It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens
Chapters 4-6 Chapter 4: Danger Are Sexual Predators lurking everywhere? Quote: “Fear is not the solution; empathy is. If we want to make the world a safer place, we need people to pay attention to what’s happening in their communities, not just in their households. We need concerned adults and young people to open their eyes on the digital street and reach out to those who are struggling. And we need to address the underlying issues that are at the crux of risky behaviors rather than propagate distracting myths (pg. 127)” Question? Do our middle schools and high schools have a safe place online for teens to reach out? Connection: When I was reading this I thought of that TV show “What Would you Do?” Each situation had someone (an actor or actress) in need but because of various reasons some people helped while others looked the other way. Too many times we do not help because we do not want to get involved. Instead, we absolutely need to get involved! Epiphany- The biggest epiphany was reading “teens who are most at risk online are often struggling everywhere.” As adults we must do a better job at reaching those students that we see publicly struggling. Chapter 5: Bullying Is Social Media Amplifying Meanness and Cruelty? Quote: “ Social media has not radically altered the dynamics of bullying, but it has made these dynamics more visible to more people. We must use this visibility, not to justify increased punishment, but to help youth who are actually crying out for attention (pg. 152).” Question: How do we know when someone is crying out for help or who are just seeking attention? Connection: I can remember back to high school and the notes that we would pass between our friends. Inside the notes would be stories, random thoughts and of course the normal teen girl drama. This all happened on lined sheets of paper with cute gel pens. Now it is happening on social media for all to see. The degree of what is being said is not changing---its just so much more visible. Again, I am SO thankful I did not go through high school with social media!!! Epiphany- I was shocked to read about digital self-harm. “Psychologist Elizabeth Englander found that 9 percent of youth she surveyed reported using the internet to bully themselves.” I had no idea that that was even a term- digital self harm. Bullying isn’t necessarily happening to people they are causing this to happen to themselves originated by themselves. Chapter 6: Inequality Can Social Media Resolve Social Divisions? Quote: “Social media does not radically rework teens’ social networks. As a result, technology does not radically reconfigure inequality. The transformative potential of the internet to restructure social networks in order to reduce structural inequality rests heavily on people’s ability to leverage it to make new connections. Question: How can schools teach students to connect to groups in a professional way instead of just social? Connection: “The internet will not inherently make the world more equal, nor will it automatically usher today’s youth into a tolerant world. Instead, it lays bare existing and entrenched social divisions.” We know all too well the stories of youth connecting with like minded individuals to create harm instead of good. Epiphany- “Just because people have access to the internet does not mean that they have equal access to information. Information literacy is not simply about the structural means of access but also about the experience to know where to look, the skills to interpret what’s available, and the knowledge to put new pieces of information into context.” I choose this as my epiphany not because it was something necessarily new. This was something I had always thought about it-but couldn’t quite put it into words. I couldn’t grab my highlighter fast enough when I was reading through these lines. Works Cited: Boyd, D. (n.d.). It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens.
2 Comments
8/1/2015 12:19:10 pm
Hi Kelly,
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8/2/2015 06:17:27 am
Hi Kelley. I was drawn to your chapter 6 reflection. The quote that caused your epiphany was one that caused me to reread a couple of times. It's all about literacy. My supervisor and I have had several brainstorming sessions about how to make the internet accessible to students at home who cannot afford it. After thinking about this a little more, more is needed to be done. That definitely is a good first step, but not the solution. The access doesn't mean that it is equal for all. Like Thomas and Brown state, once you have access, you need to know where to look and have the skills to interpret the information available. Until then can we consider that we have provided equity. I think the answer to your question can help us shed some light on possible solutions. Thank you for your insight!
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