Discussion Questions:

1. Is technology a positive of negative influence on teenagers?
2. How has the Internet and Social Media changed the lives of teenagers?
3. How are we different in real life vs. online?

Write a persuasive essay, with a clear argument and support. You must use outside evidence, either from in-class articles or research on the internet. All sources must be noted in MLA Format on a Works Cited page after the essay.

Online Resources:

• Teens who spend less time in front of screens are happier – up to a point, new research shows (Washington Post)
• The surprisingly positive power of texting, according to science (Washington Post)
• Research offers mixed messages on the impact of social media on adolescent emotional health (Baltimore Sun)
• What you post on social media can hurt, and help, the college admissions process (Common Sense Media)
• Time to teach teens–and all of us–to be savvy about news on the internet (The Dallas Morning News)
• No, kids CAN’T study while they’re texting (Daily Mail)
• Colleges grapple with cheating in the digital age (Los Angeles Times)
• How young is too young for cellphones in school? (Washington Post)
• Teen Texting Soars; Will Social Skills Suffer? (NPR)
• Keeping My Personal Life Private, On And Offline (Youth Radio)
• In Your Facebook: Social Sites Are Everywhere  (NPR)
• Teens Aren’t Just Texting, They’re ‘Sexting’  (NPR)
• Where There’s ‘Sexting,’ There May Be Sex  (NPR)
• Steve Jobs was a Low Tech Parent (NY Times)
• Facebook Makes Us Sadder And Less Satisfied, Study Finds (NPR)
• Brown Oks bill allowing minors to delete embarrassing Web posts (LA Times)
• Alter Egos in a Virtual World (NPR)
• Texting away our best manners (Kansas City Star)
• Teens Are Teens (Los Angeles Times)
• Teenagers and Social Networking (Guardian)
• Why We Can’t Look Away From Our Screens (NYTimes)
• Hooked on Our Smartphones (NYTimes)
• Generation X More Addicted to Social Media Than Millennials, Report Finds (NYTimes)

Writing Process:

• Teens and Tech Essay Criteria
• Teen Tech Tree Map

Editing/Revision Resources:

• AVID Transitions
• Easybib.com (Works Cited)
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (MLA Formatting and Style Guide)
• Persuasion Map (readwritethink)
• Grammarly
• Hemingwayapp
• Paperrater

Videos:

• 5 Crazy Ways Social Media is Changing Your Brain Right Now
• Is Technology Wiring Teens to Have Better Brains?
• Why Multitasking Is Bad
• Is Technology and Multitasking Rewiring Our Brain?
• Social Media Impact On Teens 
• No, kids CAN’T study while they’re texting: Research finds teenagers struggle with multitasking
• How social media is affecting teens
• Look Up from your social media addiction and live
• Can we auto-correct humanity? 
• Sexting scandal highlights challenges for schools
• The high-tech tricks kids use to cheat in school
• Multitasking is a Myth, and to Attempt It Comes at a Neurobiological Cost
• Paolo Cardini: Forget multitasking, try monotasking
• The problem with multitasking (The Energy Project)