Growing up Online

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilonap/2924307861/)


This is a video we watched in class done by Frontline about today's teenagers and their involvement with the internet. The video goes through several different teens and their scenerio's. One of them is a family who lives in a small suburban town. There are two daughters and a son. This mother seems very paranoid about the internet and sexual predators. I'm not saying parents should not be concerned with what their children are taking part in online, but I believe she was a bit overbearing. She put the computer in a place where her children couldn't have any privacy and asked for her children's passwords (even though she didn't get them) By emailing the parents of her sons friends about the youtube video depicting underage drinking, she basically lost the trust of her son. Even she admitted that it damaged the relationship they prevously had.
In class, there was alot of mixed reviews about the girl going by the name Autumn Edows. They claimed she was not really happy with who she was, and that is why she created a whole other life for herself online. I would have to disagree with that opinion. In school, she seemed different, "goth" perhaps. Her peers ridiculed her and make her feel bad about herself. When she was online, it was her expression of herself. It was how she wanted to be represented and people appreciated her image. I am happy her parents finally agreed to support her decisions.
Personally, I didn't think this video was informative to myself. It was entertaining and I was a little amazed to see how much these kids were into myspace and how their lives revolved around the net. I believe this video is meant a bit to scare parents into monitoring internet use closely. When you are in high school, I believe you are aware and smart enough to know which decision is going to be a risky one and which is going to keep you safe. Like all people, teens need their privacy too. The generation gap between teens and their parents doesn't help the situation at all either. Teens usually have a limit on when they can leave the house and for how long, especially on school nights. Aim and facebook allows kids to stay socially connected after school without leaving the house. Its just another way of "hanging out." That is what I think some parents fail to understand. Since it is something they did not grow up with or may not use for social networking, they probably don't understand most of what is being done is harmless.