Reading/Viewing Responce #4

Kyle Barclay
English 100

Reading (Viewing) Response #4



In the video “Growing up Online,” by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio, parents reveal what it is really like when students are online. In the beginning recap of what was going to be said in this video, parents, researchers and students bring up valid points in what how the internet is used for them. Many of these things include of playing games online, watching YouTube videos, talking/socializing with friends and it was also said that sexual predictors are being seen more often over the internet. The main thing about this for teens to realize is that the internet is very addicting. Greg, who lives with his parents in Chatom, New Jersey, talks much about what it’s like for him to be one of the many teenagers to what he calls, “Live” on the internet. “I don’t even think he knows that he realizes that he relies so much on it and that it’s just a part of his persona,” says Greg’s mother. He was so preoccupied on the computer that his father had a better chance of getting his attention by talking to him via email. The video then goes along to interview different students at schools, having people talk about what it’s like to socialize with others online. A group of young teens talk about how people are talking trash to one another online, but nobody will talk to each other like that in person. One of the girls calls it the “Real me” and “Fake me.” The “Real me” would be the true personality of a person in real life and the “Fake me” would be the fake personality that people see online. Many people change the way they act completely when they are online. The do this because they want to fit in with what others are doing or saying. They also change their appearance like one girl did in this video. She was always called a “Goth” at school and nobody cared for her. Later, she resorted to the internet where she uploaded pictures of herself that was more exposing than she had thought. She got so used to all the attention of others that she didn’t realize that she was exposing herself that much. After her parents found out, she was forced to delete all the photo’s where she felt sad, yet began to become a happier person over time. In the end of the video, the last story talked of a young boy who was always bullied while he was at school. One day his father taught him how to fight and that if that bully ever bothered him again, he would be granted full permission to fight. Sometime later, the boy’s father was informed that the bully had stopped. Soon afterwards, the boy was found dead in the bathroom from committing suicide. The father was stunned by this result because he had no idea why his son had done it. Turns out, the boy killed himself because of the cyber bullying that had been tormenting him for some time. There are many things that happen over the internet. Teenagers have taken it over compared to years ago where the adults used to be the rulers.
If I had to write about what has affected me most over the internet, I would write about online gaming. A couple years ago, many of my friends and I would play an online game after school every day. We would constantly talk about this game and all the things that came with it. As our friendships grew stronger over the internet, our friendships in person began to deteriorate. We would get into many arguments over something that seemed so important at the time. Looking back on it now, I have realized that this had been one of my greatest downfalls in life to become so addicted to something that was not real. Sure, I would be this amazing, awesome person online who was better than hundreds of thousands of player, but that all didn’t matter when I began to lose what was important to me outside this game. My grades had slipped and I lost interest in everything that I had used to enjoy outside of that game. Overall, if I were to write one story about how the online world has affected my life, it would be online gaming. Playing something online is something I believe, is not worth doing at all. You will get caught up in the good feeling of being loved by people you don’t know which will lead to an outcome that is not a good experience for anyone to have.