The next generation – How will Internet-savvy teens affect the nation?
August 9, 2010 Filed under Outlook
Forward-thinking or self-absorbed? Some think '90s generation kids are future leaders well-versed in online life. IC Photo
A recent CNN article about Chinese teens said they are often labeled “lazy, promiscuous, confused, selfish, brain damaged and overall hopeless.” According to the article, the ’90s generation is different from earlier ones because today’s kids “have no memory of the country’s tumultuous past” and have only lived in a time of rapid economic growth underscored by rampant consumerism and globalization.”
“They have only known a life in China that is rising and affluent,” Frank Yu, a Beijing-based Internet analyst, was quoted as saying. “They are considered a wild card generation. They are very aggressive and outward looking and are pretty confident because they never felt hardship.”
They have also grown up in the age of the Internet, which has dramatically shaped their worldviews. Kevin Lee, chief operating officer for Beijing-based China Youthology, told CNN, “When they turn away from the Internet and look at the real world, they see that nothing has changed, there is this huge disconnect in their minds.”
Lee said the new generation’s minds are always in online mode. “When their real world is not even moving, not even budging, they feel powerless. And so where do they escape? They go back to the Internet.”
The article cited a post on the blog China Hush titled, “A Series of Post-90s Generation’s Bad Behaviors,” which showed some shocking sexual content.
But the ’90s generation has its share of defenders. Han Yinbo, co-author of An Exploding Internet Revolution, told CNN, “In the virtual world, they learn how to be leaders, to solve interpersonal conflicts.”
What will the ’90s kids be like when they mature into adults and become employees?
Don Tapscott, author of Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, believes people born in the ’90s are more entrepreneurial than their predecessors.
“Yes, they will effect change, and yes, they have a completely different culture than their parents,” Tapscott said in the CNN article. “What happens online does materialize. It does drive behavior change in the real world.”
Anish Pradhan on Tue, 9th Aug 2011 5:32 pm
SO . Well ,,,The use of internet has grown tremendously among the teenagers over the last few decades. This has largely been caused by a variety of reasons such as education and the need for entertainment. The internet provides a variety of free information and resources that can either build or destroy the life of a teenager. As a result, many teenagers have ended destroyed morally and psychologically due to excessive use of the internet for the wrong reasons. As a matter of fact, research shows that many teenagers get excessively addicted to the internet from the first time they gain access information in the web (Kraut & Kiesler, 49-74). The growing and excessive use of the internet among the teenagers has also largely been influenced by the affordability and availability of internet both at school and home. This continued use of internet by the teenagers has tremendously affected the teenagers adversely with time. To be precise, most