Growing up Online

The video, Growing up Online, was very eye opening to me. Technology has become such a huge part of our society today, but when it is abused, problems may arise. The video covers many different aspects of youth using the internet. The first section, Living their Lives Essentially Online, talks about how the computer has become an essential part of student’s everyday life. It gives multiple examples of different situations where kids use the internet for their social life, school life, and everyday needs.
The second section of the video, A Revolution in Classroom and Social Life, was a very interesting and important aspect of the video for me personally. I never really thought about how much of an issue it is for schools. They interviewed a few teachers and they explained that the challenge for them is to cut through that media and get to their student’s mind. Reading a book has become rare in today's schools. Most students just use websites that provide a summary for the book. It also talked about social networks like Facebook and Myspace, which have become afternoon activities for almost all students. It gave an example of a fight that occurred at school because of what one person said about another person.
The next section, Self Expression- Trying on New Identities, gave many examples of students who express their “true selves” online because they feel that they cannot be judged. It shared the story of Jessica Hunter, who was a very shy girl and had trouble making friends. When she was 14 she made turned her self into an internet model, changing her name to Autumn Edwards. She posted provocative photos of her and even became famous on the internet because of these photos. She did this because she loved the feeling of being famous. Her parents never knew of anything until they received a phone call from the principal saying that someone saw these photos of her.
The fourth section was called The Child Predator Fear. Media coverage on internet predators has become a huge fear for parents all over the nation. This video shares a story of a mom who tries to monitor her kids by putting the computer in the kitchen. But parents aren’t able to truly monitor because kids refuse to share their private lives. This video shares that even though sexual predators are a risk, most kids know what they are getting themselves into. “We must start thinking about our kids less as victims and more as participants.”
Private Worlds Outside Parents Reach, is the next section of the video. It tells the story of Sara, who has found forums online to support her in her eating disorder. Many kids use the internet as a “listener” for their problems, but they forget that others can access it all. It shares another story of mother, PTA President of her son’s high school. She found videos and photos of students of the high school acting up at a concert. She decides to share this with all the parents, and at that point her relationship with her son, Cam, was damaged. Students got in a lot of trouble and Cam blames it all on his mom.
Cyber bullying is the next section that talks about school taunts and rumars that are all spread online. The story of Ryan, a 7th grader, who was being bullied at school was told. His father taught him how to protect himself and Ryan said the bullying had stopped. A few months later Ryan committed suicide. His father investigated his computer and found out that he was being bullied online. Ryan became so depressed and found support to commit suicide online. The final section, Updates, tells about what has happened to the specific stories that were shared in the video.
The internet has become a weapon in the lives of our youth. As a future teacher and parent, I feel that this video is very important for everyone to watch. The stories that were shared have direct implications for my teaching practice. This video has changed my thoughts about integrating technology in my curriculum. It is something that we need to be aware of in order to keep our kids safe. Technology is a very big part of our society and is not going away. We must teach our kids how to use it safely and as a useful tool. As a teacher, I will still use technology as a mere educational tool to help my students learn. But I will also demonstrate how important it is for us to sometimes disconnect from the internet. This video has truly opened me up to issues that I was never aware of and I will use the information that I learned to be a better teacher and parent in the future.