Teens, Technology, and the Antidote | Ilana Nguyen | TEDxOakland
hi everyone you just give me one second please I'm so sorry I just have to finish this message super important how did I make you feel were you annoyed offended saddened it's alright because it's an all too common experience these days right we want to listen to a friend or I want them to listen to us but instead of connecting they're distracted in favor of their device hi everyone my name is I wanna win I'm 15 and I'm here to talk about teens Tech in the antidote antidote why do we need an antidote is technology of poison let's talk about this I am a tenth grader at Stanford online high school and being in an online school my friends yes I have friends exist on a computer screen here's a picture of us doing a murder-mystery birthday party online and the interesting thing is even though these people live thousands of miles away from me I formed really strong connections with them that I haven't found in many other places now to the tech the fast development of technology we've come a long way from 2007 has brought about many advantages of living in a connected world and I feel that firsthand as my friends live in other states even other countries and keeping in touch with them is as easy as pulling out my phone from my pocket and digital tools offer an amazing community building platform think about something like hashtag me - which is a unifying force to spread awareness on social media these are the positive consequences of technology and these are good things but like anything there can be unintended or intended negative consequences that's the poison technologies ability of widespread instantaneous connection has opened the doorway to cyberbullying and negative exposure of all kinds leading to anxiety eating disorders addiction violence child pornography depression and suicide these are major problems and I actually encounter them in my everyday life and so we did an antidote and the antidote starts with each and every one of us and it must be done on two levels individually and as a global community the individual antidote lies in the quality of our connections because the negative consequences of Technology affects us all but it is when we lack strong connections that the effects go much deeper for example when I only talked to people through texting I was scared to meet them in person because I wasn't sure if they would like the real me as much as my online persona and if this is widespread anxiety and loneliness are sure to follow two out of five Americans say they feel their relationships are not meaningful and one out of five say they feel lonely or socially isolated and every younger generation is lonelier than the last in 1985 most Americans reported having three confidants now most say they have none some experts are calling this the loneliness epidemic and I feel it the area where I live in Northern California the ten-year rate of suicide for high schoolers is four to five times the national average people are dying my cohorts are dying and someone might go oh I wanna these are new problems but the truth is technology is amplifying the problem in the words of dr. sherry Turkle a sociologist and author of alone together digital connections may offer us the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship we would rather text than talk common sight in my middle school was you'd walk in in the morning you'll be there on our phone sandy snap shriek scrolling Instagram ignoring each other even though we're standing right there together so how is it that were so connected yet we feel our relationships are not meaningful and we suffer from social isolation we must make the quality of our connections a priority again in our lives online and offline because it's not about our highlight reels or a perfect online persona it's about human connection I go to online school so I should be the most vulnerable to social isolation right personally I think my school is pretty great we have an awesome cafeteria but the answer is no I'm not lonely even though my relationships are online because the time I spend together with my friends we are truly present just enjoying the moment enough thinking about what we're missing out on so in social media or how we're going to document this moment for our followers to see and this act of listening leads to a strong connection built on trust and just knowing that we'll have each other's backs no matter what and on a global level as we journey into the future and make new technology by the hour we must face the responsibility that we have is the innovators and guardians of the future the technology we're making images the entire world so it is more important than ever that we listen to each other across perspectives across race gender nationality field of study and it starts with diversity in the STEM fields a cause that I'm very passionate about as I teach workshops to kids of underrepresented backgrounds who might not have had the exposure to stem otherwise and secondly we must listen to each other across disciplines we must listen to those in sociology psychology law anthropology ethics philosophy taking a step back having an awareness and listening is the key by listening we can collaborate and take action so listening and connecting they're so simple right don't we do it already the thing is we don't we rarely have active listening and true connection in our personal lives because relationships get messy and they require vulnerability and sometimes things get real and it gets awkward but if we run devices every time things get real we soon lose our most valuable means of combating the very problems technology is perpetuating we must make meaningful interactions of priority again and we must persevere in our relationships not just ghosting somebody every time things get hard because it is through authenticity conflict and resolution that we grow learn and truly feel love and as a collective community it is hard to hear criticism it is hard to take into account our perspectives it takes time and effort but it is through open conversation that technology society and humanity improves so to those of us who are creating tech globally I encourage us to continue to sit down with each other across perspectives and disciplines and include everyone in the decision-making process to make Responsible technology for the world to enjoy and in our personal lives let's practice do you remember my friend from the beginning let's connect wasn't that easy I truly believe that every single one of us has a story to tell and our perspective to share so let us make meaningful connection with each other a priority again in the workplace in the home and most relevantly in our online interactions as we push the future forward let's get back to the basics and make listening and connecting on the individual and global level a must-have I'm young sure but I can dream and a dream of a better world if only we make genuine connection with each other by listening with open hearts and open minds we are the antidote thank you [Applause]