Growing up online

In the video "Growing Up Online," produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio, kids are on the Internet for hours at a time and parents are worrying about what is going on. The video starts with an overview of a few teens who use the Internet for everything, socializing, playing games and even have different persona's on the web. You could say that they were addicted. One girl had a different persona online with a different name and made a website where she would model and post near pornographic photos of herself. Well, her parent found out and dealt with it. The video went on to Chatham High School where there is a division of using technology in class and teaching methods that fit in to kids today. One class had computers for each student and the teacher was in front of the smart board. He would speak in a colorful tone and loudly as to get the attention of his students.He would move around a lot and use his hands while talking. So, he accepted the fact that kids today have less of an attention span but are naturals with technology. Another teacher, however, used a more plain method of teaching where the class would be just desks and the class would work on paper. She spoke in a more monotonous and quiet tone. She fought the kids' short attention span. So there was a division of teaching methods in the school. Then the video turned to the Internets darker side where cyberbullying occurred. They didn't focus so much on Internet predators since most kids know not to reveal any personal information to people that you don't know. This one girl was stricken with anorexia and the Internet sort of made it easier to be anorexic and encouraged it. She told FRONTLINE, "I'll go on Web sites. I'll go on forums. I'll look for something called "Thinspiration," which is basically inspiration to stay and become thinner than I am now. And it's just, like, here's other people who can do it. "Look, this woman, she did it, I can do it, too."That's the encouragement of bad behaviors i was talking about, because people encouraged her to be anorexic and even gave her tips, she felt good for doing it. Cyberbullying did cause some pretty nasty damage. One boy killed himself because of it and the Internet only encouraged it. The Internet is a dangerous place for people who don't know how to handle it.

My own view is that the Internet just makes things easier. It is now far easier to acquire knowledge than ever before. With just the click of a button, i can learn how to make apple pie or how to say, "what is your name?" in Italian. For example, I needed a refresher on the video we just watched in class, so i just went to moodle, found the link and read the transcript. Where without the Internet i would have to go to a video store and check if they had the video. Then i would have to rent it, and come back. it makes things so much easier. However, that is a two way street. It also makes bullying easier and finding someones information or social security number easier. Just one email that you open can cause your money to disappear or give your address to a criminal. So you have to be careful.