We were recently tasked with viewing the PBS video series discussing the use of internet by today's youth. This video can be found here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/
There is no doubt in my mind that the internet has completely transformed social interactions among teenagers. It has also transformed the ways in which we as a soceity conduct our own business. The youth of today are able to multitask using the internet which increases the need for sensory stimulation. All of these factors are going to create massive amounts of new challenges for teachers. These challenges will not be something that can simply be overcome. These challenges will continue to evolve, and teachers that cannot keep up will become less effective if not ineffective.
The question I ask here is "does 'keeping up' mean finding new ways to counteract the internet or find positive ways to embrace it."
On the side of fighting it I do believe that some postive elements of growing up are lost with today's emphasis on the internet. When I was growing up there was no such thing as the internet. I spent time at the library, outside, and around town with my friends. I would not trade my experiences in the great outdoors for anything in the world.
On the other hand when I was growing up the TV was the devil of the day. We children were said to be zombies and slaves to TV, but while I watched a significant amount of TV I still found time to play outside and enjoy activities with my friends. I guess my concern is that the internet is even more addictive then the TV. The other issue is that the TV is still there. As a future Biology teacher, it scares me to think that Earth's natural beauty and amazing diversity of life will become words on a screen or videos rather than hands on experiences.
I am not concerned at all with the internet existing or youth using it. What concerns me is the abuse of it. Internet in moderation can be a wonderful learning tool as well as a means to connect with the world beyond. Youth of today have the ability like never before to immerse themselves in the amazing diversity of cultures and ideas that the world has to offer. However, the abuse of any technology is definately a bad thing. As teachers my stance is that we should not fight the advance of the internet, but embrace it and find the most creative ways possible to help children realize that the internet is something beyond a means to chat with their friends or cheat on their homework.
Some of the issues brought up in the PBS videos I see as problems with parenting that have not been addressed. I don't believe the internet is to blame when children seek out sexual activity, become anorexic, or do other illicit activity. These problems have existed as long as I am aware that there has been parents and children. It is my honest opinion that parenting has taken two extreme turns that are counter productive to good parenting. This videos showed well these two extremes. One being the over protective mother/father who drives her/his child to rebellion. The other is the non-intrested parent that wants to be cool and not exemplify what children need to become responsible adults. Can we truly blame children's behavior on the internet or lack of parenting. My vote would be the latter, but what do you think?
~Isaac
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2 comments:
Yes these activities have been around as long as there have been parent/child interactions; however, the internet has given these children a much more secluded place to justify their behavior and demonize their parents for being "too old." To say that the internet has little to do with these problems is naive. How could you not be appalled by the anorexic websites, the binge drinking publicly portrayed as if there was nothing wrong with it, the soft porn photographs? I don't believe that these problems have existed for however long parents and children have had relationships. And to tell you the truth, I feel for parents, there is no way that they understand all this, and yet they are the ones left picking up the pieces. You can call them overprotective or whatever you want, but with all these revelations as to how kids are spending their time online, I'll be damned if I don't know what's going on with my children online.
I like what you said about how even with television, you managed to spend a substantial amount of time outside. I was the same way. I liked watching TV but I also liked being outside. That is just way I was.
I agree that the abuse of technology is a problem. If children are using technology (Internet) for everything, that's not right. It's not only an abuse of the Internet but a misuse of it. There is no reason why a child needs to learn what tree rings look like from Wikipedia.
It is my opinion that the abuse and misuse come from parents not setting guidelines for use. When I first got the Internet, I was limited as to how much time I could spend on it. I didn't blame anyone for this. I used it for what I needed and then got off. Now that I have 300 MB/sec or whatever, I'm on it more often doing nothing. I'm not on it reading books or watching movies with my friends. I still do those things with the physical objects. But I think that with the recent advances in Internet technology, it is more important that children be limited in what they can search and access and the amount of time they can spend online.
I will say that I somewhat agree with what you said about children seeking sexual activity via the Internet. It's given them a way to do it that is more discrete and easier to hide from parents. And, like you said, some things have been true of the child/parent relationship for a long time. Parents are always demonized and marked as the creators of woes. Children have always vented about the hardships their parents have wrought them. I think that parents need to think more about the values and morals they were raised with and how, as the result of that, they turned out. A child should like his/her parents but I feel that a parent should not be seen as a friend or on the same level as the child's friends. I think that's when the problem starts.
Jkrone2, I'm going to have to disagree with you. There are those types of websites on the Internet. There are instructions to building pipe bombs. I can access those right now. I can go anywhere on the Internet. However, the way I was raised and the person I am stop me from doing something stupid. My morals and values would stop me from becoming anorexic after seeing it on a website. I think that there is more fault on the parents than the Internet. Yes, children can see bad things on the Internet but it's the responsibility of the parent to make sure the child knows he/she can't/shouldn't do those types of things. Maybe I am biased to this way of thinking because of the way I was raised. My parents weren't overprotective but I was reprimanded when I did something I shouldn't. So for the parents that are cleaning up their child's mess, it is partial their fault, but also the fault of the child.
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