The PBS documentary "Growing Up Online" raises concerns about how kids are growing up in a more dangerous environment than their parents did, that they cannot control. First off, the documentary is talking about what were then new problems in 2005 when I was seven. The concerned parents and teachers talk about how their kids are so addicted to their social media and can't function normally. A teacher says that this is not the world she started teaching in and she doesn't like it. Since then, the world has evolved past the fears of the internet. Over ten years later people of all ages are plugged into the internet nonstop and the vast majority can function perfectly. A different viewpoint one teacher raised that should have been built on years ago is that the teachers complain how kids aren't reading but just using sparknotes and that isn't necessarily a problem. He said that if a kid can embrace the wealth of information available and corroborate it to his own advantage and create something viable, that in itself is a useful skill. The people who were finding what worked and putting the pieces together to make something new ten years ago are most of the technological kingpins now. Social networking has brought ideas and people together like never before.
Another issue they brought up is how social networking is pushing kids to record and share whatever they like without any filters. They portrayed kids doing whatever they wanted since the world is just a post away. That isn't a real problem by itself. All kids want to have their voice heard and we created a platform where we can all speak and hear each other all the time. Obviously, there are issues that can come up when everyone can say what they want when they want but when people express themselves you see the whole range of human experience. These aren't new issues, rather they are being played out on a bigger scale. This entire PBS documentary is outdated since in the last ten years all of these concerns have simply become facts of life.
Another issue they brought up is how social networking is pushing kids to record and share whatever they like without any filters. They portrayed kids doing whatever they wanted since the world is just a post away. That isn't a real problem by itself. All kids want to have their voice heard and we created a platform where we can all speak and hear each other all the time. Obviously, there are issues that can come up when everyone can say what they want when they want but when people express themselves you see the whole range of human experience. These aren't new issues, rather they are being played out on a bigger scale. This entire PBS documentary is outdated since in the last ten years all of these concerns have simply become facts of life.
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