Growing Up Online

Recently a documentary by directors Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio was made entitled “Growing Up Online” showing the effects that technology and the media has on teenage students of today. Teenagers today are on the internet and rely heavily on it. Most teenagers are always “in the loop” either by texting on their cell phones or by being on social networks like Facebook and Myspace. On these social websites teenagers are able to create new identities and be more open and actually show their true self. In one example, a quiet 14 year old girl began to put up some pretty inappropriate pictures for a fourteen year old on a website. "I just became this whole different person," Autumn tells FRONTLINE. "I didn't feel like myself, but I liked the fact that I didn't feel like myself. I felt like someone completely different. I felt like I was famous." Teenagers are doing this all time when they feel lost in their real world and to escape this they turn to a different virtual world where they cannot be judged. Another example of how technology was affecting teenagers in the video was their way of learning. Teenagers are no longer reading books or newspapers; instead the internet has become the main reading being done by students today. If they have to read a book at school, all they do is go to Sparknotes, which just gives you the summary of the book. You are able to complete the book or reading in fraction the amount that it would take to actually read the book completely. The biggest problem from the video was definitely cyber bullying. Bullying is no longer just done outside of your home, in places like school, but now at your own home. Bullying is being done through text messages, email, Facebook and Myspace. John Halligan, the father of his son who committed suicide after being bullied tells FRONTLINE. "The computer and the Internet were not the cause of my son's suicide, but I believe they helped amplify and accelerate the hurt and the pain that he was trying to deal with that started in person, in the real world." Technology definitely has its perks but has some serious disadvantages which need to be fixed before they worsen.

My cell phone I believe is the only thing that has affected me technology wise. I do have a Facebook but I’m not in it very much. I mainly only use my computer for school related things and musik but my phone is a thing that I am on for most of the day when I’m not in class or in sports. I do text a lot and it is something a carry with me at all times but other than that I wouldn’t say I am addicted to the internet.