Question 1: Are teens treated differently online than they are in real life?
Ato writes:
From my experiences as a teenager growing up in Ghana and the conservative
attitude and lifestyle of Ghanaians, teenagers in are treated more equally
online than in real life. In Ghana, age plays a significant role in an
individual's place in the social strata.There is a Ghanaian saying that
embodies this phenomenon, which goes, "An older person is always right." This
attitude is embedded in the society, irrespective of the kind of parents you
have. My parents were educated in the United Kingdom and here in the States;
comparing the treatment I received as a teenager to other Ghanaian kids, we
were treated differently in real life due to our age because of the
conservative nature of our culture.
Teenagers are treated equally when it come to the Internet because those who
are lucky to have access to it can literally visit any site and obtain any
information they want without the eagle eyes of your parents or any adult.
I guess you will be wondering what about objectionable sites like porn sites,
etc. The age agreement and other legal agreements is a facade, and the
teenager can get into those sites.
In real life, it is difficult to elude being treated as a teenager but on
cyberspace the barriers are brought down by a click of a MOUSE!!!!!.
Eric writes:
In a store, or even walking down the street, teens are frowned upon. Often
they are looked upon as immature people, which is only true half the time. :)
In, say, an online chat, the true maturity of a person comes out, not the age
they appear. Often, plenty of adults, are, uh, worse.
Lisa writes:
Yes, I believe that teens are treated differently online because teens seem to
create a presence without an image online. When you enter a chat room, all
you see is a list of names, and those names are how the teens choose to
identify themselves. It's more like a different reality than what they may
be facing offline, a world in which they can run away from the problems that
they may be facing or even to get an answer to those problems.
Teens also seem to accept one another quicker online than they would in
real life, simply because they can put aside their shyness and act like
themselves. They are not afraid to be the first to say, "Hey." Also,
everybody has their own imagination, and they use that when they meet someone
online to perceive a person the way they want to, which is usually the way
they want the person to seem, making it easier for them to accept the person.
Nadia responds to Lisa's #1
hyperlink:one another
This is true. Just as quickly as adults get attitude with us because of the
way we look, we do it to one another. Somebody who is all geared out in FUBU
might not even think of talking to somebody who has the skater look. But who
knows? Those two people may have lots in common and they would never know
because they didn't think they were their kind of person based on what they
looked like. But online nobody can tell the difference, so we can't judge
each other by that.
Nadia writes:
Yes, I think they are. Because until somebody asks you how old you are,
nobody knows. And that means they can't treat you the way they think you
should be treated because of your age. And it isn't necesarily because of
your age that people tend to treat you like crap in real life, it's also how
you look. Somebody in real life can see that you are 16 or 17, but in
addition to that, you don't look the way they think you should. So they will
also treat you better or worse because of that. But online, they can know how
old you are and only go by that as to how to treat you.
Viktor writes:
Yes, of course. But it's not just about teens. Like on IRC, it quite often
happens that I'm having a conversation for hours, and I can't realize that
I'm talking to a 40-year-old.
But when I'm trying to buy something online, the sellers usually don't
even assume that a 14-year-old wants to buy something.
You can never know who you're talking/arranging business with.
Question 2: How would you make the Internet accessible to teens who don't have
access?
Ato writes:
Ghana is the third fastest growing economy in Africa presently and a darling
of the International Monetary Fund. Howvever, computer use is still
considered a privilege because it's way beyond the means of the average
Ghanaian.
To encourage Internet accessiblity, I will undertake a project that will
hook public libraries and schools to the web and have volunteer tutors to help
teens surf the Net.
This the most effective way to reach a large number of teens and to develop
their interest in my country given the prevailing economic conditions.
Eric writes:
Schools seems like a logical place, however many schools are too under-funded
to provide what they should. My school has several computers available to
students, and they are _always_ taken (by people who I don't think have access
at home). Of course, there is absolutely no incentive from teachers to use
it, except for an odd teacher that makes the students browse the Net for
sources.
It's probably unreasonable to expect every person (especially teenagers) to
have a computer at home in the near future, but we definately need to provide
public (& free!) places.
Lisa writes:
The Internet is a great tool for research when it comes to teens, so
having access is important, especially in certain places. Having more than
four terminals open for the public in the library is one action to take. Most
teens go to the school library instead of the public library, which is why
there should be a good amount of computers accessible to the Internet there.
Though there are challenges in dealing with the cost of the computers
and Internet, there are always ways to get through them. Most of the time,
you can find a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) to donate an account to
your school for a certain time span. Hooking up these computers to a network
is also an easy task which will give more than one computer access. This is
what my school did and they also wired it up through the computer labs and
shops.
Another way to help teens would be to rent out Web TV's for a week-long
timespan or to take them out through the library. This way, the money
collected from the renting could be donated to the schools to gain more
Internet access. WebTV should be used because most homes contain a TV already
and all is needed is the necessary connections. An account can be designated
with some restrictions built-in also. It would be kind of like renting a VCR
and not having to lug around a whole computer. WebTV is easier to carry
around and more accessible.
Nadia writes:
I think the main reason for some people not having access to the Internet is
money. They have a computer but they can't afford the Internet; maybe they
don't have either one. So I think one way to get those people connected is to
open computer centers where they can not only have access to the Internet,
among other things, but they can also learn how to use it to their advantage.
Viktor writes:
The easiest way is by giving access in school. Every teen would be able
to access the Net even if he doesn't have a computer at home. But I'd
limit the available time because - like in our school - there can't be
enough computers, and the same few guys would be sitting there every
afternoon.
Nadia responding to Viktor #2:
hyperlink: in school
I think that that is a good start, Viktor. And that will help some that
really want to use the Internet. But just because it's there doesn't mean
that students are going to use it. We have Internet access at my school, and
I never use it unless one of my teachers makes the class. Another reason some
students might not use it is because they don't know how and they don't want
to go in there and end up looking stupid. So in addition to having access in
school, there should be somebody or some people without attitude there willing
to help...maybe even a class, who knows?
Question 3: Is our Internet use creating a new reality or a false sense of
reality?
Ato writes:
I believe that Internet is creating a new reality because prior to emergence
of the worldwide web, there existed barriers to communicating efficiently to a
large number of people. "Barriers" in this context refers to the amount of
money involved in reaching millions of people with your message and the
censorship which kept so many ideas and perspectives from being shared.
The Internet created the awareness of so many things that otherwise could not
be brought to the attention of so many people or shared with people of similar
interests.
On the other hand, the Internet is filled with rumours, psycho pages and a
bunch of misinformation due to the absence of censorship. I am convinced that
these sites help us to get in touch with general reality (in other words,
things happening beyond our backyard) and stimulate us to think objectively
about what is happening in our world and where the human race is going.
Eric writes:
It's a new reality. You can do almost everything you can do off the
computer... Communicate, shop, eat (grocery stores! Online pizza places!)...
to the point you could survive with a computer and never leaving the house.
Online communities exist just like real ones. An IRC channel consists of a
lot of people that return to the same place to talk to each other. They grow,
and learn, from each other like you would normally. I feel like I've gotten a
lot out of talking to people online, it has probably helped some of my social
skills. :P
Eeeeek.... Time is up, don't have enough cash to pay for another hour.
Nadia respond's to Eric's #3
hyperlink: just like real ones
But, they aren't just like real ones. Sure there are a few online communities
that a few people can survive on. But let's be real here...the real life
communities completely outnumber and overpower the few online communities.
Sure, a person can practicly live online, but the rest of the world is still
going on outside, and he or she may eventually have to deal with that. The
social and communication skills they may learn online aren't the same or all
they need in the real world. So I think that people should be careful about
making their whole lives online.
Lisa writes:
I think, at some point, our use of the Internet is based on creating a false
sense of reality. This happens mostly in the beginning. We get so
overwhelmed with the response of our peers online that we hide from our true
selves in order to feel different, to feel the way we always wanted to feel
and can't in reality. A feeling of being accepted and of having the
friendship we want.
This doesn't last long, 'cause the person usually ends up adapting to the
online world. Then it's more about helping others. It's kind of like the old
leading the young, though with the Internet, it's the experienced leading the
inexperienced.
The Internet is an information highway, all right. You get warped into it
and without any notice, an hour or two has gone by! This isn't a false
reality, this is a new reality. There is nothing false about gaining
information about all aspects of life. It can lead to both ways; it all
depends how you perceive the situation.
Nadia writes:
In some ways, both. I think that it is, and has been, creating a new reality.
I mean, not so much that it would dramatically change the world as we know it
in a second. But computers and the Internet are slowly evolving into part of
everyday life. But it isn't moving that fast. Some people have already made
the Internet a top priority in their lives when they were very young, so they
have a false sense of what reallity is right now. It's like the Internet and
stuff is their lives, they only know how to interact with people online. When
they step out into the real world, it's a little different; you can't hide as
much about yourself as you can online.
Viktor writes:
A new reality. It changes our everyday life. We can meet people from
other continents, visit places on the other side of the
world in only a few clicks. We can reach our families when we've travelled a
few thousand kilometers away from home. It's the greatest development since
the
radio.