The day of the net generation
The day of the net generation
Published: 05:25 am Jun 16, 2009
In the modern world, all of us depend upon the Internet for much of the large stock of factual resources, information and images which we need to deal with the complexities of our daily lives. Today, providing Internet access has become a great gain in the academia, the contribution which they can make to meeting educational needs, connecting people, and knowing the most up-dated tidings of the world is a great thing. Accordingly, parents take special delight in knowing their children have Internet access in academic institutions, visiting cyber cafés. This is natural because every parent wants his/her child to “get ahead.” Almost all parents dream of buying one computer for their child, providing Internet service possibly. Are parents in our society aware what their children viewing at home, in schools, colleges in their educational experiences of their children? Are these young students doing research for their academic purposes, or flirting with someone double their age? Or something more? Are the academic institutions paying heed to what the pupils are viewing and browsing in the Internet in the name of education? At one extreme, Internet is yielding revolutionary changes in the practice of education, information, sharing culture etc. and at another, it is causing potential problems and likely to create discomforts in the course of understanding the world around. Larry Rosen, PhD, professor of psychology at California State University, says: The children are doing all the kinds of things online that their parents did while hanging out at the market places or behind the schools or colleges, including, flirting and trying out various identities.” Recently, an organization working for children welfare revealed that, “one of the prime reasons of child sexual abuse is the Internet’s easy availability of sexuality explicit materials.” For a number of reasons, Internet has become a crucial part of our daily lives. Many young students these days vanish into cyber cafes, in the Internet room in schools, colleges and at home for long hours avoiding family and other social activities. Browsing is immensely fruitful, but its improper use can create discomforts and potential problems, and the effects are likely to be more far-reaching.