Blog post 5

Kids now have access to more technology and information than any other generation before them. This means they have more access to learning and knowledge tools, however, with the good also comes the bad. There is a lot of stuff on the Internet that could possibly be dangerous for children. Parents now have to worry about their child’s safety in the comfort of there own homes. This has led to parents monitoring their children’s activity online. This is when parents will observe and check online actively. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not parents should do this. I personally think that when is comes too younger children parents should monitor their kids activity to a certain extent.  A parent should check up on there kids and make sure everything there kids is doing is not only safe for them but also make sure that anything they are doing wont effect there future. I was not monitored when I was a kid and luckily I didn’t do anything too stupid. The worst thing I ever did was probably make a few bad Facebook posts.  I have friends however who weren’t so lucky and did some things that they shouldn’t have done online. One girl I know sent a guy naked pictures of herself over the Internet. He then showed them to all his friends.  This may not seem like the worst thing in the world until you find out that this happened when she was in 8^th grade.  That can be pretty detrimental for an 8^th grader.  It is for reasons like that why I believe that parents need to monitor their kid’s activity. Parents should create a good amount of trust while also being able to keep an eye on them.

                        This large amount of technology and information has had a profound effect not only on parenting but also on academics. Teacher’s views on the effects of technology on academics are both good and bad.  Some positive views on the effects of technology on academics include more resources available for kids, easier access to information, and more self-sufficiency.  When I was in elementary school learning math and reading there were so many different online programs that I could use to help me. Kids no longer have to rely just on teachers to help teach them. Now if someone wants to find out information about something they no longer have to go searching in the library for an answer. All it takes now to find information is a few simple clicks on a keyboard. This is a good thing for kids because they can learn and take in much more info. Because finding information is so easy and available kids no longer have to rely on adults for help and can take learning into their own hands. While all of these things are great there are also some negative that teachers point out. There is so much information available that sometimes it can be overwhelming. Sorting through that much information can be difficult for anyone especially younger children.  Another problem that comes along with the Internet is that students aren’t using a wide range of sources.  This isn’t something that just kids do. When I’m doing research on something most of the time I wont go past the first page on Google or whatever search engine I’m using.  This isn’t necessarily a good thing because it means I’m ignoring all the other information that is possibly out there.  Technology affects all aspects of our lives and people are still learning the consequences and outcomes of this. Whether it’s a good thing or bad thing is up to you.