I'm referring to a theme touched upon in a recent PBS Frontline documentary. It's not about the candidates or the caucuses. It's not about criminals in the White House, but it is a VERY current topic that will most likely impact each of us in one way or another. Growing Up Online is what I'm talking about... how today’s youth is growing up with the incredible influence of the world wide web - quite different from how most of us here grew up. It deserves the attention of all of us in the online community who are parents, teachers, and concerned citizens. The topic is fascinating, and as with all new technology, the implications range from frightening to excitng.
If you’re so inclined, read on... I've summarized much of what was covered. It's really worth seeing and is bound to bring up quite a variety of reactions. Check out the poll, too, about how much time your kid(s) spend online....
If you know any kids spending time online, you'll come away from this episode of PBS' Frontline, called Growing Up Online, with much to consider. All my teacher and parent friends who've watched it, found it to be very interesting and eye-opening. It’s a great documentary about the first generation of kids growing up with the Internet. It contains a fascinating look at many of the related issues including Internet predators, social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, and parenting in the cyber-age. I highly recommend this to all parents, teachers, students, and interested others. You can check out the web site for broadcast information or just watch it online. I think everyone who’s interested in technology and it’s effects on our society and culture will find a documentary like this one well worth the hour it takes to watch.
I expect that as more parents become aware of the massive societal influence and implications of the Internet on kids, there will be the inevitable movements towards harnessing, controlling, and censoring it. Like so many technologies and trends before computing came along, there seem to be the usual range of responses: those who fear it and must find ways to ban it, burn it, and sensor it; those who choose not to participate in the least; those who embrace it and see the powerful potential of the new medium; and various combinations of all of the above.
In the introduction of the documentary, there is the usual summarizing of ideas about kids "growing up online." For example,
*Kids see the technology as a "continuation of their existence"
*Some students described themselves as "addicted" to being online
*Researchers stated that students rely on it as a normal part of their teen existence
*Parents are generally unaware of all that’s going on in their child’s life online
Interestingly, many of us here who are well beyond our teen years, can probably relate to the feeling that the Internet is something we often find ourselves "addicted" to and many of us also probably spend enough time on it to say it’s a big part of our existence. By comparison, however, most of us grew up without the influence of the Internet during our formative years, unlike the case of today’s teenagers. The documentary highlights the view of how different things are for teens today without implying that today’s kids are a totally different species. It is an interesting look at how adolescent development is impacted by access to online social communities and the associated problems such as bullying, sexual predators, and peer pressure.
Teachers need to "Cut through the media to capture student’s attention"
As for being a teacher and needing to deal with the results of our students "living online," the documentary includes some interviews and sound bytes from various teachers. They covered topics such as students’ plagiarizing, decreased attention span, and how the media’s changing education. A few topical comments included:
*Many older teachers resist the new media but find themselves feeling like "dinosaurs," almost extinct
*One teacher’s observation... "More students struggle with the ability to focus than 30 years ago."
*A bright high school boy said: "I don’t know the last time I read a book" as he described how he relies on SparkNotes to keep up with all of his reading assignments.
Schools are finding they have to deal with the Internet on many different fronts, including using it for research, battling plagiarism, competing for student attention, and dealing with the negative results of the social networking. There were many teachers striving to grasp the changes, some who seemed very aware of things schools needed to do and others who were looking forward to retiring since they were already feeling obsolete. One thing that will have to be faced is the problems that arise from online bullying as the Internet "fights" can carry over into the school hallways.
Many of the situations depicted in the documentary explored how the Internet provides today’s social hangouts for kids via sites like MySpace and FaceBook. Various scenarios were explored demonstrating the incredible impact these new networks are having on kids’ lives. One adult commented that students seem to be much more comfortable about living out their lives very publicly than former generations. "Discretion and privacy seem like a thing of the past." The Internet seems to foster a tendency for participants to say and do things they might not do in person, so the problems can be exaggerated and complicated compared to those that take place away from the Internet.
"The Internet has created the biggest Generation Gap since rock-n-roll!"
In looking at the social networks... they are really a "digital representation of what we think of as adolescence." Therefore, one can readily see the classic elements of cliques, gangs, pariahs, bullies, and popularity contests. The "communities" formed seemed to either provide support and acceptance that could help a student feel as if he/she fits in OR harassment and bullying that could ostracize and harm a teen. Internet socializing is so accessible to most teens and often misunderstood by adults and parents that they have little to say about it, despite their best efforts. Concern for predators and dangerous interactions was part of the conversation, though most students seemed aware of the importance of not giving out their addresses and most personal details.
In addition, many challenges are faced by parents who are torn between allowing access to media and keeping track of the influence and impact of the Internet on their children. Many tried to be very involved in monitoring their children’s behavior and supervising their activities, yet maintaining control over the Internet was almost impossible. Teens have relationships on line but never meet face to face. Fights and insults are conducted online. Risqué pictures are exchanged with no consideration for consequences. Some kids take on new personas. Parents are largely in the dark about the online activities of their own kids.
One PTO mom raised concerns she had about the online activities of kids she knew, including a drunken concert night where local kids publicized their activities on YouTube and MySpace, etc. She found that half of the community reacted gratefully for her raising awareness, while the other half felt intruded upon and indignant that she would go public with her concerns. The town was in an uproar, her own children felt betrayed, and the online activities of most students in her area continue unabated. She discovered that even as a very actively involved parent with a close-knit family, the online world of her own kids is quite out of her control.
Predators on line
Researchers found that most kids know "to ignore unwanted solicitations online." Some of the teens stated that they know when an online contact asks where they live, it’s time to delete them as a "friend." And, while there is a prevalence of very open sharing of personal details within online social networks, it seems that most know not to post actual names and addresses. It was stated that most cases in which sexual predators have found victims online, the victim actively participated in being "found." However, the warning from law enforcement is that some kids may not realize when their online behavior will provide clues, or open them up to the wrong person.
Online support in all forms
One girl felt alone, picked-on, and friendless because she didn’t belong to any social groups at school. On her FaceBook account, she started posting model-like photos of herself in an attempt to express herself and to try to be who she wanted to be. Before long she was "famous" among her online peers. Her photos became provocative and drew the attention of parents and school administration causing her parents to realize what she was doing online and to pull the plug on her social networking.
Another student found tips and tricks from a website about how to be a successful anorexic. She admitted that her parents knew nothing about her activities online and her anorexia. She’s a high achieving student who likes to exercise and eat healthy. So, no one suspects that she has also found a way to be a "high achiever" in such an unhealthy behavior. The online advice she seeks provides ways to hide her behavior and support for continuing the behavior, itself. This student is consulting her online "support system" while her parents think she is chatting with friends or doing homework.
YouTube has allowed kids to document all kinds of behaviors and post them online.
Cyberbullying
One parent tells about his regrets about allowing the computer to be in his son’s room without knowing what was going on for him online. His son committed suicide at age 13. In seeking answers, the father went online on his son’s AOL account and asked the online friends to help him understand what might’ve caused his son to kill himself. He ultimately found out about a concerted campaign of cyber-bullying. Then, on top of that, he found online conversations saved in a file on his son’s computer. The conversations were with another boy discussing suicide and leading to links about how to commit suicide successfully, etc. The father made contact with the boy and called his family to tell them he suspects their son may be considering suicide. Years later he still sees this boy online discussing alarming things about death and suicide, but he felt frustrated with his attempts to warn the boy’s family about what’s going on. He will always be haunted by what the Internet may have contributed to the problems that led to his son committing suicide.
Conclusion
The video ends by revisiting most of the individuals they had followed for the documentary. The anorexic girl told her parents and is getting help. The family with the PTO mom is sending their son off to college while he continues to be active in his Facebook communities – and the mom faces a divided community for publicizing their kid’s online lives. The girl with the "provocative" photos has been allowed to rebuild her web site with the support of her family who sees it as a creative, constructive, social outlet. The researchers are continuing to do interesting work to help understand the impact of online communities on teenagers and society.
This is a great video and if you have kids or students growing up today, you should see this and/or consider this topic. It’s going to affect this generation, perhaps in good ways and probably in some negative ways. This is the new frontier and we will need to cope with where it takes us, as well as, with the effects and outcomes on our families and on our larger societies, too.