Complied by Aishah Saleeman
In this day and age, teens are surrounded by technology. And for parents to think they can do without it would be terribly wrong. Internet, smartphones, and other forms of tech serve as the fuel in an average teen’s daily life. During recent times it has been made very clear that teens today are born gadget friendly. Some of a teenager’s basic digital requirements are:
Smartphones
It is hard to find a teen tinkering around with a mobile phone that can only make and receive calls and text messages these days. Teens are more into networking; socializing and staying connected to the people they know. These sleek pieces of technology have left the teenagers intoxicated. The fact, however, remains that while teens are facilitated by smartphones in many ways, they are also affected by them negatively. Every blessing that is used, excessively, becomes a curse. This holds true in case of smartphones as well.
Laptop/netbook
Although smartphones are bewitching enough, they cannot replace a real computer in every way possible. They often lack the power to serve all the need of an average consumer. Here a laptop/netbook jumps into the scene. Laptops are one of the basic gadgets for teens. They are affordable, portable and teens feel more comfortable while doing productive work on them. Smartphones do help teens in networking, but teens prefer using the laptop for academic assignments and other important tasks. A laptop allows them to work independently, free from the constraints of a small screen and the non-availability of proper productivity apps. Therefore laptops have been seen more often in the hands of teenagers than any other demographic segment.
External hard drive
All over the world teens are fretting over internal hard drive crashes. A small technical glitch or a virus can erase an entire research paper or assignments from the computer’s hard drive. Many teens depend on their laptop’s memory alone. Every single bit of their academic and personal data is stored in the internal hard drive. A mishap or even the mismanagement of the internal hard drive can be no less than a trauma for them. Retrieving all this lost data requires the expertise of an extremely proficient techie. Hence, it is easier to create a backup rather than retrieving the data later when it’s lost. Better safe than sorry – that’s the reason why external hard drives are so commonly used today. External hard drives are one of the best gadgets for teens. Teens can store all their data in the portable external hard drive. A simple plug-in to the computer will give them access to all the data they have stored on the hard drive.
Gaming system
After a hard day at school or college, teens do need some time to relieve themselves of the stress that studies give them. Every teen has a different preference, but a huge part of the population considers gaming an instant stress relief. Though not as productive as other necessities mentioned in this list, a gaming system has become a basic requirement for every teen, today. Parents should also look into parental control for video game consoles.
Remember that whatever gadgets you have teens need to be moderated. The digital world is vast and dangerous if parents are not careful. So use your head before you pick out your gadgets
