We always say things change. That saying definitely has not changed… More than that though are the things we think have progressed so far that they are devoid of their original intentions. In reality, there are many things that despite technological and social progression have stayed the same. Teens have always felt the need to update their friends. This idea has never changed through generation to generation, however, the means of updating have changed. Kids used to hang out in person, meet up at the park, or talk for hours on the home phone while your younger sibling listened in on the other line. Privacy has always been important to teens. They have adorned their doors with keep out signs and bought the voice activated diaries and lockers right when they hit the shelves, but as we become more obsessed with publicly; sharing our lives with friends can be done with a click of a button. How we implement privacy has changed. Instead of hanging out in public space away from parents teens have created online places to chat away from parents. They plan events through Facebook and talk about the latest news in group texts and group messaging while parents are worried about online safety and decisions regarding privacy. The thing is parents having always been worried about how much information their children share. They could meet a stranger in the park and share too much information those dangers are everywhere and despite changing mediums have not changed themselves. Overall it isn't the fundamental idea of these things that has changed, but only the medium in which the ideas are implemented. Saturday, December 12, 2015
Changing things that don't change
We always say things change. That saying definitely has not changed… More than that though are the things we think have progressed so far that they are devoid of their original intentions. In reality, there are many things that despite technological and social progression have stayed the same. Teens have always felt the need to update their friends. This idea has never changed through generation to generation, however, the means of updating have changed. Kids used to hang out in person, meet up at the park, or talk for hours on the home phone while your younger sibling listened in on the other line. Privacy has always been important to teens. They have adorned their doors with keep out signs and bought the voice activated diaries and lockers right when they hit the shelves, but as we become more obsessed with publicly; sharing our lives with friends can be done with a click of a button. How we implement privacy has changed. Instead of hanging out in public space away from parents teens have created online places to chat away from parents. They plan events through Facebook and talk about the latest news in group texts and group messaging while parents are worried about online safety and decisions regarding privacy. The thing is parents having always been worried about how much information their children share. They could meet a stranger in the park and share too much information those dangers are everywhere and despite changing mediums have not changed themselves. Overall it isn't the fundamental idea of these things that has changed, but only the medium in which the ideas are implemented. 
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I completely agree with this blog post. When I was younger, I would immediately call my friends when I got home from school, typically asking moms, “Can Bailey come over and play?” While parents controlled when we were able to hang out, I feel like privacy in the relationship was more freeing. I would meet up with my friends to hang out outside or even just sit in my game room and we could have free flowing conversation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that privacy, especially from parents, becomes more important in the teenage years. With new technologies, this privacy comes form Facebook groups, text messaging and online chats. While this may appear to be private, it is easily less private than the conversations we had with friends when we were younger. The dangers that present themselves today, such as hacking, “catfishing” and online stalkers are similar to those of yesteryear. Just as parents worried about their children being taken from a park, they have cause to worry equally as much about online dangers. In some ways, I think that the dangers of today are more severe than previously. While I agree that the fundamental idea of freedom and privacy has remained the same, I think that the change in medium makes privacy significantly more important.
This blog reminded me the story about the three daughters we heard in class recently. In the story, this family had three daughters aged 15, 13, and 11. The parents had prided themselves on the idea that they were successful in teaching their daughters online security. So the parents hired a man to catfish the daughters to see if they truly understood internet safety and privacy. At the end of it, the eldest daughter went to meet the “teenage boy” she had been talking with on the internet at a park. The middle daughter told the “teenage boy” her address so that he could swing by and pick her up. The youngest daughter, though, willingly entered a stranger’s van. Growing up, I was always told not to interact with people that I didn’t know. Nowadays it’s expected of you to socialize with strangers. One example: YouTube comments!
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