The New Term for Failure: Iowa App
February 9, 2020
Every elder generation is critical of the subsequent generations. It is a rite of passage. This pattern is as old as Socrates and other ancient philosophers, but it is more apparent now due to the Internet blasting it in our faces 24/7. Problems with older generations are that their brains have less flexible neuroplasticity and that leads them to misunderstand the youth. It also makes them less likely to try or understand new things, such as technology. Are Generation Z and the Millennials as hopeless as believed? The MIT Technology Review posted a winning essay that answers that question, “We Asked Teenagers What Adults Are Missing About Technology. This Was The Best Response.”
The MIT Technology Review held a contest that asked the question: What do adults not know about my generation and technology? Taylor Fang from Logan, Utah won the contest out of 376 submissions from twenty-eight countries.
Fang relies on the standard poetic prose that favors singular words and short sentences. She repeats Generation Z criticisms, then abandons the poetic prose for the for a more conversational essay that answers the questions. Usually essays and poetic prose do not share the same page or if they do it is not successful. Yang first uses the metaphor that kids “conceal” themselves behind screens, then Segways into how social media allows them to write their “biographies” and find themselves.
All kids and young adults are finding themselves, screaming to be validated in a world they cannot influence or control. Are these rebels without a cause? Yes, but the Internet helps them find the cause and gives them a voice. Generations before the Z and Millennials screamed for a voice, but were regulated to puff pieces and brushed off. The Internet gives youth a voice and an upper hand because they understand technology more than their elders. It is also a creative outlet that helps kids find themselves:
“This isn’t to say that every teenager should begin creating art. Or that art would solve all of social media’s problems. But approaching technology through a creative lens is more effective than merely “raising awareness.” Rather than reducing teenagers to statistics, we should make sure teenagers have the chance to tell their own experiences in creative ways.
Take the example of “selfies.” Selfies, as many adults see them, are nothing more than narcissistic pictures to be broadcast to the world at large. But even the selfie representing a mere “I was here” has an element of truth. Just as Frida Kahlo painted self-portraits, our selfies construct a small part of who we are. Our selfies, even as they are one-dimensional, are important to us.”
Yang inserts Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” as the obligatory inspirational quote from a famous person to affirm there claims that the Internet does not ruin kids inner selves, but rather validates it and creates their identity. She reverts back to the typical poetic prose to emphasis her idea and ends with “We’re striving not only to be seen, but to see with our own eyes.”
Honestly, it’s an essay that pulls from multiple literary techniques to answer why old people are so grouchy about the youth. Yang’s essay is basic, but intuitive for a senior in high school. It won an international contest and offered sympathetic and mindful food for thought. However, her writing technique is all over the place and exhibits the folly of youthful writing. She is focused and ambitious, but in forty years time Yang could be complaining about the next catchy named generation. It is a vicious cycle and a rite of passage.
And Iowa? Youth demonstrate that their expertise has limits? The future beckons for Iowa Apps regardless of one’s age.
Whitney Grace, February 9, 2020
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