Growing Up Tethered Analysis

One in four US teen girls reported that they met strangers off the Internet. One in seven boys admitted they did as well. While most of these "Internet friends" turn out to be another teen or preteen, that 's not always the case. Unfortunately, children are now dying at the hands of their Internet child molesters and, not all sexual exploitation of children occurs offline.

Online predators and Stalkers can easily gain access to social media users’ personal information by either requesting to be a user’s friend or simply finding a way around the user's privacy settings. According to June Ahn, chat rooms are public and is an unmonitored space where online predators are more likely to be. “Adolescents are less likely to be targeted for unwanted sexual solicitation in social media than chat rooms.”(Ahn, June) I have found that, 412 adolescents were more likely to talk with strangers. This is hazardous for young children and adolescents because their lack of life experience leads them to blindly accept all friend request. The effort to seem popular by having many friends online can damage credibility and truth worthiness.

“Turn off the phone(and the Tension)” is an article written in 2012 by Jenna Wortham. On a summer day, Wortham and a friend decided to take a trip to their local pool. Upon their arrival, they noticed a sign stating that all electronics were to be kept in lockers. Flabbergasted, Wortham did as instructed and put her phone away. She spent a while lingering by her locker, desperate for social media and for the feeling of typing underneath her fingers. However, she soon got over her need for electronics. Wortham realized how technology impacts one’s life, she could barely go a day without her phone. As the author said, our phones have become our lifelines. When the majority of society has a smartphone and can’t take their hands off it, we know that our lives are run by our phones. We, as a society, suffer from the Fear of Missing Out, FOMO, we are afraid that we might miss a tweet from our favorite singer, actor, or role model and that will drive many insane. The day at the pool relaxed Wortham and she realized that not everything needs to be recorded, photographed, or snapchatted. Wortham’s article proves that we as a society cannot properly function without access to social media, technology, messages, emails, and phone calls.

The Internet holds endless amounts of information where anyone can find whatever their heart desires. That being said, a person who is looking for a pretty face can visit a few sites and with just a few steps, can know anything and everything about that person. Because this is an increasingly pressing issue, I chose a video ad that shows not only how dangerous the Internet can be, but also how to avoid and get away from the treachery that people often use to lure young, unassuming teens into their traps. In our contemporary society, there is no limit what people can get ahold of; whether it is on social media or on a poster that someone saw at the grocery store, it never goes away. This is why teens and young adult need to use caution when

In this editorial, Live Science writer Kelly Dickerson found in a study that people who pulled out cell phones throughout a discussion found the conversation less rewarding. She claims that the compulsion to check our cell phones and the essential to stay tied into the straight network system can make people withdraw from their current activities, and it can produce anger between them and their family and friends. Cell phones are not only taking away the time alone to damage our associations with others, but we have similarly lost the incapability with people without watching at our phones and being present with another person.

A quote from Nicholas Carr summarizes the problem of addiction, he says “The smartphone, more than any other gadget, steals from us the opportunity to maintain our attention, to engage in contemplation and reflection, or even to be alone with our thoughts” (Carr, The Shallows). Similar to the Tom Purcell’s cartoon, the children are being criticized for becoming addicted to their smartphones. In the cartoon, we can see children are sitting on their chairs, hooked to their devices without noticing the child standing in the middle with a soccer ball. This addiction can cause a major disease called nomophobia. According to Psychology Today, “Many suffer from anxiety if they lose their phone, even if only for a few minutes.

“Growing Up Tethered” is a piece written by Sherry Turkle that examines technology and its impact on our way of life. In her essay, Turkle’s focus is primarily on the cell phone. She focuses on how the cell phone works against separation. In today’s society, we are always a tap away from connecting with friends and loved ones. Turkle, herself, is a firm believer in escaping the need to be connected through technology. She argues that adolescents need to disconnect from friends, family, and parents in order to find out about their inner, true-self, and that adolescents need to

Based on these facts, it can be said that people feel more confident and safe to meet new people over the world wide web ,but in fact this is a common misconception. With all the “security” that comes with social media apps and communicating with strangers, many problems like cyberbullying and minor trafficking may come into play with teens who engage. Adults

According to PureSight, an online child safety site, “One in five U.S. teenagers who regularly log on to the Internet says they have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the Web. Solicitations were defined as requests to engage in sexual activities or sexual talk, or to give out personal sexual information.” This an alarming statistic that is caused by strangers targeting young people anonymously. This relates to the anonymity of online dating. Although the craze of online dating is larger than ever and marriage rates have risen because of it, dating online also causes the threat of predators to be ever growing.

Why is it that people use their phones wherever they go? In this article, Heid (2016) reports that people are either addicted to their phones or they overuse it. As people, we are heavily depended and addicted to our phone. The smartphones are seen everywhere, but where does the line between addicted and overuse actually go? In this summary I will portray some effects the mobile phone has on people and why we are so affected.

One of the most disturbing and disgusting cybercrimes that is being committed in today’s society is that of pedophiles and grown adults using the internet to target underage minors. Between 2004 and 2008 “there were 20,562 complaints reported” (Dwyer,”et.al” 2016 p. 5) of child exploitation. Minors are being approached in chat rooms, on apps by adults posing as people their own age. Children in today’s society have many inlets for using the internet such as “education, entertainment, and socialization” (O’Leary,Ovidio,nd. p.1) so it is important that their activities online are monitored. While initial contact between the predator and the

Media attracts many teens to get into the trends and know what goes on in other people’s lives, but it also can attract unwanted visitors. Certain “visitors” are called predators. Predators typically try to disguise their age and identity, and also try to lure in teenagers to friend them online. When this happens, usually they ask for a picture of the person or personal information. These predators are more than likely pedaphiles. Eventually, these pedaphiles attempt to meet young victims in person which could lead to kidnapping, and, in most cases, sexual abuse or human trafficking ( John C. Majors, pages 157 through 159). Previously this almost happened to a 14 year old boy when he played a game with a stranger on a social media site. The man playing with him said he was a teen, and one day asked where he lived so he could “drop something off for him.” ( Jonathan McKee, page 33).

One of the many disadvantages that we abuse technology in today's society is that we use unsuitable sites. Yes, teens visit adult sites in expressing curiosity about sex and dating, but that's only because they're eager to know and learn about it. Because online predators are usually in chat rooms, social apps, and multiplayer games, teens are at risk of harm. Infact, “Only 5 percent of online predators pretend they're kids. Most reveal that they're older -- which is especially appealing to 12-to-15-year-olds who are most often targeted.” (Elgersma) For online predators, some right away request explicit photos, others lure the minor in what is called the grooming process. Teens between the ages of 12-15 find it gladdening to be talking to a

As technology surrounding the internet has grown there has a been a new movement to connect the world. Specifically, teens have become more inclined to socialize and connect with friends, family, and strangers through the internet. Teenagers are known for being vulnerable, naïve, having a vast desire to find acceptance with their peers or society and are obsessed with love. With the connection of the internet, social media, and teen it has created completely new moral panic; catfishing. According to, to Merriam-Webster catfishing is defined as an individual who creates a fake profile on a social networking site to deceive or manipulate others ("Catfish"). Primarily, those who catfish use their fake profiles to gain romantic relationships with other social network users. Teens began creating fake profiles through their instinct of wanting to fit in but, this led to teens catfishing to fulfill their dreams of finding acceptance. Catfishing is an internet moral panic because it is considered a social terror. The act of catfishing became a way for some teens to find acceptance but, parents feel that teens are not safe on social networking sites such as; Facebook because these deceptions can cause teens emotional and mental harm. Those constructing the moral panic continually scapegoated social network sites for the creation of catfishing and its side effects but, the true root cause of catfishing is teen’s inherent behavior.

Do you suffer from nomophobia or cell phone vibration syndrome? In other words do you fear being without your phone or missing a text? If so you are not alone. “46% of smartphone owners say their smartphone is something they couldn’t live without” (Anderson). Americans say that they are dependent on their phones because it is their access point to the Internet. This number keeps increasing because of technological advancements. According to Jacob Davidson in the article “Here’s How Many Internet Users There Are”, it states that there are around 3 billion people accessing the Internet (Davidson). The Internet is something that everyone feels they need in their everyday life. It is our main source of information. If there is a question asked, most people will say “google it” to find out the answer. The Internet is a good thing that can provide instant answers, but when it’s use is combined with social apps and texting, cell phone addiction can occur.