According to Frontline's discussion on the influence of the internet on adolescents across America, including social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, "chatrooms", and access to "morally questionable" content, parents should be fearing for the lives of their children. Siting references of young girls gone wild, cocky teenage boys displaying their failed judgement online, and ultimately a young boy who took his own life as a result of the encouragement from another online peer.
While all of the examples given by Frontline have clearly caused much controversy, and even turmoil, within the families interviewed, these cases are, to me, prime examples of typical teenage rebellion channeled through a new medium- the internet. Online social networking has enabled teenagers to become more influenced by their peers, and therefore more exposed to both peer pressures and the universal rule of teenage torture.
Developmentally, children during these years of both physical and emotional growth lack the judgement needed to separate the world online with the tangible, and more important world around them- which would include their family, true friends and adults of positive influence. It is easy for impressionable teens to become wrapped up in discussion that focuses on how one acts, who one associates with, pressures to expose their personal lives (and bodies), and so on.
As a parent of a burgeoning teenager, I look at these examples as a lesson. If a parent can lead as an example to their children, as many parents themselves are wrapped up in their own phones and computers (whether work related or social- children often do not see the difference), and make the effort to carve out personal, one on one time with their kids who at this age need the intimate guidance and attention to deal with these tough years ahead, it just may be possible to raise a decent kid who can make it through teenage torture without living through the examples displayed by Frontline.
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