"Growing up Online"

Is the internet being used today in an improper way ? Do parents not realize what their kids are doing online ? " Growing up Online", produced and directed by Rachael Dretzin and John Maggio, examines how the use of the internet is affecting kids. They begin this video by saying that " This is the first generation to come of age on the internet." Everyone must have the internet, because if you don't your an outcast. They show some kids on a Friday night in the basement of a house with more than a few computers, playing video games. Other people are shown at a local community center, watching youtube videos and looking at pictures. They also show some very young boys, one on Myspace, and the other playing a game. All are examples of people using the computer. They then point out that a stunning ninety percent of teenagers use online computer medium. Due to that excessive amount, schools have had to adjust, getting computers and monitor screens just to get their students attention. Computers have contributed to the extensive amount of cheating in schools today, exclaims one professor. A student reassures that statement, saying, everybody he knows just goes online to find whatever they need. I mean why read a book when you can read it online in a matter of minutes, he points out.
They then move on to social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook, telling how fights can occur, false information is given, etc. Myspace has turned into an inappropriate place for anyone to go. Where people don't really mean what they say and where people take inappropriate pictures of themselves and post them online, the narrator implies. Social networking sites consume an extensive amount of time, time that is somewhat of a waste if people really stop to think about it.

They tell in this video how there are a number of scandals that take place online. They explain how easy it is for predators to enter into the lives of others, through the internet. They say that parents should take into consideration that there are people out there trying to get to their child. We later go on to notice that kids live different worlds on the internet, outside the reach of parents. "Its been said that the internet has created the greatest generation gap since the advent of rock n roll," a quote said by the narrator.
Close to the ending of this video, they tell a story about a boy that was bullied a lot at school. He would go home and use the internet, like everybody else. Even while using the internet he would be made fun of. It got to be so bad that he took his own life , he was thirteen years old. The father of the child doesn't blame the internet, but says that it was part of the problem in causing him to take his own life. More and more bullying takes place today, due to the increased technology. This video tells how the internet affects people, kids mostly, in a way that is unorthodox.

If I were to talk about how the internet has affected my life, I would have to point out that when I was younger I played video games and used Myspace quite a bit. But as I grew older, I
noticed what a complete waste of time it was. Sure, the internet is useful in many ways, like using e-mail and finding out about different countries and such, or to do research, but mostly I just use the internet for buying stuff, watching golf videos on youtube and using e-mail and, of course, school. I would say it hasen't really had a super affect on me, but that it has affected in a sense, a state of laziness in me.