"Growing Up Online"

In the video "Growing up Online" by directors Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio I found that some students said that "Online is addicting" which it is to an extent. If everybody finds something they like to do and they can only access it on the internet, they're probably on the net everyday. Students said they were online doing activities such as: Learning new dances, to chatting on myspace, learning how to play games, to looking at hot guys pictures on myspace, to taking pictures of themselves that parents wouldn't approve of IF they new what their kids were doing. I also found it interesting how parents/teachers stated that the kids generally know more about computers/internet/technology and even their own cell phones than the parents/teachers do. Teachers say that the kids today have alot more trouble focusing in class today then they did thirty years ago because of the technology today that every kid has access to. Students today take advantage of the internet and use it to cheat reading books to find it online and reading the whole book in about 5-10 pages and pretty much know everything about the book by then. I think everybody generally uses the internet to look up vocabulary since its easier and alot faster to find the words we're looking for. Some kids said that myspace and facebook is a way to create different and new identies because who they really are people don't like, so they create something that makes them feel better where they get comments boosting their egos and can kind of create a new person with myspace and facebook. High school kids say that they can be themselves on the internet rather then in person. But some kids are put down on the internet, resulting in a suicide or "bad repuation" because of the kind of pictures they take and who they meet on myspace or facebook. One girl said "Nobody would make fun of another person in person but they would on the internet because, what are they going to do? Everybody does it online whether its posting rude and vicious comments on pictures or profiles to sending somebody a message calling them a loser, everybody does it." People say that internet has created a gap, and in a way it has, because if somebody comits suicide because of what somebody is saying over the internet then what kind of world are we living in? Shouldn't things like that be put to a stop and shouldn't students be taught to just turn away from that kind of behavior? It's sad to know that lives have actually been taken because of seriously rude teenagers out there.

Part two.
If i was doing a a story on the impact of the internet and digital media on my own life, I would probably write about how people obsess over the internet and spend hours/days sitting infront of the computer screen. Internet hasn't necessarily effected my life because I haven't spent alot of time on infront of the computer, but there are days where I sit and just search the web and I generally find really interesting things to do, but chatting with people just annoys me, just call or text me, and same with myspace or facebook, WHY do people love it so much? and obsess over it for that matter, I myself have a facebook and a myspace but I maybe get on it once every two-three weeks just because I keep in touch with family and old friends from where I used to live or something. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have one! When I was younger I use to think it was so fun to put all those new and cool things on my profile and make it whatever I want but now I just dont like that kind've stuff. And as far as creeps on myspace, I just delete those creepy messages (and I tend to get alot of weird old wrinkly men messaging me three-four times a day everyday for months which is just creepy and I just avoid those) and move on to what I got on for. But otherwise I don't think the whole internet thing is so bad but mostly I think kids know what to avoid when it comes to creeps asking for your address!