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Technology and adolescence
Essay on identity in adolescence
The physical, cognitive, and social changes of adolescence allow the teenager to develop the identity that will serve as a basis for their adult lives
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Imagine having every move tracked and having someone watch everything being done on your phone. Total invasion of privacy right? But few may know that many parents actually do this with their kids. With the rise of technology, some parents may have technology comparable to what the FBI supposedly does. If many people are outraged by what the government is doing, what makes it okay for parents to treat their kids this way? Although they are able, parents should not monitor their children’s social media accounts, cell phones, or location. When parents monitor their kids, it not only shows that they don’t trust them, but it also causes the child to have mistrust in their parents if they find out on their own that they’re being tracked. John …show more content…
In an article called “Spying on your kid’s phone with Teensafe will only undermine trust” written by Tonya Rooney, she mentions how kids become affected. She states “It also goes against the growing body of evidence that shows that – unless trusted to take risks – children are losing the very skills they need to navigate the world and deal with the genuine risks they will encounter” (Rooney). Many parents may not know this, but it is a big issue. They are all blinded by trying to protect their kids from everything, that they don’t see the negative effects of their actions, and most times don’t consider the child’s feelings when it comes down to monitoring everything they do. In another article written by Kirsten Weir called “Parents Shouldn’t Spy on Their Kids,” she makes a good point on how children's’ development is a big part in this argument as well. It states “Adolescence is a critical time in kids’ lives, when they need privacy and a sense of individual space to develop their own identities. It can be almost unbearable for parents to watch their children pull away. But as tempting as it may be for parents to infiltrate the dark corners of their children’s personal lives, there’s good evidence that snooping does more harm than good” …show more content…
It is true that children will require guidance for a little while, as they do in real life, but at a certain point, they will need to be able to learn to navigate the internet by themselves, while being educated on the dangers. Alon Schwartz, as a father also says “I firmly believe that children need to learn how to manage their own online presence — what to say, share, download, upload, and what not to say, share, and upload” (Shwartz). Most parents should feel this way, because if you want them to become independent in the real world, you firsts have to let them become independent in their online
Internet is advancing every day, parents have no idea what their kids are doing in cyberspace and are contemplating the idea of spyware. In the article, “The Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben, he argues the idea of parents putting spyware on kids’ computer is a good idea to keep the child safe. Many American parents have no idea what happens in cyberspace; sex, bullying, and drugs. Parents are torn between protecting their child with spyware and allowing the child to have privacy. Coben uses his friends’ personal experiences to support his argument without leaving room for counterarguments. By using strong emotional appeals, weak qualifiers, and sugary word choice Coben creates a weak argument that lacks persuasion.
There are, after-all, ways to be an effective, inspiring, and supporting parent without spying on the child’s every online
“Do you wish you’d grown up with your mom tracking your every move? If not don’t do it to your own kid.” states Lenore Skenazy in her persuasive article Tracking Kids like Felons. These words draw an immediate comparison to “the golden rule” or “treat others how you want to be treated.” In this article Skenazy evaluates a personal-tracking app called FamilySignal. As the readers we see the author’s take on this specific point in the very first sentence when she uses sarcasm on the word “safe.” Skenazy does not give too many facts but she does base most of her article off of morals, which may even be more persuasive. Even in today’s day and age tracking ones every step is definitely not ok, even with the advanced technology that we have.
The expansion of the Internet infrastructure across the world, has brought an increased audience. Which has provided expanded markets for businesses and exploited new opportunities. There are virtually countless social sites and media used by individuals to access and share experiences , content, insights, and perspectives. Parents today tend to believe they should spy on their kids online activity. I argue parents should respect the privacy of a child's social life and his/her internet activity.
In conclusion, it is important that parents give their freedom to make sure kids learn to be independent and now days most teens spend a lot of their time in the internet so by parents not letting them have their privacy there, they are taking over all their lives without even giving them a chance to “explored their identity and the world” like Boyd mention. Parents, need to realize that by over protecting their kids is like sending them to war without weapons because they will not know how to confront the world and worst of all they will not know they things they are capable of doing by themselves.
Online predators, pornography, drug trafficking, piracy, and hate sites are just some of the dangers that a child can face on the internet. The article “The Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben states that parents should use spyware to monitor their children. Coben argues that parents should be able to know what is in their children’s lives. he believes that spyware can prevent children from being targeted by internet predators on social networking sites and even prevent children from being cyber bullied. I agree with Coben’s claim that parents should consider using spyware as a protection for their teens online. There are many possible dangers facing children on the internet and it is essential that parents install spyware.
“Maybe it’s the word: spyware. It brings up associations of Dick Cheney sitting in a dark room, rubbing his hands together and reading your most private thoughts”. In the article “The Undercover Parent”, writer and father, Harlan Coben argues that parents spying on teens is a good precaution to take. Coben was very indecisive on whether spyware was a good concept to use to find out things about your teen, though, in the end, he concluded that it was a good solution, but conditions had to be enforced. Coben illustrates the point that the internet is a dangerous place, not everything on the internet is private, and it's a parental responsibility to know what your child is doing. For the most part, I agree with Coben, but I still do disagree with
In his article he states “but there's a moment when the two way tools of communication turn into the one way tools of surveillance” (Goodman 15). This is a clear example of how simple monitoring can turn into an invasion of privacy. However, monitoring can also invade privacy. There's a common misconception that whatever is kept private, is bad. People tend to forget, that everyone is entitled to their own privacy. Adults are guilty of doing this to their children, especially if they monitor their child's phones. Parents like to assume the worst for their children, and in response, turn to monitoring. Parents, need to understand that not everything a person does on a phone is bad. Most teens know common sense and stay away from the negative side of the
In other words, children will not be able to freely do anything online knowing their parents are watching their every move. In fact, by not giving children privacy, you essentially treat them like an object and not a human being. As a matter of fact, spying on children will most likely make them feel violated. For example, being a student in high school who obtains straight A’s, participates in extracurricular activities, and has never had any run-ins with dangerous substances such as drugs or alcohol, I would assume I earned the right to having privacy from my parents. However, my parents recently began to confiscate my phone everyday after school for no apparent reason. Provided that, my parents have made me very furious for having the need to punish me by taking my phone away with no explanation whatsoever. As a result of this, it has created distrust between my parents and
While not always seen, overall, teenagers get far less privacy than adults do. Between schools checking through the belongings of their students without solid evidence to allow it, or parents monitoring the activity of their children online, teenagers today are subject to much of their privacy being taken away. It is true that this can sometimes be helpful in busting drug dealers or keeping teenagers from getting involved with bad habits online. However, it can also have an adverse effect, ruining the relationship between a parent and his or her child, or other relationships throughout the rest of the teenager’s life. Teenagers should be allowed more privacy, if not as much as adults have, as it will keep them less fearful, as well as help to keep their interpersonal relationships strong and their emotions in a good state.
Another reason for not censoring the internet is the psychological effects that it can have on a child. The filtering of the internet can tell a child that adults do not trust them to surf the net on their own. This can lead them to believe that they can not make their own decisions, and that a computer determines what right and wr...
The technology and the development has improved to a great extent, but instead of using it the right way, we, as individualists, have chosen to do it in the wrong way. However, the big and not least controversial question is why should parents have a track for their kids? Well the answer is obvious. Parents want to see what their adolescents are doing and whom they are talking with.
From the perspective of adolescents and teenagers growing up in such a hyper-connected world, having a smartphone just seems like a necessity, something that all parents feel obliged to giving to their child at a young age, should they have to contact them in case of emergency. But when can an item such as a smartphone turn into a device that sucks away confidence, self pride and the overall well-being of a child? A device that is making a child fear when it should be used in order to help them feel safe. This is what can happen when you introduce social media to children who do understand how to fully use it safely; who don’t understand the implications and consequences that come with silly mistakes made through social media but also don’t
However, sensitive information that may be shared might later embarrass the children as they grow older and realize what is available on the internet. Such events may result in resentment and misunderstandings on both the children and the parents’ sides. According to Steinberg (2017) in “Sharenting: Children’s Privacy in the Age of Social Media,” there have been long-term issues and conflicts regarding parental sharing and whether children have the right to control what is shared about them. Another long-term problem raised by parental sharing is the idea of data collecting. Per “Children’s Privacy in the Big Data Era: Research Opportunities,” “These trends raise serious concerns about digital dossiers that could follow young people into adulthood, affecting their access to education, employment, healthcare, and financial services. Although US privacy law provides some safeguards for children younger than 13 years old online, adolescents are afforded no such protections” (Montgomery, Chester, & Milosevic, 2017, p.
These individuals feel that it is an invasion of the teenagers’ right to privacy and the development of their trustworthiness. Kay Mathieson states “only by giving children privacy will they come to see their thoughts as something that belongs to them – to which they have an exclusive right.” In the United States and according to the law, monitoring the internet usage of a minor does not break any laws and is a moral obligation of the parent. Trustworthiness is an important development of a child to learn in order to develop genuine relationships with others in the lifetime. “Not only does monitoring have the great potential to undermine the trust of the child in the parent, and thus to undermine trust in others more generally, it also has the potential to undermine the capacity of the child to be worth of trust” (Mathieson). If the parent has not already had conversations with the teenager about monitoring internet usage and the parent is not telling the child about the monitoring, there is already an issue with the development of trustworthiness in the teenager. There was already a failure of development of this skill before the internet or internet monitoring was introduced.