Internet Addiction with the Younger Generation

Growing up, our generation has always had the internet and social media around us. We grew up during the internet boom, and many social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter became very popular once our generation reached junior high. We don't know of a life that doesn't involve being connected through the internet. I feel as if many of the kids in our generation however don't rely as heavily on the internet as many of the kids younger than us do, specifically the middle school/junior high kids now. Personally, with my younger cousins and the kids I work with in the summer, I know how addicted they are to things such as Instagram and twitter. Many of them have their phones out at summer camp, on a beautiful 80 degree day, checking how many likes they got on a picture. Although kids our age seem to do the same, its a common trend with the middle schoolers now that all they seem to care about is something related to social media. Although social media can be a huge asset to have, ecspically something like a LinkedIn, it can also cause major distractions and can prove to be detrimental to how kids learn. It may just be a phase many of those kids are going through, but hopefully their obsession does not grow and continue to follow them as they grow older.