Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence in an Urban Context

Postmans arguments about childhood disappearing are valid because of the change in the world. Today we live in a world that is flooded with all sorts of technology one can use to entertain and organize one’s life. Children aren’t restricted to this kind of technology, which creates a clear link for them to the adult world. Many parts of a child’s life are affected by the modern technical world we live in. Such advances as social networking digitally, games and the media itself are affecting every child who comes in contact.

There is a giant internet social network called Facebook that connects the world one friend at a time. Facebook started off as a social network for only college students who wanted to share their lives with the people around them. This included any recent party’s they’ve gone to, who they hang out with, or any future plans they have. There aren’t any restrictions to what they can say, although there are restrictions on pictures with nudity being forbidden. Today, people of any age can join this network and be exposed to everything involved with it. This way the interaction with adult friends online will take away any innocence about sexuality and violence the child possesses.

The advance in video games also affects childhood today. Video games have come a long way since they were first created. Now video games make it so you can live a second life in a virtual world. The graphics in video games make the games look almost as real as our world. Imagine a child being exposed to such technology. It becomes a big part of a child’s life when they constantly play video games. For example, if the video game is violent and gory, this will affect the playing child’s thought process in the real world. Studies show that kids exposed to more violent videogames are more likely to be aggressive. Although games have a rating which restricts kids from buying certain games doesn’t mean they can’t play it. Any adult can simply buy the game for that child. Some games now have a lot of themes with sexuality which may not be appropriate for children, but children still play such games. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0816/is_6_21/ai_n9772319/

Media has always been a big part of everyone’s lives. It is how people keep up with what is happening in the world. Media consists of everything from internet, video games to television and more. Media is the floodgate of the adult world into children’s world. There are shows on TV, movies in theatres today that are definitely not appropriate for children. For example, there is a series of movies called saw1-saw6 which focus mainly on torturing people to their death. Children have access to such movies through bought D.V.Ds at home or movie channels on T.V. Information that should only be exposed to adults is no longer constricted, but spread to people of all ages. http://www.commonsensemedia.org/side-effects-media?gclid=CIXK7PWnhqcCFQJN4Aod1TCieg

Due to modern technology there is a higher intellectual trend within children in today’s world. However, this also means things we used to define children contrasting to adults are starting to fade away. Adult life and child life no longer has a barrier that defines each of them. Today childhood is a mixture of biological limits and non-filtered information.