Trapped in procrastination When media addiction hits, teens lose desire to pursue their dreams By Moracco Alexander
Muhammad University of Islam
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s if teenagers don’t have enough worries or issues to battle, many are suffering from procrastination due to a media addiction that may be hard to kick. Some in society easily slap teens with labels such as slacker, loafer, idler, lazy, good-for-nothing, laggard, lazybones, slug, goof-off and couch potato. Another loss generation they may say. Many young people defend themselves by saying they are not lazy and can’t be easily squeezed into a one-size-fits-all label. They think that the adults are in the wrong. A 2003 report from the Magazine Publishers of America noted that many of the more than 30 million teens in the United States thought that most grown-ups were “really stressed out” and that it was a lifestyle they did not want to follow. Stressed out or not, procrastination from excessive television viewing and Web use is robbing teens of a passion to pursue their creative gifts and endangering their health. George Davenport, 17, acknowledges to procrastinating on a daily basis, saying he is addicted to the media, mainly TV, and neglects honing his show-biz talents. “I do rapping, I sing, I’m a songwriter, I love to act, and I do all kinds of dancing but the one I’m best at and enjoy the most is krumping,” he said in talking about his interests. “My profession is really entertainment.” But like so many teens, Davenport doesn’t pursue or engage in those activities in earnest, pointing a finger at all the time he spends watching television and Internet surfing. “I started to watch TV a lot when I found out about ‘Adult Swim’ and every single cartoon on the program is hilarious, and I love it,” he said of cable television’s Cartoon Network. “When I got a Facebook account and I saw that I could find people I knew, I thought it was pretty cool,” he said. “I’m on Facebook faithfully every day looking for people I knew from years ago, trying to catch back up with them.” “Also like if some of my current friends don’t have cell phones, we have conversations on Facebook. It’s a cool site to mingle on,” said Davenport, a junior at the Chicago charter high school, Perspectives Calumet. “Talking to my friends, relaxing watching TV and listening to my music is really enjoying, you know?”
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Facebook vs. Passion For the Columbia Links story, an informal survey was conducted in August about the use of the Internet via Facebook. Teens were asked about pursuing their passion and their daily interaction with the Web chat site. The poll found they were a lot more focused on Facebook than their other pursuits or occupations on a day-to-day basis. Do you have a dream or passion that you love and comes natural? 38 out of 50 teens replied YES Do you practice your passion daily? 41 out of 50 teens said NO Do you have a Facebook account? 50 out of 50 teens replied YES Do you get on Facebook daily? 46 out of 50 teens marked YES Do you get on Facebook everyday instead of practicing passion, doing chores, or taking care of some other occupation? 50 out of 50 teens responded YES —Moracco Alexander
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10/13/10 11:09 AM