Growing Up Online reading response

Growing Up online, directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio, is mainly about how the Internet is taking, or has taken, over the lives of many teenagers today. From reading summaries of books online, to socializing with friends, the Internet is used for just about everything. You can even buy groceries online and not even have to leave your house to eat. C.J. Pascoe, a postdoctoral scholar with the University of California claims that, "The Internet and the digital world was something that belonged to adults, and now it's something that really is the province of teenagers." More teens than adults know how to use the Internet and technology in general. Social networking sites are a main part of life for many teenagers today. A kid names Clay Calamity on MySpace explains that, “It’s addicting. I can go on it for hours.” The most popular sites are MySpace and Facebook, and for many kids, their entire social lives are on theses sites. They may have no friends in real life, but go on these sites and they have over 2,000 friends. Many kids feel like they can be themselves online as opposed to in real life. On the Internet, there is anything from how to kill yourself, to how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Nothing is off limits, and nothing is private either.

When I was in middle school, I would go on MySpace as soon as I got home from school and be on it for hours until my parents made me come downstairs for dinner. So only when I was forced to get off the computer would I actually get off. Luckily, I got bored of MySpace after awhile and now when I get on its only for about 5 minutes maximum. But back then, I was literally addicted. Could not go more than a day without checking MySpace. If I didn’t go on, all I could think about was the next time I would go on. Instead of social networking sites, I socialize mainly by texting now. I do text very frequently and I am very fast at it. Its almost scary how fast I am because to be this fast, you would have had to text a lot. It’s my main way of keeping in touch with my friends. If I could go back in time, I never would have convinced my parents to get me a cell phone. It has become such a big part of my life that I don’t know what to do without it. I don’t know how I would get a hold of any one or how anyone would get a hold of me. It makes me mad that I feel this way about a stupid cell phone, but I do. Even at this very moment, I left my phone out in Ferndale at the super bowl party I was at, and I want it back so bad. Cell phones definitely consume peoples lives and once you have a cell, it’s hard to live without it. It can be done, but it’s hard. It makes me really mad when people text while your having a conversation with them. It seems rude to let a phone conversation interfere with a conversation in person. I always wait till the conversation is over before I check my phone.