4 ms·

I'm a teenager, and from my own experience, teenagers will do idiotic things even without the Internet. Pointing the finger at the Internet for parents' problem

by djent 13y ago

I'm a teenager, and from my own experience, teenagers will do idiotic things even without the Internet. Pointing the finger at the Internet for parents' problems with their children is an easy thing to do because the Internet can't defend itself, especially as a whole.

acallaghan 13y ago
In the 60's the teenager label emerged. These were just kids that had found a sense of community in sharing music, rebellion against the system, and unique dress. There's nothing new here. Teenagers will be rebellious, as they always have. If the older people in society find ways to prevent them from accessing material they want to see, they'll just find another way. Teenagers have their own tastes in what the internet provides, and that interests/excites them, through social media, and other specific sites (like ask.fm). Nothing around this is new. Saying we should protect the poor teenagers is very demeaning to a group that are becoming adults, and protecting them by censorship helps no one in our society.
- Cthulhu_ 13y ago
  And yet, before the 60's and before the rise of proper education, teenagers went to work after elementary school (if that) and became mature, responsible adults much sooner. At least, so I heard. They couldn't get together and have orgies or whatever, because they were expected to be either at work, or back at work at 6 AM. [/faux history teacher]
  - superuser2 13y ago
    Work now requires more education. A PhD student is not less mature than a bachelors student just because he's in school for more years. He doesn't lose the right to make decisions for himself. Prolonging the socially defined period of childhood didn't magically rewire brain chemistry.
andrelaszlo 13y ago
Somehow I feel like these things happened even before the Internet (crazy idea, I know) but now we have documentation.
muhfreedoms 13y ago
I agree, I've lived in different slums in South America for a couple of years where Internet access at home is a rare thing. Teenagers have to go to cybercafes and not everyone has the money to do so every single day. They still indulge in idiotic activities with or without the help of the Internet.
chrisdone 13y ago
Oddly, I was a teenager, too. The mistake some members of the adult generation make, and have always made, is thinking that, or acting as though (and that is an easy cop out), the current teen generation is fundamentally different to their own.
- lucozade 13y ago
  Some members of the adult generation i.e. me are concerned that the current generation is no different from their own. I'd hate to think how distracted I'd have been with access to everything my children have. Having said that, I'm not sure the discussion is advanced much by either highlighting incredibly extreme cases or cases that just happen to involve technology (being sent down from Oxford for dissolute behaviour has a long history).

by djent 13y ago

acallaghan 13y ago

In the 60's the teenager label emerged. These were just kids that had found a sense of community in sharing music, rebellion against the system, and unique dress. There's nothing new here. Teenagers will be rebellious, as they always have. If the older people in society find ways to prevent them from accessing material they want to see, they'll just find another way. Teenagers have their own tastes in what the internet provides, and that interests/excites them, through social media, and other specific sites (like ask.fm). Nothing around this is new. Saying we should protect the poor teenagers is very demeaning to a group that are becoming adults, and protecting them by censorship helps no one in our society.

Cthulhu_ 13y ago
And yet, before the 60's and before the rise of proper education, teenagers went to work after elementary school (if that) and became mature, responsible adults much sooner. At least, so I heard. They couldn't get together and have orgies or whatever, because they were expected to be either at work, or back at work at 6 AM. [/faux history teacher]
- superuser2 13y ago
  Work now requires more education. A PhD student is not less mature than a bachelors student just because he's in school for more years. He doesn't lose the right to make decisions for himself. Prolonging the socially defined period of childhood didn't magically rewire brain chemistry.

andrelaszlo 13y ago

Somehow I feel like these things happened even before the Internet (crazy idea, I know) but now we have documentation.

muhfreedoms 13y ago

I agree, I've lived in different slums in South America for a couple of years where Internet access at home is a rare thing. Teenagers have to go to cybercafes and not everyone has the money to do so every single day. They still indulge in idiotic activities with or without the help of the Internet.

chrisdone 13y ago

Oddly, I was a teenager, too. The mistake some members of the adult generation make, and have always made, is thinking that, or acting as though (and that is an easy cop out), the current teen generation is fundamentally different to their own.

lucozade 13y ago
Some members of the adult generation i.e. me are concerned that the current generation is no different from their own. I'd hate to think how distracted I'd have been with access to everything my children have. Having said that, I'm not sure the discussion is advanced much by either highlighting incredibly extreme cases or cases that just happen to involve technology (being sent down from Oxford for dissolute behaviour has a long history).