In the article narrated by Jean M. Twenge, she tries to persuade the audience with a few arguments as to why smartphones have destroyed today’s children. Specifically Jean states that the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, and when high schools were given the iPads in 2010, she coins that the generation was defined as the iGen (Twenge n.d). The author intended to pass a message to the parents that have the iGen generational children. The article also focuses on the older demographic in a technological and cultural different generation as compared to that of iGen generation. Readers, in this case, are presumably critics and conservatives of technology more profound the smartphones. There are higher chances that the audience have also experienced the impact of smartphones on younger ones and that’s why Jean tried to drive her claims as to why smartphones are harmful and why her arguments should persuade the readers (Twenge n.d). This article intends to expose the harsh truth by informing the audience why smartphones are detrimental to the younger generation.
The use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Ethos
In the article, Jean creates a credible source when she efficiently uses her claims through ethos when she stated that,” For 25years, I have been researching about generational differences ever since I was 22 years old while studying psychology in the doctoral level.” The purpose of the statement is to make her arguments to be more valuable because of what she saw and why she is so knowledgeable concerning the topic. The author argues that children should be limited to two hours per day when it comes to the use of cell phones. The author also tries to convince the readers when she uses logic claims especially when she said that “since the teens are now spending less time together, they have the possibilities of killing their relationships with one another,” (Twenge n.d). In this statement, the author uses deductive logic to solidify her claims.
Pathos
Jean uses pathos in her article because it plays with the reader’s emotions by planting it in their mind. She begins by using the anecdote. The author talks about a young girl called Athena through her technological savvy and how she was affected. Jean also stated that Athena and her friends usually spent their time while using their phones which end bringing fights between them. The use of anecdotes assist is persuading the audience because they end up sympathizing with the character on discussion. For instance, the author uses another example that took place in Texas about a 14-year-old girl who slept with her phone that later overheated and melted.
Jean concerns were why should anyone think of sleeping with the phones in the bed? The use of pathos here shows dependency for children particularly with phones and how it can become dangerous when they sleep with them (Twenge n.d). The reader is also provided with firsthand experience by the author when she stated that she had already witnessed and ingrained how the media affects the young lives. For instance, she narrated that “I have a child who can barely walk, but when she gets in touch with an iPad she swipes it confidently.” Jean also adds that her 6 –year old is also addicted to phones because every time her child keeps on asking for it (Twenge n.d). Jean claims that smartphones are a very bad influence on the young generation.
Logos
The use of logos is noted when Jean uses syllogism to support her arguments. One good example is seen through her statement about minor premises. Jean asked every college students that had Facebook pages to fill a survey over a two-week course by using their smartphones (Twenge n.d). As a result, Jean discovered that teens who usually visit the social network sites tend to have less physical contacts with their friends which sometimes make them feel lonely. With the minor and major premise establishment, the author also solidifies the use of logos when she claimed that, “Teens that spend more than three hours per day while using the electronic devices have more than 35 percent falling into risks like suicidal plans and deaths (Twenge n.d).
Conclusion
From the specific generalization and examples of the impact of technology on children, Jean concluded that the correlation between smartphones and depression are very strong. She suggested that parents should always be telling their children to avoid using their smartphones all the time. Jean also tries to simplify her arguments by claiming that smartphones have lousy influence to make the audience agree with her claims. She even firsthand witnessed when she gave examples of her children. The use of syllogism effectively assists the audience to get Jean's opinions about the effect of smartphones because it provides, statistics, facts and solidifies the author's arguments. Jean also tries to advise the audience how the growth and development of these kids will be affected when they excessively use smartphones for long hours. Her conclusion balances the claim that the excessive use of smartphones causes depression.
Work Cited
Twenge, Jean M. “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 4 Aug. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/.
