1 . Life in the Internet age is lonely-or is it? That’s what experts in human interaction are debating after a new Stanford University survey has been published.

According to the study, the more time people spend online, the less they can spare for real-life relationships with family and friends. The researchers asked 113 people about the Web’s influence on daily activities, 36% of those people are online for more than five hours a week. “As Internet use becomes more widespread, it will have an increasingly isolating (孤立的) effect on society, ” says Robert Kraut, one of the researchers.

Scholars and Web lovers criticized the study for stretching its data to make the “isolating” point. While 13% of regular Web users admitted the loss of time with loved ones, 60% reported watching less TV. The survey also shows that E-mail is the most popular online activity, If some of webheads (网虫) spend what was once passive TV time keeping company with friends via E-mails, “that’s a move toward greater connectedness,” says Paul Resnick, a professor at the University of Michigan.

This isn’t the first claim that the Web should be criticized. A 1998 report monitored 73 Pittsburgh-area families’ net use for a year. “People who used the Internet more talked less to family members and reported being lonelier and more depressed,” says Robert Kraut.

“It’s true that there have been big declines in social connectedness over the past decades, but those declines began before the Internet was invented,” says Thomas Putnam.

As Amitay Etzioni says, the Internet gives us a different kind of social life-not better or worse than before, but just different.

4 . Medha Pappula, an eight-grader at Brambleton Middle School, is using her skill set to solve a problem — bullying. She recently earned an award from National Bullying Prevention Center (NBPC) for her anti-bullying efforts in software development and animation (动画).

Pappula, 13, said she discovered that a classmate had experienced cyberbullying (网络欺凌), which was painful for her to learn about. “Even though I didn’t experience it, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even my worst enemy.” Pappula said.

Then she developed a program. “It takes a message, and then recognizes signs of bullying and gives a rating (评价) to the cyberbullying.” the teen said. “If the rating is high, the program can be used to carry out things like removing that message or reporting it.”

In addition to this program, the NBPC awarded Pappula for a three-minute animated video about Unity Day, which she created and shared on YouTube last October. Unity Day was started by the NBPC in 2011 to raise bullying awareness among school-age children. Schools encourage their students to wear orange on Unity Day, as it is a color that is connected with safety.

Pappula visited different websites to develop her animation skills several years ago. She spent more than a month creating her 2-D animated video using an animation software called Krita. The effort paid off, as nearly 6000 people have already viewed the “Unity Day” video on YouTube. Pappula hopes to continue to work with the NBPC and use her skills to lift those around her.

5 . Fragile. Oversensitive. Glued to their phones. Is this what comes to mind when we think of the teens of this generation? While there may be a grain of truth to these stereotypical (刻板印象的) characteristics, there might be more to this generation of teens than what is generally regarded.

Never before have the lives of any generation of teens been as overwhelmed with mobile technology and social media as the teens of this generation. It follows then that there will be unique mental and emotional problems resulting from this new age of technology. As compared to their parents or grandparents who were likely less connected and more isolated, these teens are constantly exposed to their social circles and beyond. It is no wonder then that the mental health of this generation’s teens have been badly affected.

Moreover, as many of the older generations complain, the teens today are more individualistic in contrast to the more community-centered attitude of their parents and grandparents. Gone is the closeness amongst neighbors who are friendly with one another and quick to offer a helping hand when they see another in need. In its place, we have teens who may not even have a clue as to who lives in the unit next to theirs, much less offer a friendly nod or wave when they happen to cross paths with a neighbour.

Yet, the effects of technology on this generation of teens are not all bad. Actually, the very connectedness that social media brings about has led to an opening of minds and a flourishing of dialogue among people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. In comparison, the parents or grandparents of this generation of teens probably did not have the same opportunity to get to know people outside of their social circles at their age, and are thus more likely to have fixed stereotypical opinions of people different from them.

To conclude, the teens of this generation differ in many ways from their past generations, in some ways more positive than others. Every generation is a product of the cultural, political and economic events of their time.