CSEC English A School-Based Assessment Portfolio
The Impact of Technology on Teens
The Positive and Negative Effects of Technology on Teenagers
NAME OF CENTER – Sacred Heart College
CENTER CODE – 040010
YEAR OF EXAM – 2021
NAME OF CANDIDATE – Luis Montero
CANDIDATE REG. NO – 0400100983
NAME OF TEACHER – Mrs. Vaneene Juan
THE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON TEENS
Table of Contents
Title Page #
Plan of Investigation ………………………………………………………………... 2
Artifact 1 ……………………………………………………………………………. 3 - 4
Artifact 2 ……………………………………………………………………………. 5
Artifact 3 ……………………………………………………………………………. 6
Reflection 1 …………………………………………………………………………. 7
Reflection 2 …………………………………………………………………………. 8 - 9
Reflection 3 …………………………………………………………………………. 10
Group Written Report ………………………………………………………………. 11
Plan for oral presentation …………………………………………………………… 12
Oral Presentation ……………………………………………………………………. 13 - 15
References …………………………………………………………………………... 16
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THE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON TEENS
Plan of Investigation
The topic I chose for my English SBA is how technology affects teenagers. I chose this
topic because in our daily lives’ teenagers are constantly being affected by technology. Some
teenagers spend hours on their cell phones, gaming systems and laptops; this robs them of
valuable time that they could spend doing more constructive activities. Reading and researching
about this topic will benefit me as an English student by helping me develop and strengthen my
critical thinking skills. It will also help me develop a deep understanding of how technology
could positively and negatively impact teenagers. By exploring this topic thoroughly, I will also
be able to develop all my language skills as I will be reading, writing, viewing, speaking and
listening.
I will collect and analyze pictures, poems and articles relevant to my topic. I will seek to
use a variety of sources such as the internet, newspaper clippings, books, magazines and
interviews to gather my information. I will also be explaining and writing about the pictures,
reading, discussing and interpreting poems and researching and analyzing various articles about
my topic.
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THE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON TEENS
Artifact #1
How Does Technology Affect Teens?
Hannah Brewster, Contributor
November 29, 2017
How often do you find yourself using technology? It is very rare nowadays not to see teenagers
using technology. According to the article “Technology’s Negative Impact On Teens,”
“Everyday an average teenager spends up to 8 hours on electronic devices, which is more than
56 hours in one week.” Technology has a negative impact because it is an attention deficit, it can
cause depression, cyber bullying, and it does harm to the physical health of a teen.
Technology is an attention deficit because many kids while doing homework have a phone,
laptop, or even TV in front of them, which they constantly are going back and forth from
homework to answering a text, or looking at a computer screen, or even going back to watch the
television when the episode comes back on. This is known as multitasking; teens are not giving
their full attention on school work so they are not doing their best work they could give.
Technology is an attention deficit because it makes it so kids don’t give their full attention to one
activity.
Technology can cause depression because social media shows things such as what the “perfect
body” looks like so many people get picked on for being too fat or too skinny. Social media
makes teens think that there’s a certain way they need to look and it makes teens compete to
make themselves look like they have a better life than others. It also causes teens to have trouble
being social, being face to face instead of through screen to screen. Many kids get so used to
talking through a phone that they don’t know what to say in person. According to the article
“Study Links Mobile Device Addiction to Depression and Anxiety,” “People who self-described
as having really addictive-style behaviors toward the Internet and cellphones scored much higher
on depression and anxiety scales.” Technology can cause depression because it convinces teens
that there is this such thing as the “perfect body” and it makes teens struggle with
communication person to person.
Technology has a huge impact on cyber bullying because many teens feel they can say
something through social media instead of face to face. According to the article “New National
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Bullying and Cyber bullying Data,” “34% of students had experienced cyber bullying in their
lifetime (17% within the last 30 days). Four out of five of the students who were cyber bullied
said mean comments were posted about them online, while 70% said someone spread rumors
about them online. Notably, nearly two-thirds (64%) of the students who experienced cyber
bullying stated that it really affected their ability to learn and feel safe at school.” Some teens say
they do it through social media because they don’t have the courage to say it to the person face to
face because they don’t see their facial expressions. They don’t have to see the pain they caused.
Technology places a huge role in cyber bullying.
Technology is also bad for teens because it causes physical health decrease. The amount of teens
that go outside and play without any technology has decreased rapidly. The article “The Physical
Impact of Technology on Children” said, “According to the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey, 10.4 percent of preschool children and 19.6 percent of children ages 6
through 11 are obese.” Technology is a huge reason why obesity has and is currently increasing.
Teens would much rather use technology and binge eat instead of putting down the technology
and going outside to play. The article “Rapid Increase of Worldwide Laziness as Global Physical
Activity Levels Decline” said the future is only going to get worse. “The researchers also
projected that things will only get worse in the future. Researchers using the metabolic
equivalent of task (MET), used to measure the amount of energy spent on completing a task,
determined that by 2020 an average American will spend around 142 MET hours per week.
According to the researchers, the British will reach those levels by 2030 and Brazil and China
will have similar physical activity levels as Americans and the British by 2030 as well.”
Technology has a huge negative impact on the physical health of teens and it’s only supposed to
get worse.
Technology has a huge impact on our everyday life, but we don’t realize it. It negatively affects
teens because it is an attention deficit, it can cause depression, cyber bullying, and it does harm
to the physical health of a teen. Next time you use technology see how much time you spend on
and how much it influences your opinions and life.
Retrieved from: Brewster, H. (2017). How does technology affect teens? Newfield Press.
Retrieved from https://newfieldpress.org/6920/opinion/how-does-technology-affect-teens/
Retrieved: January 13, 2020
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Artifact #2
How Technology Affects Teens
Retrieved from: https://es.wikihow.com/superar-la-adicci%C3%B3n-a-Internet
Retrieved: January 13, 2020
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Artifact #3
Technological Teen
By: Jasmin Sang, 2015
I guess technology and social media really has a great impact on our lives,
I lost my phone and now I'm having sleepless nights
Save yourself from technology I know it has been destroying my mind,
All I can think about is how social media has impacted my life,
You call it social media when it makes everyone anti-social,
I'm always on my phone or computer I forget to talk to my family around me at home.
I rather be left alone,
So I can video chat on skype or download new apps on my phone.
When was the last time you had a brief conversation with someone face-to-face?
Not over the phone?
Let me guess
When you’re not picking up wifi or you left your phone at home?
Trying to explain this to you and you might tell me to shut up,
Because you're probably trying to listen to a voice note of making a flipagram video,
Instagram; double tap on all my pics,
On facebook you post a status, "add me on kik".
It's funny how technology is getting to teenager's brains,
I'm one who lost my phone and it's driving me insane.
Retrieved from: Sang, J. (2015). Technological Teen. Retrieved from
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/technological_teen_735309
Retrieved: January 13, 2020
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Reflection 1
Having researched these three artefacts made me realize that technology can greatly and
negatively impact society, especially teenagers. Hannah Brewster’s article “How Does
Technology Affect Teens?” was definitely an eye opener for me. The article mentions that being
too obsessed with technology could be dangerous as it can affect our physical health, lead to
depression, cyberbullying and can even contribute to attention deficit. I can’t guarantee I will
stay away from technology, but this article made me realize all the dangers that technology could
expose me to.
Artefact two is a powerful picture that illustrates how distracting technology could be
since we often focus more on these technological tools than in our school work. This addiction
could be harmful and could affect the quality of our work.
Sang’s (2015) poem “Technological Teen” shows how strong, addictive and unhealthy
technology is, and as teens we cannot ignore its effects. It made me realize that we cannot allow
technology to rob us of valuable time with family and friends. Technology could be very
valuable if used for the right reasons but it can also be a very dangerous tool if it is not used
wisely.
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Reflection 2
The use of language and vivid images in these three artifacts illustrate the negative
impact that technology has on teenagers.
Brewster’s (2017), “How Does Technology Affect Teens?” is a persuasive article in
which the writer passionately discusses this topic in very basic but effective words. The writer
uses formal language and a variety of researched based articles to strongly support and provide
reliability to her points and opinions. The article is unified and each paragraph is logically
structured, so we are able to follow the writer’s thoughts and ideas clearly.
The second artifact, a picture, vividly mirrors how a variety of technological tools such as
videogames, social media apps, and digital cameras can become an obsession and distraction.
The image of the young man trying to focus when his mind is only focusing on technology sends
a powerful message about the negative effects of technology in our lives.
The 18-line poem “Technological Teen” (Sang, 2015), uses strong words to
communicate the power that technology has on teens. The persona indicates that technology is an
addiction that is “destroying my mind” (line 3), so it is important to “save yourself from
technology” (line 3). The poem contains some rhymes such as “home, alone and phone” (lines 6-
8) that make the poem flow and stress the negative effects of technology on teens. The rhetorical
questions used in the poem signal a personal and friendly tone. The author also uses powerful
adjectives like “sleepless nights” and “brief conversations” to illustrate how strongly he feels
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about the control that technology has on teens. We must use technology in our everyday lives,
but is important not to allow technology to use us.
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Reflection 3
This SBA was a true challenge but a very rewarding experience. It provided me with the
opportunity to both work as an individual as an active group member. Working on this SBA
project helped me to develop all my language skills because it made me focus on reading,
listening, writing, speaking and viewing. By completing this project, I learned about various
technological tools that, if not used wisely, could have significant negative effects on teens. I
also learned to be a better person by not being on technology all the time and instead spend more
time with my family and friends. I learned to be more effective and efficient when doing
assignments instead of just thinking about technological devices all the time. This also allowed
me to manage my time more effectively and to invest more time in my school work and chores.
Gathering this portfolio was definitely a small journey towards my personal growth both
as a student and as an individual. It really challenged my skills and was truly a valuable
experience.
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Group Written Report
Our group members met to discuss how technology affects teens. We each presented
three artifacts for discussion and the best three out of the six were selected. The three artifacts
that were selected are: an article by Hannah Brewster, an image that was found on Google and a
short poem entitled “Technological Teen” by Jasmine Sang. These three artifacts were chosen
because they were considered very informational, thought -provoking and relevant to the topic.
Our analysis focused on how greatly technology is affecting teens in their daily lives.
This was evident in Brewster’s (2017) article “How Does Technology Affect Teens?” when it
states that “an average teenager spends up to 8 hours on their electronics.” All this time that is
being wasted by teens on their electronic devices can instead be used to spend quality time with
their families. The article emphasizes that nowadays teens are obsessed with technology and this
can have significant, negative effects on both their physical and mental health. In addition, the
image that we chose also depicts that teens spend too much time on technology because the kid
in the image cannot concentrate on doing his work because he is obsessed with technology and
social media. The short poem by J. Sang also portrays how addicted teens are becoming to
technology when it says “I’m one who lost my phone and it’s driving me insane.” We realized
that we are becoming too addicted to technology and this could be detrimental to teens.
To conclude this report, the two group members gathered and recorded their ideas. When
it came to tasks such as writing, editing and proofreading, it was done by both group members.
We made sure that all the content, formatting and grammatical errors were corrected and neatly
done. We worked hard and managed to produce a successful report.
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Plan for Oral Presentation
I decided to write a cause and effect essay to show the positive and negative effects that
technology can have on the life of teens.
The essay highlights some of the positive effects of technology on teens, and it also
stresses on the negative effects.
I will do a voice recording of my essay. I will start by giving a brief overview of what my
essay is about and then I will record myself reading my essay.
I plan to read with expression while I emphasize on the positive and negative effects. It
will take me approximately three to four minutes to read my essay.
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Oral Presentation-Essay
How Technology Affects Teens
Technology is now a great part of a teenager’s life because teens tend to spend a lot of
time using technology. They prefer to be locked up in their rooms using their cell phones to be
on social media or playing video games on their computers rather than spending quality time
with their friends and family. Technology can be quite important and currently it has become a
necessity for many teenagers, but despite its positive effects it, can also be very detrimental in
the lives of teens.
Technology can be really fun and useful but it also has its negative effects, especially on
teens. Most teens around the world have cell phones and gaming systems. These are merely a
desire rather than a need for almost every teen. However, these electronic devices can impact a
teenager’s health and social life because most teens tend to abuse the time they spend on these
devices and they do not worry or think about spending time with their family and friends. Teens
also create an addiction for these devices and they tend to spend hours of their life and some
even sleepless nights just by using their cell phones or playing around with these gadgets.
Technology can also impact the way teens act because some teens get cyber bullied
through technology, such as their cell phones. Most teens have social media on their cell phones
which is acceptable if used properly but there are people who do not use social media in a fun
way. Almost every minute teens all around the world are getting bullied on social media and
some teens tend to get depressed because of the negativity people say, post, comment or share on
social media. Whenever parents provide their children with their own devices such as cell
phones, laptops, computers or gaming systems, it is always important for parents to supervise
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what their children do with their devices. Too much time spent on technological devices can also
affect a teen’s education because they might not worry about school work any at all, but instead
they would prefer being on their cell phones using Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or another
social media platform. This leads to a big disadvantage for teens because in the future they might
struggle to be employed because their education status might be poor.
Technology does have its negative effects on teens, but if used properly it can also have
positive effects. Technology is really useful all around the world because teens need it to be able
to submit their school work through emails on their laptops, quickly receive and send important
messages and calls through their cell phones and they would also want a little entertainment in
life so there are also gaming systems that are good for playing fun videogames and chatting with
friends. Technology is very useful for schools because there are schools around the world that
have their own computer labs that are accessible to teens for them to do their work. If technology
did not exist it would definitely be more difficult for teens to do their research and work because
the internet is technology and without the internet doing homework would be almost impossible
because most teens around the world use the internet to research what they do not know.
Technology is now very important in the present world because most teens now depend
on technology to help them do a lot of their school assignments. If technology did not exist in
today’s world, it would not be the same for teens because they would probably need to study
even harder and it would probably be by reading numerous books. I personally, as a teen, think
that technology these days is something I give thanks for because without technology I would
need to be working even harder and be getting information from books instead of easily going to
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the internet and researching something I do not know. I can definitely say that technology has
surely made life easier and more fun.
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References
Artifact 1 - Brewster, H. (2017). How does technology affect teens? Newfield Press. Retrieved
on January 13, 2020 from https://newfieldpress.org/6920/opinion/how-does-technology-
affect-teens/
Artifact 2 - Retrieved on January 13, 2020 from: https://es.wikihow.com/superar-la-
adicci%C3%B3n-a-Internet
Artifact 3 - Sang, J. (2015). Technological Teen. Retrieved on January 13, 2020 from
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/technological_teen_735309
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