Gowing up Online

PBS Frontline special "Growing Up Online", produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio, brings up the issue that todays generation is growing up on the net, and how it affects the youth of today. It brings up the issue of school and how today schools need to adjust to the technological revolution and try and bring technology to the classroom as a learning device, and it talks about how some teachers feel that it is causing students to have a lack of attention span. One principal asserts, "We can't possibly expect the learner of today to be engrossed by someone who speaks in a monotone voice with a piece of chalk in their hand." Meaning that students are changing and that the school needs to change to meet their needs. A lot of parents fear the danger of online predators, but the piece also covered the issue of cyberbullying, which it said was not being covered enough, and how the consequence free anonymity of the internet lets kids tease and bully others with no real idea of the impact. This cyberbullying was a major contributor to the tragic suicide of Ryan Halligan, and his parents had no idea of the horrible things that went on in cyberspace. The internet has allowed students to have all sorts of private online lives and it allows kids to present themselves differently and it is causing a great generation gap. Danah Boyd, a member of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, we need to learn how to deal with these issues. She states, "It's a question for us of how we teach ourselves and our children to live in a society where these properties are fundamentally a way of life. This is public life today." What Boyd means is that the internet is a issue today and that parents and kids need to be equiped to be able to function on the internet so they can be aware of the issues and how to deal with them. According to Frontline the internet is one of the biggest issues of the generation today.

If I had to write about the internet and digital media in my life it would cover a large scope. The internet is one of my primary forms of communication. I use Facebook to socialize with friends close and far, and almost everyday I use it to video chat with my girlfriend who is going to school in Chicago. It is very nice to just be able to log on and see and chat with her. I also use video games as a way to hang out with friends. Sometimes my friends and I just want to relax and have fun, and video games provide a way to do that. We'll sit down togethor and try and adventure on some epic quest or engage in a brutal conflict. Video games are a way to go from watching digital media to interacting with it socially. I think the social boon from technology has created great new ways to socialize and interact with another.