Reader Response 9/16
Growing Up Online, represents an “Arguing Position” video because it clearly states a position on how teenagers have become very dependent on the social aspects of the internet and that it is dangerous for them. Just by reading the title of the video, one can come to the conclusion that it is about how children have become so dependent on the internet. Then they give some statistics about the approximate percentage of teenagers that use the internet and they explain why teenagers go to the social parts of the internet. They say that teenagers use facebook and myspace to complain about authorities and just to connect with others. Through this video they show that teenagers use spark notes a lot on the internet, instead of reading the actual book. Most teachers see this as cheating and now are having students complete their essays in class and/or submit them to turn it in website, which points out phrase and spots that have been taken from other places. Throughout the first half of the video, it gives example of why using these types of sites can be harmful by telling the story of a young lady who felt like she had no friends , so she made a page of herself and placed graphic pictures of herself on it and eventually started to make more friends. This made her feel very good about herself until she got caught. By using examples like this one, we can see that teenagers who are using the internet may be getting into trouble or abusing what it was actually created for. This video shows what teens think about this issue and how they are dealing with it, but then it goes back to the other side of things and explains once again the harm that the internet can bring. The video does a good job of arguing a position on how the internet is becoming very harmful to the nation’s youth.