Debate Part 2

Jaime: I feel that adults should learn from teenagers as adults can be too traditional and are not up to date with the latest technology which hinders them from a variety of communicative platforms and being tech savvy is definitely an advantage.

Joella:  Are you saying that being traditional is wrong? Are you implying that remembering our culture is wrong too? I personally believe that we should remember our traditional beliefs and continue to pass them down to all the future generations. Our ancestors have worked so hard to continue passing down the beliefs, are you just going to let their efforts go to waste? Parents may nag us to follow the same traditions, but we do have to take into consideration their feelings about them and not ignore their words, after all, they do care for our safety and would rather ask us follow the long routines.Therefore, adults need not learn about the ‘newer’ norms and abandon traditions.

Li-Shann: Yes. The traditions are really important and needs to be preserved for the future generations. But don’t you think that it is also important for the adults to keep themselves updated with the newest technology and softwares to carry out their jobs in a more efficient manner? For example, right now, we’re discussing this on google docs before posting this debate on the blog. Google docs allows us to communicate and type things in a document simultaneously. My mom, who’s a teacher also uses google docs to communicate with her students or share documents. So you see, sometimes it’s better to at least know about these softwares.

Anna: True that your mother is able to make good use of technology; however, what if traditional methods aren’t actually bad at all? Take for example, making wine. Using traditional methods to make wine is better than modern methods, as traditional methods make the wine sweeter. It also makes the wine more natural than normal. Thus, adults do not need to necessarily be faulted in an area they may not have a forte in, but rather be looked up to as role models with their efficient and traditional methods as well.

Li-Shann: I'm not saying that traditional methods are bad. I'm just saying that maybe adults could learn about our latest technology from teenagers, the same way we can learn traditional methods from them.

Joella: Basically, I am also talking about societal norms. For example, most adults now and in the past usually wish their friends ‘Happy Birthday’ in person or by calling them up. However, most teenagers these days are simply wishing their friends on Facebook, which is a social networking website. Another example would be chatting with friends. Do you often see adults talking on social networking websites with their friends? I doubt it, and even if it does happen, it’s still rare. Teenagers are speaking more to their friends online, and they are more open, usually saying things that they won’t say in person. I do feel that this may cause a negative impact on their lives. What if one day people start feeling awkward to talk to one another in person? Which is why I’m saying that adults need not change their ways and learn about the newest technology.

Jaime: I think you have a good point there, and adults can still stick to their traditional methods to carry out different tasks in daily lives. Both teenagers and adults can learn from each other actually, whether technology is involved or not. 


Li-Shann: I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU JOELLA. 

But instead of only focusing on the bad points of technology and how we use it. Why not think about the positive aspects of it. Like how social networking sites like facebook help us connect with old friends and people that we may not be able to talk to on a daily basis. You say adults are rarely seen chatting online. But i think the reason why is cuz they DON'T KNOW HOW TO. That time i posted a status and my dad commented " Hi Shann." I said hi back and 10 minutes later he called me and said " Eh. Now i cannot type anymore."

So you see, sometimes it's not because they don't want to. But they can't. And also facebook can help us communicate with one another for free. Texting is not. 

Joella: Yes, and here is another example to further substantiate my point. Sometimes when we try to explain something, it is also better to do it in person, where we can use hand gestures or demonstrate how something is to be carried out. Sure, we can always start talking to our friends with a  few clicks, and now we can even do it anywhere if we have smartphones. However, don't you find that talking to friends in person would be rarer? Shouldn't we treasure the time we have with our friends?

Take me for example, whenever my friend asks me to explain a mathematics problem to her, I do find it difficult as there are limited symbols on the computer to type our equations and sometimes i can't really explain the whole method just by typing it down, but by explaining it carefully in detail by drawing and doing it in person, it helps so much more, as my friend would know how i achieved the method and know how to exactly apply it in the maths problem.

Anna and Joella: In conclusion, we do feel that adults need not learn so much about technology and be as tech savvy as teenagers. Some adults have lived without the help of technology for a period of time in the past, and some are even unable to afford buying computers. Does this mean that they would die because they cannot make use of technology? Does technology keep us alive like how oxygen does? The correct answer would be no. Technology is indeed useful in many ways, but we shouldn't force adults into thinking that technology is everything in the world, and everything that they would need. There are many more examples but of course we would not need to further go into detail. Traditional methods may really prove to be more efficient than technology in many ways.

Jaime and Li-Shann: Thank you for your stand and ideas towards this discussion. However in our conclusion, our stand is that we feel that adults should learn from teenagers in terms of technology and how we use in our daily lives. Technology is something that most adults may not be very familiar with, as compared to teenagers. Adding to that, adults can also learn from our positive and lively attitude.

Debate Part 1

Anna: I believe that teenagers should learn from adults because adults are more experienced and are thus more mature in ways of thought. 

Li-Shann: I agree. But there are also things that adults can learn from teenagers. For example, their lively attitude.
Joella: How can you be sure of this? In the present times, more teenagers are actually feeling more stressed due to the increasing standard and emphasis on education in Singapore, and tend to have negative attitudes when it comes to studying and having to go to school.

Li-Shann: EXACTLY. Despite all the stress and increasing standards of expectations, teenagers can still have a cheerful and lively mood to do things. Hence, adults can learn from their enthusiastic spirit and motivate themselves to do the same too. (:

Jaime: Yes, i agree with Li-Shann. Although students may have a negative viewpoint of school, it all goes down to their mindsets and perspective of things.

Joella: I am not only talking about the aspects of education. I do know that they may be able to cope with some of this stress, but this type of stress is usually long-term, students don’t just have to cope with stress only in secondary school you know? This would in turn result in an overall decreased happiness level, which might not make them as lively as before or even cause them to feel pessimistic. Therefore, in what ways can learning from teenagers’ enthusiastic spirit motivate adults to do the same too? Do you think that adults are actually able to apply the positive values of teenagers, which you had said earlier about having an enthusiastic spirit, into their work lives? I beg to differ.

Anna: Also, why should adults learn from teenagers? Most adults themselves are already independent and matured, they know what is best for them and what they should look up to as role models for themselves.

Jaime: Even though adults are matured, there is definitely still much more for them to learn from. They may have achieved an outstanding degree in their education, or even succeeding in their careers, but what about their mentality?

Li-Shann: By learning from teenagers, adults may be able to find flaws in their attitudes. For example, they can learn from the curiosity and the willingness to find out more from  teenagers hence allowing them to discover the other positive aspects of life. They may also be able to solve conflicts more efficiently.

Anna: But then again, how can you confirm that adults will benefit as such from this? What if adults will not be able to actually identify their flaws and weaknesses, and rather end up feeling demoralised and always finding fault in themselves? Learning from teenagers may be a bad thing instead.

Li-Shann: That’s the thing. They can’t find fault in themselves. As mentioned in my stand, adults don’t like criticism. Be it constructive or not. My father is an example :b But to tell the truth, who likes being criticised? NOBODY. It’s just that i feel like adults are more likely to feel offended and not try to change their faults as they have the mentality that they are always right. By saying learning from teenagers, i mean like learning about the positive stuff. And when teenagers try to correct adults or tell them something about what they’re doing, MOST adults feel like the teenagers are rude and tell them off instead of just trying to accept and reflect on the comment.

Joella: Are you sure that all adults feel the same way? How can you assume that adults do not like being criticised? Criticism isn’t only about the negative aspects of something, it can also mean pointing out the positive or advantageous aspects. Most people have this misconception that criticism only means ‘finding faults’, however, really, criticising basically means ‘passing judgment over’ or ‘examining’ and may mean 'finding the merits'. Why wouldn’t adults want to have positive feedback? Since you said that adults do not like being criticized by teenagers and may not want to change the way that they do certain things, then what's the point of learning from teenagers in this case? This may mean that adults need not learn from teenagers, because they know who to learn from.