hm.

Armed, online and dangerous

http://enewslink.asia1.com.sg/brsweb/read_50.brsw?this=result&QDT=1&QFLST=HD%3AHG%3APD&DB=BT%3AST%4006-07&QSTR=internet&DTSTR=%28%28PD+%3E=+20061214%29+and+%28PD+%3C=+20070516%29%29&PSZ=10&MAXL=200&SUMY=1&HLT=0&LSTN=40&ID=000020986@ST07

This article talks of the dangers teenagers face online. However, unlike the usual dangers like other adults and pornography, the dangers talked about here are other teenage netizens.

I feel this problem is present because teenagers feel a need to blend in with the crowd. Once doing a certain thing is deemed as "cool", many follow and do this thing, be it right or wrong. The example given here is that of students posting videos of beating-ups, fights, etc, just to create controversy and boost the amount of hits the blog will receive. This is a problem with social status, because it is taken that the more hits you have, the more popular you are. Typical people want to be with the "in" crowd and be popular.

Another issue is of how doing such things is not clearly defined as wrong, and the line is thinly drawn between being offensive and minding one's own business. As shown, the girl from Hillgrove Secondary was not punished for saying her classmate "deserved to die", and merely offered an insincere apology. The mindset of teenagers here is that if there are no consequences, anything is acceptable be it moral or immoral. There is no consideration for the feelings of others in their comments.

The way to eradicate this problem is to inculcate a set of values into the youth of today. The value of concerning oneself with others and how they feel. This is a golden rule of "not doing unto others what you do not want others to do unto you", and if the youth of today are able to comprehend what this rule can do for them, the social problem of flaming and posting humiliating objects concerning others online will be significantly less serious.

Also, bloggers have been calling for a clear ruling for blogging etiquette. If such etiquette is enforced, hopefully the situation will be improved. This is by way of creating awareness among netizens of what is acceptable in the blogosphere, and clear guidelines will certainly be invaluable as means to an end.

Results to the survey conducted by The Sunday Times are, to me, disturbing. There are actually 9 out of the 32 teenagers surveyed who feel that there is nothing wrong with flaming someone online. To me, flaming someone online is just like writing offensive letters or comments in a public forum where everyone can view them, and the writer can remain anonymous. This is by no means acceptable in today's, or rather, any society. Thus i feel this is of course an education problem, and thus i conclude that to prevent such instances from occuring, we have to let them know.

Let them know why it isn't right, and how simple words, even on a computer screen, can be sharper than a sword.