The pbs web video discussed teens growing up with networking. Networking is a major advance in the world of technology. Access is available to all ages. Young children, teens and adults are all on the web. Some of the popular sites are myspace, facebook, twitter, youtube and blogspot. Teens are saying they are able to be who they really are on the web. Despite this leap it also is composed of many possible negative or challenging components. One of the dangerous challenges of these website pages is hidden identities. A young boy committed suicide by receiving information on suicide from a "friend" on the Internet. After this boy's death his father was never even able to determine who this friend really was. Autumn Edows was a girl suffering from loneliness in school. She had enough of her boring life and decided the web was a way to create a new identity. Fortunately she was caught and her life was saved before anything tragic happened. The problem was the information she posted was provocative and false. Autumn Edows didn't even exist! All sorts of clubs and information are shared with friends that people never even met. It's dangerous to have so many people be your "friend". These people might really be murderers, pedophiles, robbers or even four times your age. Although networking is a major part of our culture and it has taken us far we must be careful what we and our future generations are doing on the Internet.
It is necessary to educate and promote awareness of Internet dangers. Parents must set up some sort of a system that works for them to be aware of their children's Internet access. Whether it is setting a time limit or monitoring the child's Internet access. Be careful!
I agree that even though teens are getting a lot of benefits on the internet, there are downfalls as well. I also agree that having "friends" on social networking sites can be dangerous since there are many people with different identities. Education on the usage of internet is very important at home and at school. Parents should be able to teach their children the rights and wrongs on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the major point of the article is that children and teenagers need to be educated about the safe use of the internet. The article, however, seems to be saying that the greatest danger is not "murderers, pedophiles or robbers" but bullying by peers and rapid posting of photos and information that can have a damaging effect on one's own and peers'lives.
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