Growing up online

On the PBS website I was reading the introduction to this whole new Project called “Growing up Online”. Basically what they want people to understand is how we have a new generation of children who are; more Internet savvy then their parents, who create new identities for themselves, who are bullied over the web, who learn, eat and breathe the Internet.

At the beginning of the introduction it explains how a girl of 14 created a profile of herself on a website and began to have a huge cult following. During the day she was the sweet little Marylou and at night she became a dark Gothic Devora of the new world. Meanwhile her parents were completely out of the loop.

I completely agree with the issues at hand. One being the fact that children are so smart these days that they are working around parental controls set on their computers by parents. If you have one friend who is a technical nerd then you are set for life.

For really young children who play on the computer they may not have the know how to break these barriers, but at the youngest age it would be more accidental for a porn site to pop-up then for a sixteen year old male.

Now a days children use the computer as early as 8, maybe even before. Children now have more knowledge about computer then their parents. I can say this because personally that is how my family is. Really I don't know too much about computer, but I do know more then my parents.

It is sad to hear of bullying online. Bullying online can make a child not even want to leave the house, while bullying at school is the same way no one can see it happening when it's happening alone to a child on their computer.

These problems are not simple to slove. Hopfully there comes a time when a child grows up and learns how to appropiately use the internet as the positive tool it can be. While I say this with a hope and an open mind I do know that still adults use the internet negitively. Look at all the child pornography sites or websites to promote illegal things.

On a personal side, one of my cousins was chatting on an internet website and hit it off with this guy. He asked for her number and right away she gave it to him. He called the house and her mother answered and he asked "Hi, can i speak with babysugargirl165 please?" My cousin was 18 at the time. When I was told this story I was completely in shock thinking she was so much smarter then that.

There needs to be an added knowledge of the dangers on the internet. Maybe it is a parenting call but I'm really just not sure. Reading this introduction brought up some interesting questions in my mind about how to stop things like this from happening. There is no way to ban bullying through chatrooms or facebook or even over msn messagener. How can we teach our childern to be sauvy at a young age without them becoming more advanced then us?

I hope technology and the people who use it don't advance so far forward that they can't come back.


Article :
Growing Up Online

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/etc/synopsis.html