Frontline’s Digital Nation: Chapter One, Distracted by Everything

            This first chapter is about M.I.T Students who believe they can multitask. Kids from this school are always looking at screens and not always just one. They speak to one girl who is always wired. She claims to start to feel weird when she isn’t an arms distance from her blackberry. Between students and teachers they say there is a mutual understanding between them about how while the teacher is talking they can look at something else. Although this brings up challenges for the teachers, it is just how things are these days. We young adults need to be stimulated, more so than ever. Test are based off of the lectures and readings and if people are paying attention, it should be easy to pass the test but scores are still average because they are multitasking. Students today aren’t stupid, they are just distracted by all the technology surrounding them. Even though kids think that multitasking isn’t hurting you or think that you are completely capable of doing many things at one, you are not benefiting yourself at all. You may think you can multitask but the chances of you doing it efficiently are very slim.

            I like to think that I can multitask. Even though I have tested myself with this idea by completely engaging myself in one topic, and one topic only It is much easier for me to remember what I just read or listened to. But like this podcast says, kids need to be stimulated. I have grown up around technology. It really is all that I know, and multitasking is something that I have and always will do despite the fact that I know I would do better if I didn’t. Goes to show you how often you truly pay attention while you are doing something.