Since some of our topics are technology and tech safety for teens, I think it's aright to discuss internet safety, if I may. Since elementary school, kids are taught about being safe on the internet and to not give out important information and to not talk to strangers. This has been drilled into our minds a lot and many of us are cautious and know what to do. But are we really safe? When I read Brenda Tynes' discussion about cyberbullying, I think that internet safety is not just all about not giving out personal information and stranger danger. As Tynes' said, "The harms that can come to children who use technology excessively - are not just caused by too much screen time."True, there are more dangers to it than that. I have experienced cyberbullying firsthand for a year and a half or so and it always baffled me how these we not mentioned during our Internet Safety assemblies. I knew the people behind the screen but why is it always the strangers on the internet we should avoid? Yes, strangers are indeed strangers but I didn't know that those kids I thought I knew acted like that. They're just as harmful as the strangers adults warned me about, except they knew many things about me. It's not always the people we don't know that can damage us through the internet, sometimes it's the people we know.
There are endless things we can do on the internet and the saying goes that whatever you leave there will stay on there forever. Even if it's not personal and can go as small as a small comment you said on a photo, it can never leave even if you delete it. People have already seen it, it already says you deleted the comment, the photo, or the video, but there are lots of drama going on the internet about people bringing back what others said years ago to use it against them. Your past is basically emblazoned in the world wide web for everyone to see. Yes, you need to be careful on the internet because of the many things that can be take from you but be careful about what you do because that can be taken against you.
-Julianne Z.
ReplyDeleteI really like when you mentioned how the strangers on the internet are just as harmful as the people we already know. I believe the internet has caused a greater advantage for bullying. Many people don’t act the same way they do in real life as they do on the internet. I believe the difference is that we are able to hide behind a screen when we are posting, tweeting, or texting and no physical damage is done to you. The person can’t punch you through the screen or anything like that so people tend to cyber bully more since it causes no physical harm. It is ironic though when the individual is confronted in person and they act completely different. But, the internet in general is a very dangerous place and no matter how cautious you may be, trouble can always find you. Just like you mentioned, the comments can and will be deleted but it is never truly gone. These posts or texts can also be very monotone therefore, sometimes it’s even hard to interpret how and what the person is trying to say and it may come across the wrong way.