The videos from class today were sobering and frightening, especially Growing up Online. Many of the issues that students had that were explored in the video seemed to be evidence of deeper issues at home. The students all used the internet as a means to explore actions or ideas that they wouldn't be allowed to explore otherwise; unfortunately, in these cases there was a very good reason that they weren't allowed to explore them. Teens always reach the age where they want to shut out their parents- that is natural and has been going on forever, I'd imagine. The problem with this generation of teens is that they're growing up with an entire online world where their parents are intrinsically prohibited- through their "digital immigrant" status- from understanding or controlling. As a future parent, this video was pretty scary to me. Adolescents make bad choices. That's why they have parents to keep them from making the sort of bad choices that could mess up their lives permanently, and keep them afloat until the haze of adolescence wears off. Having a whole realm of their lives that parents don't know about and can't regulate can result in some very bad decisions and possibly bad consequences.
The second video was interesting, but I wish that there was more research into the effects of the "internet culture" on the brain. That section of the video was particularly fascinating and under-emphasized. This video- with the focus on the positive effects of things like Second Life and World of Warcraft- seemed to be more open to both positive and negative effects of online life. It was interesting, but I would be more interested if there was more scientific background for some of the claims (like the multitasking part or the Korean addiction to gaming.)
No comments:
Post a Comment