Sunday, May 11, 2008
Technology and Teens
The last few weeks at school have been quite crazy...we have had three separate, but major incidences with our lovely middle schoolers and what we call "cyber bullying". I know most of you reading this have little ones under the age of 4 (or no kids at all), but soon (i know scary) they will be asking for a cell phone, for an email account, for their own computer. Can I just give you some advice that I will be using myself...technology may be cool, but very little good comes out of it for these kids who think they know everything. NO text messaging, NO pix messaging, NO my space, facebook, etc..., NO personal computer in their bedroom, and if they have to have one, very little minutes on their cell phone. It is absolutely shocking and scary what these kids are capable of doing with technology and what they will say, do, and post. There is a sense of anonymity(sp?) and the more shocking the better. And what is scary is their parents have no clue what is going on, they believe their kids when the say they need it. No they don't. And then the parents don't know how to take it away from them. Plus, there is absolutely nothing wrong with checking up on them either. It is not invading their privacy as long as they are living under your roof. They need to be kept safe, and it is obvious they aren't able to do it on their own. Phew...just had to get that off my chest. I don't want to scare you, but at the same time I do. It scares me and I can only imagine what will be available to my kids in fifteen years. I can go on and on with stories about how they are using it but I won't. Thank goodness summer is around the corner...
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4 comments:
for the love... um, yes this all scares me. but also the lack of parent involvement and authority gives a lot of room for freaky stuff like this to happen. thanks for the warning!!! (only a few weeks left until you get a break, don't worry!)
It's amazing what kids get away with (or think they can get away with). Thanks for the heads up, we will definitely be watching our kids closely. And you're right, they don't need all that stuff they beg for. Hope you can have a relaxing summer!
-Michelle
AMEN! Had a little experience with this with the Bel Air HS kids. It's crazy how cruel they can be when they don't have to say it in person! I was watching this thing on the today show and they call it a hollywood phenomenon. Because of Youtube etc these kida all have a sense of being in their own mini dramas, sitcoms etc. When they do these things in cyberspace they feel almost as if theyre playing a character; they feel no more remorse than an actor feels when staring in a movie. It's horrible. I think all the way at the beginning with toddlers we need to start teaching one of the most important lessons. 'People matter'. They have feelings and emotions and people that love them, we need to love them too and we dont do to them what we wouldn't wish on ourselves. Sorry :-) I feel a tad passionate about this too! :-)
Love u friend!
I totllay agree with what Katie said. I think that kids suffer from a lack creativity, passion and the ability to think. Parents become self obsorbed and lazy and it is easier to just stick a movie in or let them mess around on the internet- then to engage with their children and get to know them ( for crying out loud ) Honestly this is all a product of selfishness and a self focused narccisist society.
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