In a debate-based article by Betsy Landers and Jeffrey Nadel in UpFront called "Is it OK for Parents to Monitor Their Kids Online", the authors defend their stances on "Yes" and "No". While Betsy is determined to sway you to her side of "Yes", Jeffrey is on the kids' side of "No".
Beginning out her side of the article "Yes", Betsy, the President of the National PTA, starts out sounding reasonable by stating, "Technology can open up new worlds to young people and provide them with rich learning expieriences, but it can also expose them to significant risks." So, I started off reading her side with a small nod. Yes, that is very true. The internet can be extremley dangerous. That is completley true. Give her a minute, though, she gets a little out of bounds. Somewhere in the middle, Betsy goes all out stalker on kids by saying, "You can't compare reading a child's journal to accessing his or her conversations online.. Internet.. should not be treated the same as a diary or private letters." Now,, when reading "accessing.. conversations" and "private letters", something tells me that she would think and notice her contradiction. A conversation online that was not told to anyone outside of the conversation or openly discussed on, say, a Facebook status, is, in fact, private. Seeing as it is a conversation, it is also a letter. Making it a "private letter" only meant to be read by the ones actually engaged in that conversation. Therefore, she is accessing the child's "private letters" online. She said herself that this is wrong, excuse me, miss, practice what you preach.
Smartly, Jeffrey starts out his long piece of work with the knowledge of a parents feelings by saying, "It is understandable that parents worry about their kids." He is right. It is very understood, mostly, by everyone around that parents worry about their kids. It is quite alright for them to do so; however, it is also possible to cross the imaginary line of protecting your child. Parents like Betsy are good at crossing that line. Now, leaning into the kid's brain, Jeffrey interjects, "Spying on young people is not only an invasion of their privacy, it also denies them the respect and dignity to which all people are entitled." Yes. He is someone who does understand that just because we are young people, that does not mean we are not people. We are very much equal to those that are older than us. Many older people tend to forget that.
Traditionally, the people ina debate would choose their own words of which to use, but today, I will be doing that for them. First up to the stand, Betsy Landers, ladies and gentlemen. Betsy thinks for a moment and speaks, "Parents who are monitoring their children's activities via technology are not crossing that line into invasion of privacy; they are cyber-savvy and protecting their kids." What she does not know is that by doing what she does, she is only betraying our trust. It is not a good habit to have. Lucky for Jeffrey, he know that. He knows just what to say, "Young people, who have grown up using computers and the Web, are actually better equipped in most cases than their parents to avoid the pitfalls of technology and recognize potiential threats." Oh, Jeffrey, how you manage to woo the crowd everytime, I may never know. How right is this man? Most of the time, what he is saying is true. Yes, there are those children kept under a rock, but the rest are free to learn before the parent even thinks to do so. It is often obvious when you hear them talk about it which is better equipped for the virtual world.
One connection I can make is to myself. My dad monitored my things like that for quite a while, I stopped telling him things a long time ago. It probably would not have happened so much, had he been able to trust me. Jeffrey knows what I am saying, "It's ironic-- and unfortunate-- that many parents who decide to spy on their children online do so out of fear that their sons and daughters don't trust them; they worry that if something does go wrong, their children may not feel comfortable coming to them... They push their children further away..." What did I tell you? He knows exactly what I mean when I write all of this.
Yes, it is okay for parents to worry and check out the news feed on Facebook or check what sites we are looking at, but is it really necassary to track our conversations? No, it is not. If we have something to tell you and we even think you need to know, even if we do not want you too, do not worry. we will tell you.
No comments:
Post a Comment