I actually really connected with the video from our last class. I guess, when I was young, I was in a hurry to grow up. I went to a private all girl school and was one of the most active members at my church, but I felt that was all too conservative for me. So, I turned to the internet. My parents never sat down with me to have a "sex" talk and maybe that is the reason...but I felt like I was so sheltered and I wanted to learn more so that when my friends were talking about something, I could at least understand what they were talking about. I am sure my parents tried to give me the talk, but I wanted to avoid that conversation so much, that I most likely ignored them or got mad at them before they could really start the discussion. I was in a hurry to grow up no matter what they said.
Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't create a new identity for myself online or get myself into trouble. BUT, I did use the internet as means to learn the things about sex and boys that I wasn't really taught. I would log on to my screen name and get into a chat room and mainly just watch the discussion going on. The topics were far beyond my maturity level but I was intrigued. People would try and start private chats with me and I would play along...always acting like i was older but never really saying much. Mainly letting them say what they wanted to say. I would eventually get creeped out and log off.
It is easy to get sucked in to the internet world that is out there. I wasn't a dumb kid, I would never meet up with anyone or anything close, HOWEVER, with the advancing technology out there, who is to say that the person you are chatting with couldn't find a way to find your address and stalk you or anything of the sort.
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I think you have a really interesting point here. THis kind of leads to the idea as the internet or media as a kind of surrogate parenting/socialization tool. Often people who feel that sheltered kind of life tend to break out of the in extreme ways or simply find alternative ways to find information or learn about the world, etc. This can lead like your saying to maybe information and a world that was to mature for you at the time. Personally i feel like this means that parents need to be less concerned with sheltering their children and totally protecting them from the evils of the internet and more about educating them of potential risks. Confining teens, as show in that video, merely causes them to find alternative outlets for their internet use, or... you know... odd activities (like the girl with her modeling). If those kinds parents we more concerned about educating their kids and giving them the proper logic and reasoning to protect themselves against predates maybe they would then have less to worry about, rather then smother them to the point where they sneak out to their friends house to use the internet. Also if parents aren’t willing to talk to their kids about their issues then the information they receive online may not be what they need in their developmental process, in regard to sex, drinking, privacy etc. This lack of communication as well as an increased generation gap with increased internet used has led to teenagers with vastly different (not necessarily wrong) views about these things as they are considered taboo for discussion even by family members. With the rise of the internet and the increased information available kids re growing up at a much faster speed and parents need to be able to have open discussions with their children in the hopes that they don’t become socialized only by the internet.
ReplyDeleteOn another note this illusion that we have any kind of privacy on the internet is laughable. People dont realize...everything is up for grabs. Your facebook privacy thing doesnt really protect your privacy against someone really tyring to get your information. At the same time there seems to be a decrease in the value of privacy in our generation. Older generations seem to be much more private and share less information, also they tend to be more conservative with conversation topics. I wonder if the increased internet use and the increase in older generations using facbeook will change this?...