Believing in face-to-face interaction deems you a social grandma in this day and age. Real conversations are a thing of the past and getting with the times means accepting that your only true friends are those who follow you on Twitter.
A recent State Press article exemplifies the accessibility that applications like Tinder have introduced to the dating realm. This app, and those of its like, allow one to build relationships without the confinements of geographic boundaries via text and video messaging. A connection of this sort feels too fabricated, almost inauthentic. Too fake.
Electronic matchmakers are not the only evidence that technological advancements are hindering our social sphere.
This ease of communication has now spread into our educational system. While this can be construed as a positive rendition of our current system, due to the new found ability to quickly distribute information to the masses, it actually severely limits our students’ social growth potential.
The most crucial part of a child’s cognitive development occurs during their early youth. A majority of this learning, whether it be of moral or academic substance, takes place in elementary and high school. To eliminate that social interaction would eradicate that growth and leave our youth lacking the social element of being successful.
With programs like Primavera, online school is becoming a popular alternative to physical school. In fact, many universities have adopted entire degree programs that can be completed via iCourses (online classes).
Without the social exposure, adolescents are not developing their social skills at the caliber necessary to succeed in our society. They are not learning basic cooperative skills like how to work in groups, compromise or respect one another. Their only interaction with other students is via discussion boards or online chatrooms.
Going to a public high school, these are the memories I remember most.
I remember the friends I made and lost. I remember dressing up in an all-blue pride on Fridays and making T-shirts for my friends who participated in athletics. Some of the best friends I’ve ever had, and maintain to this day, I met on the softball diamond.
None of these memories would have been made if I attended an online school.
As strange as it may seem, our educational system has never revolved solely around academia. They teach discipline in a multitude of forms and one of them is the interpersonal arena. Such evasion is essentially robbing our youth of the ability to maximize their potential.
We are sending high school and collegiate graduates into a competitive job market without the proper social skills. Without the ability to speak publicly or work in groups. Without ever having assumed an in-person leadership role.
We are essentially kicking baby birds out of the nest without ever asking them if they knew they had wings.
There are recreational sports available, funded by cities, and plenty of additional opportunities to create a physical, in-person network. However, a vast majority of these students will not attempt to broaden their social horizons in the real world. They will not join city leagues or volunteer at their local soup kitchen. So many of these students will go through their school years staring at computer screen, never developing the social skills mainstream students acquire in a physical school. And this is the problem.
We are currently nesting a population of youth who will seek out their future spouses on the internet. Communities whose sole connection will be via online discussion boards. Graduates, instead of hearing their name boomed proudly throughout Sun Devil Stadium, will be printing out their diploma off their home printer.
These young adults will not consider themselves a unified collective, but mere individuals working in the same room. Those of us who have participated in group activities or worked in a profession that involved any social interaction whatsoever are acutely aware of what that non-functioning will prove to be.
If we do not change our mentality towards online education, our entire labor force will soon prove non-functioning and I don't know about you, but that is one scary thought.
Related Links:
Separating loneliness from solitude
Online education: Don't bake your education in the traditional mold
Correction: An earlier version of this column misspelled Primavera Online High School. The column has been updated.
Reach the columnist at rblumen2@asu.edu or follow @500wordsofrayne on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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