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Time：高雄第19次例會，2008年6月22日（週日）下午16:00~18:00
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15
Time:
16:00 ~16:45(Free Talks)
16:45~18:00 (Topic Discussion)
Host:Benjamin Yeh
Assistant Host:Alice Chen
Topic: Internet's Benefits for Kids Questioned
Source: April, 2008, Advanced Studio Classroom, p18~p19
As kids spend more time online, doing everything from chatting with friends to researching homework, parents are struggling with how big a role the Internet should play in their children’s lives, a recent study shows.
The number of parents who think the Internet is beneficial for their children declined from 2004 to 2006, according to the study by the Pew Internet & American Life project. But parents don’t necessarily see its as a bad influence, either.
“We have more of a gray view of technology than we did on the past,” said Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist with Pew. “It’s not this fabulous and wonderful thing that will make your child get straight A’s… As you grow to know it, you realize where its power lies and what its frustrations are.”
But as with the emergence of television in American homes in the 1950s and ’60s, the Internet continues to provoke strong reactions from parents.
“Too much garbage”
“There’s too much garbage on there for them,” said Patrick Thomas as he waited to pick up his 15-year-old son from school. “It’s like a kid walking down the street. He’s got to watch out. He never knows who he might come in contact with, “
Thomas used to have Internet service at home but got rid of it because he was worried about viruses infecting his computer and strangers taking advantage of his son Zachary. He has purchased an array of educational software to help Zachary with his schoolwork.
“It was a great place to explore, and the information you could gather out there was great,” Thomas said. “Now it’s dangerous.”
But Zachary Thomas still sees benefits to going online and says he can do it at the library or at school.
“It can be a good thing for kids,” Zachary said. But he wasn’t upset when his father pulled the plug.
Zachary’s more nuanced attitude about the Internet is in line with the study’s findings, confirming that teens-who have never known a world without online access-generally have a more positive view of the Internet than their parents.
More parents of teens are accessing the Internet themselves, which of making them feel less clueless about their children’s online activities. But that doesn’t mean they understand everything. It also doesn’t mean they are being less vigilant in monitoring the websites their children visit or setting limits on the amount of time they spend online.
“I’m still trying to figure out the role of it,” said John Horgan of Orlando, who has three daughters ages 11, 12 and 15. “If their grades were to go down, that would be it.”
The majority of parents surveyed by Pew said the Internet is a positive influence in their children’s lives. Horgan agrees but still checks his daughters’ web-browsing histories to make sure they aren’t visiting inappropriate sites and occasionally admonishes them for spending too much time online.
His 12-year-old daughter, Catherine, says she goes online after dinner to see whether any of her friends are on MySpace or RuneScape, a multi-player online game.
“I need to go check it out”
Horgan thought he was up on his daughter’s online activity, but after hearing her describe it to a reporter, he conceded that he has never actually seen her MySpace page.
“I need to go check it out,” Horgan said.
The disconnect he sometimes feels about what his daughters are doing online reminds him of how his father felt about the music he listened to as a teen. But there is one key difference.
“The Internet gives me more to talk about with my daughters than my father could ever talk with me about music,” said Horgan, 65.
Vocabulary:
Nuanced微妙的
Vigilant警惕的
Admonish責備
Concede (勉強)承認
Questions:
1.If Internet existed in your childhood, how did you use it?
2.What is the difference between your life with and without Internet?
3.Bill Gates only allows his children surf Internet for 4 hours a day. Please discuss why he does it?
4.Learning something bad or addicted to online game. Do you think which problem is more serious for Taiwanese children and teenagers?
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from June, 2005
Place：
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高雄，每週日 (2007年4月起)
Kaohsiung, every Sunday,
from April, 2007
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