My Digital Literacy Narrative
When I was in fifth grade, my mom decided it was time for me to have my own email address, mostly to keep in contact with my family. Mind you, I was 11 at the time, so I decided my email would be special_girl21. I chose special girl because my friends said I was fairly hyper so I was the “special one”. My mom says that she let me get one at 11 because I was their first child in life so they didn’t really know what the appropriate age was. But since I had proven myself responsible in the past, she figured we could give it a try. So, I got the email address and my mom sent it to all my family members, and the forwards began.
Forwards as in chain emails that can have different images or attachments involved. Most of them said things like “Share this with ten friends and you will have ten years of luck”, and “If you don’t share, ten years of bad luck”.
I got maybe 5 forwards a day, at the absolute minimum, and that’s what my email address consisted of for the first year I had it. Then in sixth grade, I realized that yahoo messenger existed and my technology addiction began.
Forwards as in chain emails that can have different images or attachments involved. Most of them said things like “Share this with ten friends and you will have ten years of luck”, and “If you don’t share, ten years of bad luck”.
I got maybe 5 forwards a day, at the absolute minimum, and that’s what my email address consisted of for the first year I had it. Then in sixth grade, I realized that yahoo messenger existed and my technology addiction began.
I started with just messaging my friends at first, talking about trivial things, and sending links to google images of Harry Potter characters we were “in love” with. Very innocent, until one day when I was bored and decided to make another account for myself on Yahoo messenger. But under a different name.
I made the account under the name Fred, and added all of my friends that were on my personal account. I messaged some of them saying my name was Fred, and that I was a friend of Kylie’s cousin. I wish I could tell you why I thought this would be a good idea or even what the logic was behind this, but I still can’t justify it.
I made the account under the name Fred, and added all of my friends that were on my personal account. I messaged some of them saying my name was Fred, and that I was a friend of Kylie’s cousin. I wish I could tell you why I thought this would be a good idea or even what the logic was behind this, but I still can’t justify it.
But anyway, to make a very long story short, things got very out of hand with this fake account. I go in to deep with the thrill of hiding behind my computer screen and pretending to be someone else. I ended up catfishing one of my closest friends at the time, telling her I was this boy that really liked Kylie (I was extremely self centered at the time) and wanted to know more about her. In a way, I think I did this because I was insecure at that age and needed verification that I was liked. But my main point in telling you this story is because it was a huge part of my digital history in this world.
I learned how to type faster, how to communicate online (sometimes not appropriately), how to abbreviate and use acronyms (sometimes unnecessarily), and really figure out my first online experience completely independently. I learned a lot through technology, but one of the most important things I took away from my catfishing experience was that you never truly know who you’re talking to online. With today’s apps and websites, you can portray yourself as anyone you want to be; an open playing field for predators, murderers, and manipulators alike. This leads me to my next topic of discussion, monitoring what your kids are doing online.
My middle school was just like any other middle school, with raging hormones, huge attitudes, and a bunch of kids trying to transition into their teenage years. This was such a crucial time for all of us, especially with technology now a crucial part of our lives. I was very lucky to have parents that paid attention to what I did online and with my phone even though I didn’t consider myself lucky at the time. Obviously I was very annoyed that my parents were so “intrusive on my personal life”, but they actually saved me from making a lot of the mistakes that my peers made in those two years of middle school.
During that time, I had a group of girlfriends that I spent most of my time with. One of us, Katherine, was a lot more boy crazy than the rest of us, and also a lot more insecure. She was unfortunately not one of the lucky ones that had parents that paid attention to what she did. She practically had unrestricted use of her phone and her computer because there was no supervision. At the time we were in eighth grade, and Katherine was trying to date this boy who made it fairly clear he wasn’t very interested. He also made it clear that the only way she could make him interested was if she sent him some photos of herself. Naked photos. Now Katherine, like most of us, was very naive at the time and also very desperate to receive this boy’s attention. So long story short, she sent the pictures to the boy and he sent them to just about everyone in the school. To those that didn’t personally get the picture via text, they saw it on other people’s phones. After that, she had quite the reputation throughout the school, and still to this day is viewed as a “whore” or a “slut”.
Technology is an amazing thing, it has improved how we communicate, and how fast we can do things, but in the wrong hands, can be very dangerous. Not even in the wrong hands, but naive hands. Most preteens do not have the capacity to think about how their actions have consequences, some of them long term. This is why technology with kids really needs to be monitored.
During that time, I had a group of girlfriends that I spent most of my time with. One of us, Katherine, was a lot more boy crazy than the rest of us, and also a lot more insecure. She was unfortunately not one of the lucky ones that had parents that paid attention to what she did. She practically had unrestricted use of her phone and her computer because there was no supervision. At the time we were in eighth grade, and Katherine was trying to date this boy who made it fairly clear he wasn’t very interested. He also made it clear that the only way she could make him interested was if she sent him some photos of herself. Naked photos. Now Katherine, like most of us, was very naive at the time and also very desperate to receive this boy’s attention. So long story short, she sent the pictures to the boy and he sent them to just about everyone in the school. To those that didn’t personally get the picture via text, they saw it on other people’s phones. After that, she had quite the reputation throughout the school, and still to this day is viewed as a “whore” or a “slut”.
Technology is an amazing thing, it has improved how we communicate, and how fast we can do things, but in the wrong hands, can be very dangerous. Not even in the wrong hands, but naive hands. Most preteens do not have the capacity to think about how their actions have consequences, some of them long term. This is why technology with kids really needs to be monitored.
Above I mentioned preteens, but really all ages need to be monitored. You can go to any public area now and see children as young as one and a half playing with an iPad or their caregivers iPhone. And what is really fascinating is how quickly they learn how to use it. After only a few minutes of playing around on it, they discover how to get to the games or videos they want. But in that short period of time, they can also get into things like messages, emergency numbers, and other apps they shouldn’t have access to.
My two younger brothers are Robby (12) and Rocco (6). Both of them have never experienced a world without iPhones or iPads, and I see everyday how it affects them. Not neccesarily in a bad way, but they don’t know how to live without it, which I think may be an issue later in life. But mostly, I see what they do on their devices. How they manipulate them so easily, without a second thought. I talked to my mom about how she handled my technology use in the past, and how that is different or not so different from my younger siblings.
My two younger brothers are Robby (12) and Rocco (6). Both of them have never experienced a world without iPhones or iPads, and I see everyday how it affects them. Not neccesarily in a bad way, but they don’t know how to live without it, which I think may be an issue later in life. But mostly, I see what they do on their devices. How they manipulate them so easily, without a second thought. I talked to my mom about how she handled my technology use in the past, and how that is different or not so different from my younger siblings.
“This was 10 years ago and 5 kids later so it’s really hard to remember,” my mom said. “I think we continually had stranger conversations and talked about how it could be anyone that you’re talking to.”
My mom says she believes this method still works for helping keep my younger siblings safe and aware online, but not always. “Things can still be deleted or hidden I think. But yes, I still do phone checks.”
In my personal opinion, all parents should monitor what their children are doing online. Now I don’t mean 24/7 surveillance, where you read every single text message and email and look at every picture they take, but have an idea of what your kids are doing online and on their phones. The best way to do that? Be as knowledgeable as you can about the internet and technology as a whole. In Rhinegold’s introduction, he talks about how his book is for parents who just want to know what their kids are doing but aren’t sure how to. There are so many available sources to take advantage of as a parents to help educate yourselves, including Rhinegold’s book.
Also, have a conversation with your kids. Make sure they know they can talk to you and come to you with things they’re unsure of.
When it comes to technology, the key is to be informed and also cautious. We have the whole world at our fingertips, but the question is, will it advance or destroy us? Your choice.