Digital Native But Not A Whiz-Kid

In the text “Are all young people digital whiz-kids? ” by Sue Bennett, it is stated, that regardless of the assumption that all young people are more skilled than the older generations when utilizing digital technologies, the capability of the younger generations to comprehend new technologies depend on their socio-economic status. Even though I, as a digital native, agree on the majority of the argumentation Bennett does in her text, there are some aspects I wouldn’t entirely agree on. First and foremost, Bennett beginns her text criticizing the term “digital natives”, which describes the idea that “younger generations are fundamentally different because of their exposure to technology. ” (ll. 9-10) She then refers to the same point on l. 25 suggesting that “young people are not as easily categorized as the ‘digital native’ label suggests. ”. I would thouroughly agree, that categorizing a group of people with different backgrounds only based on the age group would be underestimating other aspects as social and economic status of a person, however I wouldn’t say it would be misleading if we stated that younger generations are more capable than older generations based on their technology skills in general, as they are exposed to technology and digital devices in an earlier age and seem to be more interested in the topic of technology in general, which helps them adapt it into their lives easier in comparison to older generations. In her text, Bennett tells the reader, that “comparisons between generations have not provided evidence that younger people have an inherent advantage. ”, however she doesn’t support the argument wit a concrete evidence, which leads the reader to make assumptions based on observations that show young people are generally more skilled in the area of technology. I think that young generations have more capability of utilizing technology than older generations, as they are exposed to technological developments since they were born into the golden age of digitalization. That’s why I would also consider myself as a digital native compared to older generations. However, stating that younger people are more capable of digital technology doesn’t mean that all of the young people are whiz-kids. The skills one can achieve in technology are limited, if one doesn’t have a special interest towards it. For instance, I may be young and thus more skilled and advantaged than my grandmother, yet I don’t consider myself as a whiz-kid, as I don’t have any particular talent or desire towards technology and there are people, who are definitely more skilled than me. Moreover, the knowledge one has on any topic is limited, if one doesn’t improve oneself, that’s why not all young people are whiz-kids, only those, who have special interest and curiosity are. Majority of young people, including me, uses digital technology with intentions of socializing, working and improving oneself. In my opinion, these actions cannot be considered as extraordinary activities which require over the top knowledge. Most importantly, I would agree on the stance of the autor, which is that the ability of the younger generation to master new digital tools depends on their socio-economic backgrounds, as the capability of one utilizing technology is based on accessing digital devices and benefiting from the opportunity efficiently. In my opinion, the statement on ll. 39-41 sumarizes the influence of socio-economic status of a person on use of technology best: “…while material access to technology has increased, young people from more advantaged backgrounds spend their time online doing activities that develop more comprehensive and beneficial skills. ”. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, obligatory remote learning has made it clear one more time, that students who have access to high-quality technological devices have higher chance at getting the qualitative education they need. This shows that digital inequalities are induced by socio-economic differences between young people and at the end, these inequalities affect the development of the capability of a young person to use the technology. One one hand, socio-economic characteristic plays a major role considering use of technology, on the other hand, if one would compare an older and a younger person with same socio-economic backgrounds, the younger one would be more likely to adapt into technology use it more comprehensively. To sum up, I generally agree with the intention of the autor to raise awareness of digital inequalities and the problem of accessing qualitative and comprehensive use of technology. Socio-economic background is one of the major determinant of capability of technology use, thus a simple factor as the age group isn’t sufficient to determine one’s ability of utilizing digital devices, however, in my opinion age is also one of the decisive factors. It would be misleading to state that all of the young generations are professional in the area of technology, yet it isn’t deniable that young people are generally more skilled than elderly.