Growing Up Online - Book Report/Review Example

Internet, for today’s teens, is more than just another means of education and information; Internet has become a fundamental part of the definition of today’s teens and their lifestyle. “Growing Up Online” is a documentary that exposes the significance of the Internet in the life of the modern age teenagers. Although the Internet helps define an individual in the present age, but sometimes, the Internet plays a role in making the identity of an individual fictitious. In “Growing Up Online”, a girl shared her reasons for being online and her constant use of the Internet.

The girl’s name was Jessica Hunter. She was a shy and outcast fourteen years old girl who had almost no friends. She sought refuge in the virtual world of the Internet where she would post photos of herself, not as Jessica Hunter, but as Autumn Edows; a person she became online to escape from the real world. As Autumn Edows, she was a Goth model/artist who would take photos that many found provocative. In her interview, she said, “I just became this whole different person. I didn’t feel like myself, but I liked the fact that I didn’t feel like myself.

I felt like someone completely different. I felt like I was famous.” Her parents had no idea what Jessica was putting over the Internet or who she was chatting to. If the principal had not called them to inform what their daughter was doing, they would have never found out on their own. After that her parents forced Jessica to close the account and remove all the files she had uploaded as Autumn Edows. Autum Edow was a fake online character that Jessica used to escape from the real world. She created a fictitious life that only existed while she was online without thinking of the possible consequences of her act.

Although growing up online is a fundamental part of the contemporary lifestyle, yet the Internet also poses many risks to its users e.g. cyber bullying. Frontline went to a school and interviewed students and teachers asking what their opinions were on “Growing Up Online”. A group of girls said that many kids use the Internet to communicate with others. This enables them to say anything to anyone without considering its possible consequences. These girls said that they themselves often posted rude and mean comments on one another’s page on such social networking websites as MySpace.

One day, one of them confronted the other and the two broke out into a big fight. Instead of trying to stop the fight or look for adults to intervene, the kids in the surroundings took out their phones, recorded the whole fight, and posted it on YouTube. The group of girls found out that the fight was recorded and had been posted online where it was visible to the entire world. This made the traumatic memories of the fight everlasting for the girls. There is no doubt that the girls would regret the fight at a later point in time, even if they do not now because that video has become part of their identity.

Growing up online is so basic part of the contemporary lifestyle that we often forget the power of recording to expose us to the whole world. In the documentary, Evan Skinner tells us of the time when she received a call from a friend saying that the kids that had gone to a concert in Madison Square Garden whereas they had actually been on the Internet, drinking and acting like hooligans. As the head of the PTA, Mrs. Skinner felt obliged to share this with other parents. She received a variety of responses, from