ТЕКСТ ПО ЧТЕНИЮ. ПОКОЛЕНИЕ М

GENERATION M

It`s 7:30pm at Lisa`s house and she is in her room doing her

homework. However, homework is just one of the things

she`s doing while her eyes are fixed on the computer

screen. As well as studying for her biology exam, Lisa is also

5   listening to music, chatting with her best friend online,

downloading songs and occasionally texting people on

her mobile phone: “My parents keep telling me off for

multi-tasking while studying, but they don`t understand

that it helps me concentrate,” she says.

10.It is not unusual for human beings to do several things at

 the same time but in our fast-paced technological society,

 the situation has come to a head. Yong people today

spend nearly 6 ½ hours a day using various types of

media, doing different things at the same time.  This is the

15 reason why they are called the multi-tasking generation, or

generation M. But how do their brains deal with multi-

tasking? Automatic actions like walking and chatting on the

phone can be done at the same time, but when it comes

20 to learning new information, multi-tasking has bad impact

“Multi-tasking affects how you learn it in a negative way.”

says Russel-Poldrack, Associate Professor of Psychology at

USCLA. Diving your attention between too many

 activities makes the knowledge you gain harder to use

later on. The researchers are not saying you shouldn`t

multi-task, just don`t multi-task, while you`re trying to 25

learn something new

According to specialists, it`s also essential to take time

Away from electronic media. “At the sound of the bell, all

my students reach into their bags and grab their mobile

phones to text message their friends. It`s as safe as if they`re 30

 afraid of silence,” says Casey Roberts, a secondary school teacher.

“Their MP3 players, laptops and games consoles

Have become extensions of themselves. I really think that

Generation M should take time to relax and reflect

There`s life beyond the screen and the pleasure of face- 35

to-face communication can be neither denied nor replaced”

University  of California , Los Angeles