Video Reflection: Growing Up Online

Before watching this video I knew the huge impact technology had in the lives of young people, but after completing the entire length of the video I feel I have seen an even deeper image of how strongly the internet is in our young lives.  I guess I've never really thought much about what the internet is to me, but after watching this I see how it is truly a way for kids to escape reality and just be in touch with their peers. I feel as though I am real, I am me a hundred percent of the time, but some kids find it hard to be themselves.  For teenagers, the internet is an outlet for self expression.  The internet is also always a willing listener.  A place to escape the realities of life and "be real."  It's a place to complain about adults and to connect with one another.  During the video we meet one girl who expresses how she can display her identity in a distinct way online.  Jess can be someone else and feels reborn as a person when she uses her online name and identity.  Another thing Jess does is post racy and revealing pictures of herself online, but the impact it makes might just help her self-esteem and give her confidence.  She feels beautiful and like people care when she is her other identity. We see the hardships she goes through when the site is revealed to her school principal and she is forced by her parents to completely erase her site where she finds strength.  I guess after hearing her story I feel maybe the internet can really give people confidence when they need it.  If it gives them a purpose and they are being safe then what's the harm?  However another section of video gave me the danger of the internet.  Cyberbullying is huge and we all need to be aware of it.  In the video we meet the parents of a child who committed suicide because the bullying was that bad.  One lady made a statement that reading words makes it real.  His father investigated and found his son and a boy had been exchanging methods and thoughts on suicide.  The internet allows for children to have a world where no one can monitor them, and that can be scary as a parent. In the end the father comments that, "we can't blame the computer, but I can assume that it helped amplify and accelerate the pain that my son was dealing with."  The internet is a weapon in cyberbullying.  Another chapter of the video dealt on child predator fear.  No one is in charge.  It really changed how I felt about the topic.  The world argues that children think they are safe, but in reality they aren't.  Did we ever stop to think if our child is more a participant and not a true victim? Studies have confirmed that most adolescents know how to ignore unwanted solicitations they receive on the internet. I never thought of that kids engaging in risky behavior online are usually engaging in more risky behavior offline.  This part of the video really proved to me that our future young learners are not as naive as we think.  They know the deal with social predators and are not dumb if they don't want to be. One area where I feel strongly that the internet interferes with the learning process is when children use it to cheat.  One word; Sparknotes.  However, there is TurnItIn.com, a website that searches for familiar phrases so it is more difficult for children to plagiarize and cheat. One teacher said it well though, "we have to accept this as reality.  Children will cheat and yes this is wrong, but how can we stop it?' We have to accept that is the way life is now and we can't escape it.  Students today are so overexposed to the quickness of things that it is hard to keep their attention.  They need podcasting, smartboards and other technology equipment because we can't expect kids to be engrossed in boring lectures anymore.  After viewing this video I have decided that integrating technology is much more important and crucial in the lives of middle/high school.  Children at a younger age still need it also, but are more open to other methods of learning I believe. We have to accept that privacy is a thing of the past.  Children are much more open to being public than before and they take things less seriously than previous generations.  "It has been said that the internet has created the largest generation gap since the Rock'N'Roll era."   As a future teacher I have decided to accept that technology is the way to go.  In order to keep up with my students I need to be on their level.  I also learned that I cannot blame the internet.  It's not going away.  The only thing I can do is educate myself and my students the best way to use it.  Technology is life and it's not going away anytime soon.