A Great Little Task
After leaving biology class, Alisson felt indignant, she did not understand why the teacher asked them to write a paper about the use that adolescents give to the Internet, what did that have to do with her class?
After hours of research, Alisson began to write her homework...
“ New technologies, especially the Internet, have revolutionized the world of information, and teenagers have known how to take advantage of all its benefits. Some of the advantages of the new technologies for young people are:
- Improvement in communication; the Internet allows communication between people from anywhere in the world, at any time and in a continuous and permanent way. In other words, geographical barriers to communication have been reduced, almost eliminated.
- Facilitation of social contact; for most young people the use of social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Messenger or Snapchat, make them feel integrated with other people like them with whom they can share their hobbies, interests, opinions, and even their concerns. In addition, the possible anonymity and the absence of eye contact makes them express themselves more openly.
- Innovation in new ways of learning; the internet makes it easier to access training through courses, workshops, conferences and online classes that can be adapted to anyone.
- Entertainment; the possibilities on the internet are almost endless, allowing access to multiple entertainment resources such as blogs, online newspapers or magazines, games, movies, series, music, live concerts, etc.
No one is safe from the influence that the Internet has on us, however children and adolescents are the most vulnerable groups due to their
lack of experience and information management. Therefore it is important to take into account the disadvantages of its use:
- Lack of privacy and misuse of personal data; teenagers often use the Internet without taking the necessary security precautions, which causes them to put their privacy at risk, because anyone can access and do with that information what they want.
- Inappropriate information; the excess of information can be very useful, but in many other situations could be inappropriate, unreliable and unverified, which can influence the perception of the world around them and their own behavior in a wrong or negative way.
- Difficulty in social development; the continuous use of the Internet can generate social isolation since teenagers feel safer being behind a screen, and little by little they stop carrying out activities with people that surrounds them, and with this, social skills which are essential for life are being affected.
- Addiction; the internet and the algorithm of social networks are created to generate addiction in consumers, besides that after the pandemic and living in a virtual world, teenagers have been very affected to the point that they use the internet as an escape from reality to avoid feeling anxiety.
To conclude, the internet and social networks offer us a new world with infinite possibilities which we must learn to use wisely in order to get advantage of them without missing out the beautiful world that surrounds us”
In the next biology class, the teacher got up and asked his students…
- Can someone explain to me why you think I left you that task? Yes? - He said, staring at Allison.
- Maybe so that we are more aware of the use of the internet? - She answered.
- Actually yes, and also I want you to stop giving so much importance to that - he said pointing to his cell phone - and wake up and take advantage of the world around us, when was the last time you went camping? When was the last time you visited a library? I am not asking you to put your cell phones aside because today it is essential but start with small things, instead of putting on your headphones, talk to the one next to you, we just have one life.
