Our WHS media class has been watching videos about growing up online. The PBS FRONTLINE is a program made to alert parents and youths using the Internet. I myself, love using the computer. I’ve grown up with easy Internet access and it never really gave me a problem. I use it for researches, homework, play games and interact in online social sites such as facebook. I believe that the Internet is a tool that if you know how to handle it, it’s beneficial. It wasn't originally created to cause trouble, but to make peoples life easier.
The program started out pretty simply, they were interviewing teachers, parents and students about what they think about teenagers growing up online. The interview happened at Chatham High School, Chatham, New Jersey. Some teachers were talking about the beneficial of technology and the Internet and how many students pay more closely attention and actually participate in class if it’s online. "It's like we have to become entertainers" a teacher said. Some teachers think that the Internet only brought cheating and made the students life easier, as if they were going through high school without really learning. "I'm being quite frank when I say I haven't read one book in all my high school years..... I use Spark-notes." They are pretty much insulting their brains. "I don't have time, if the day had 27 hours then I would read, but it doesn't it only had 24 so...” They are trying to blame not having time, but if the day did have 27 hours, they would use the extra 3 hours and find something else to do and then just blame on it again. Many old fashioned teachers that don’t really believe in technology believe that ADD increased now a day because people are so used to fast technology. Everything is fast, they can get anything in a matter of seconds, it’s on the tips of their fingers, and because of that they become less patient and get distracted much easily.
Everyone has their side to the story. Teenagers, of corse don't see the Internet as exactly bad. They say that it’s a place in which they can be themselves, can express their emotions without having to hide it from anyone. Some even say that its like having a fake side of you, the happy one the one that goes to school and is seen as perfect and happy and then the real you, with the pain and sufferings. Jessica used the Internet to build a new person, Autumn Edows. By taking almost pornographic pictures she started to have friends, she was always the loner, the ugly girl no one talked to and now she was seen differently by what she made herself. “It’s like a competition to see who can have the most friends.” A girl said.
Evan Skinner was a concern mother. Well all mothers are concern so you can call her incredibly overprotective. She was the type of mother that only allowed one computer in the house, and it had to be in the kitchen where she could see what they were doing. Not only had that she also wanted to even know her kids passwords. In my perspective that's just a little too much. I agree that you should check on your kids to see what they are doing and ask and all but hacking into their privacy is going a little overboard. She was way too involved in her children high school privacy, because of that her son told her that she ruined his high school career.
The story that mostly touched me was Ryan Halligan. He was a young boy with all his life ahead of him when bulling got a little out of control. I know that bulling is real; I know it happens everyday, but for the fact that a 12 year old boy killed himself because he couldn't handle it was horrific. The worse part in this story was that there was a deeply disturbed kid giving him wrong advices online, showing him websites on how to kill you. When the pain got too much to handle he did it. I think that if you don’t have anything useful to say then don’t.
The Internet can be used for so many beneficial things, to improve our lifestyle, to make our lives easier. The sad part is people don't know how to use something without ruining it.
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