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Growing Up Online ~  DVD Review

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Rockwall County Library

The generation gap is alive and well in America. Only, these days it’s not about Rock and Roll, long hair or fast cars. Now parents are considered as hopelessly out of touch if they don’t know how to Tweet or open a Facebook account, as were our moms and dads who thought the Beatles were a problem to be dealt with by the Orkin man.

In the first of our series on "Recommended" DVDs & Books found at the Rockwall Library, Planet Rockwall looks at Growing Up Online, a DVD released last year by PBS. The one-hour documentary takes a look at the very private lives teenagers and young adults have built for themselves on the internet, with often questionable results. These virtual worlds can be invisible to all but the closest of online friends. (“Friends” is a loosely-defined term on the internet. Many Facebook users have amassed over 5000 “friends” each.)

The program contains much to be concerned about. We are spawning a generation that no longer reads books or newspapers. A phenomenon called "cyberbullying” is on the rise, and is resulting in a growing incidence of suicide among young people. Sexual predators, cults and videos depicting all manner of violent behavior vie for the attention of even the most casual of internet surfers. Today’s surfers are hardly casual, spending hours a day in virtual worlds which for some are just as real as the one outside their door.

Growing Up Online is an excellent program for parents and kids to watch together. Kids and teens may not understand the repercussions of posting the most intimate details of their lives online for millions to see. Parents often do not realize the extent of all the data that is flowing in and out of the room upstairs, and the impact it has, both positive and negative, on the whole family.

This informative DVD is available for checkout at the Rockwall Library. It is a “must-see” for all families with internet-age children.

Bob Lewis
Contributing Writer