p. 128: "At least 26 names of cartoon characters are linked to porn sites . . . "
This is infuriatingly disturbing to me! This paragraph also states that 90% of kids age 8-15 have seen porn online and that the porn industry does this purposely to attract children's attention. i mean, I am all for the First Amendment, but this coupled with the paragraph about "crush"/killing animals videos is crossing a line. What is going on with humanity that we have become this desperate and attention-seeking? I am appalled . . . and apparently very naive because I truly had no idea about the information and statistics given throughout this chapter.
p. 132: (speaking of the scary maze videos) . . . At the moment of the scare, the child (7 y.o. female) cries and sobs uncontrollably, looking to her mother for comfort as the adults in the room laugh."
Yeah, that's not disturbing at all. Put your child in a traumatic situatio, do not comfort her, instead laugh at her and watch the bill for therapy grow. What a terrible idea this is. I am shocked that a parent would intentionally scare such a young child. As we prepare for our first trick or treat, I am worried about costumes that might frighten my daughter, so we are dressing as matching honeybees. I know I sound so sheltered and uppity in this post, but I am just surprised by all of this!
p. 137: "Every young person will, at one time or another, fail to anticipate the consequences of his or her communication behavior."
As a new parent, I am not looking forward to this stage in my daughter's development. I am scared, nervous, and anxious about the world that my now 10-month-old will mature in and grow up because of. . . this chapter sure did not help to squash that anxiety! I am so glad we have this text as a resource, there are so many things that I have found interesting in it that I would have otherwise been blind to had I not read it here.
In response to your first quote, I wonder about things like these as well. I wonder if certain people have always had a bit of a cruel/inhumane streak, and the internet just gives them a greater capacity to express themselves. It is similar to the lesson about minority groups seeming as though they have a very strong voice and large numbers by recruiting heavily online; some people feel like they NEED others to see them and what they do, and so they dedicate a great amount of time towards the shock and awe factor. As for the porn...I don't know. I had mentioned in my blog about the growing sexual nature of our media, and the tactics can be questionable. It makes me wish that more of these sites had purchased all domain names similar to the correct one. I'm not sure how to combat ills like this other than prevention and education.
ReplyDeleteShannon, The last quote you chose is great! How many times have you said something innocent enough only to see it morph into a castetrophic misunderstanding, with the one single thought resonding over and over in your head, "if I had just NOT said it aloud." Yet, this also helps to open a line of communication about what is inappropriate or how to truly apologise for something you said and while I agree with your recommendation of education; I'm not sure how you could ever implement prevention... "stupid is as stupid does," to quote Forest...Forest Gump. (I do understand what you are trying to say... sometimes sarcasm isn't funny). Thanks for sharing.
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