PBS- Growing Up Online

The Internet is a relatively new piece of technology, even though many of us have adapted it quickly and willingly. We are still learning to deal with the many ramifications that we did not foresee, and we are still trying to keep up with how it has changed our personal and professional lives. More and more, we find ourselves depending on the Internet to make us more efficient, and it also enables us to consume more in the limited free time that we have. However, we are finding that there are many unintended consequences that we are still trying to remedy, especially when it comes to young adults and their relationship with the Internet. Parents use to see the enemy as television, something that will slowly rot their children's brains. But now the enemy has shifted to the Internet, and specifically to the different platforms of social networking that teenagers are using, which can be a double edged sword that exacerbates, both positively and negatively, the emotional growth of today's young adults. The PBS video, Growing Up Online, highlights some of the great things the Internet can do for teenagers, as well as the negative aspects that it has.


A lot of teenagers can find comfort on social networks. They find that there can be no judgment, and that they do not have to filter themselves. They can try out different personas and figure out what kind of person they are/want to be without worrying that they will be laughed out or picked apart. It can be a place where they expressed themselves fully and explore their thoughts and emotions with other similar minded people. Many teenagers are growing up exclusively on the social networking sites; learning from others, molding their personalities and changing their social allegiances in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, it is not always a positive experience for everyone, and there are many teenagers on the opposite side of the spectrum. We find that there is an increasing dependency on social networks to feel validated and important, and not everyone will have the same great experience.


There are issues with social networking and the Internet that has exponentially caused the angst of being a teenager to become much more intense and easily felt. They are more removed from their actual world, spending less time cultivating face to face relationships, and more time cementing relationships through social networking. They are more likely to lose focus, and have a hard time coming up with their own thoughts/answers on a particular subject because they are more use to having instant, immediate answers from the Internet. And although there are forums geared toward helping teenagers, there are also ones that share hurtful information, such as pro-anorexia sites, self harm websites, and social networking sites where they can be defamed for everyone to see. Everything they put on the Internet is for public consumption, and sometimes they do not realize the ramifications of that, especially teenagers who do not always use their best judgment. Every picture, thoughts, and words can be easily seen by thousands of people, and there is no way to ever fully take it back once it is out there. There are also problems with predators, who use the Internet and social networking sites to find potential victims. Bullying has also become much more virulent, and causing more, lasting harm that it has in the past. Nameless bullies can attack their victims without any remorse or second thought. It can be done with little physical contact, and can be done out of sight of any adults. Victims can be hounded relentless day and night, and this can amplify the pain of being ostracized. Something that might be localized to one or two bullies can now become a school-wide free for all, where it might be seen as cool to harass someone who they don't know and have no emotional ties to. It is not till much later, when the victim harms himself or others, do others realize the pain they have been going through.


Society is still trying to figure itself out in regards to private individuals behavior on the Internet. Free speech is one of America's most hallowed rights, and as long as it's not illegal, you can say and write whatever you want on the Internet. But at this moment, many countries around the world are figuring out that there needs to be some kind of consequence for behavior done on the Internet. It should not be acceptable to post anything you want without some kind of consequence, and lawmakers are slowly realizing that there needs to be some kind of recourse for victims to fight back.