media rules at all than to create rules around

how much time their teen can spend using television, video games, or the internet. (p. 1)

If a family can set certain parameters for screen time and content use, this could help separate

adolescents’ attachment to their devices. If parents instill rules and stay involved in their

children’s online lives it will help them maintain a positive relationship.

Parents and educators today need to ensure our adolescents are “seeing choice” about

their technology use. As parents we need to ensure our adolescents aren’t abusing technology

and using it for good (i.e. research project, talking with family). Parents can help them by setting

limits on what types of content they are viewing, and the amount of time they are spending on

devices. Educators can use technology as an enrichment to lessons but also need to keep the peer

interactions alive. Educators can also incorporate more project-based learning for student groups

to work on. These groups will foster the use of technology but also allow for positive peer-

interactions. Parents today need to remember that during the adolescent years it is a vital time to

be actively involved, as well as, helping them reconnect with others and the world. Adolescents

need to learn that it is ok to take a step back from their devices and spend some quality time with

family and friends. If parents and educators can do this, we can have better control over our

devices. We should be controlling them, not them controlling us.

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References
Dean, D. (1995). Too much too fast: The dangers of technological momentum. Retrieved
from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED383309.pdf

DeWeese, K. L. (2014). Screen time, how much is too much? The social and emotional costs of
technology on the adolescent brain. Retrieved
from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED546474.pdf

EL Nabawy Ahmed Moawad, G., & Gad Soliman Ebrahem, G. (2016). The relationship between
use of technology and parent adolescent’s social relationship. Journal of Education and Practice,
7, 1-8. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1103022.pdf

Jung Lee, S. (2009). Online communication and adolescent social ties: Who benefits more from
internet use? Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 509-531. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01451.x

Lenhart, A., Ling, R., Campbell, S., & Purcell, K. (2010). Teens & mobile phones. Retrieved
from http://www.pewinternet.org/2010/04/20/teens-and-mobile-phones/

MacGill, A. R. (2007). Parents, teens and technology. Retrieved

from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/621/

Maushart, Susan. (2010). The winter of our disconnect: How three totally wired
teenagers (and a mother who slept with her iPhone) pulled the plug on their
technology and lived to tell the tale. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.

Moulin, K. L., & Chung, C-J. (2017). Technology trumping sleep: Impact of electronic media
and sleep in late adolescent students. Journal of Education and Learning, 6, 2-25. Retrieved
from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1125237.pdf

Ruthmann, S.A. & Dillon, S.C. (2018). Technology in the lives and schools of adolescents.
Oxford University Press. Retrieved from
https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/3732920/Ruthmann_Dillon_OHME_FINA
L_OO_edits_11Sep10_.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1550
957429&Signature=IlUIc7tXxZu7YPMstdKYVmhhdng%3D&response-content-
disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DTechnology_in_the_lives_and_schools_of_a.pdf

Soykan, E. (2015). Views of students’, teachers’ and parents’ on the tablet computer usage in
education. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences. 10(3), 228-244. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.18844/cjes.v1i1.68

Toombs, E. (2014). Evaluating the parent adolescent communication toolkit: usability, measure
assessment and preliminary content effectiveness. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Vidales-Bolaños, M.J, Sádaba-Chalezquer, C. (2017). Connected teens: Measuring the impact of

mobile phones on social relationships through social capital. Media Education Research Journal.
25 (19-27). Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1171085.pdf