Generation Y and Censorship on the Internet


The Information Superhighway. The World Wide Web. The Internet.

Generation Y's personal, uncensored, often unsupervised, playground.

According to market researcher Teen Research Unlimited, 62% of teenagers say they log on from home for 4.2 hours a week, while 46% spend 2.3 hours a week using a computer outside the home. (Gilbert, 1) Generation y, the first generation to grow up with computers, is coming of age with the Internet. And the world can't help but wonder what exactly this means. The Internet is quite possibly the greatest mover and shaker in American culture since the advent of television. Teens log on daily into a world that much of the adult population cannot fathom. What are they being exposed to? Is it safe? Should it be censored?

The Internet is growing every day, because it is made entirely of users. Remove the users, and the Internet ceases to exist. An astounding percentage of those users are teenagers, so the world is terribly interested in what they're doing there, for right or for wrong. And what they really are doing there tends to surprise us more than what we've imagined they're doing. This paper seeks to explore whether or not the Internet is safe for generation y, and whether or not it should be censored by the powers that be. First of all, what are teens really doing on the web? Well, according to Advertising Age Magazine, the top 5 five things people aged 13-17 do or seek on the web are: Looking up something using a search engine, Educational resources, Information on music, Information on clothing and/or fashion , and Information on events that you might want to attend, such as sports, theater, movies. (Gervey/Lin, 1). When asked what teens usually do on the Internet, Rick Barr (A librarian and computer supervisor) answered "Surfing for sites about music and sports and wrestling. Fan sites."(Barr, Rick, 13, May, 2001).

So apparently most teens aren't actively seeking out the so-labeled 'dangerous' web sites.

Contrary to the ominous news images of teen web sites, teens themselves often describe the web as a utopian space, a refuge from divorced parents, economic hardship, crowded classrooms, intolerant teachers and hostile peers. (Jenkins, 1) They're more interested in interacting with eachother and finding out about their favorite activities than seeking out violence, hate, and pornography.

But that leads to the next question: Is the Internet safe? Rick Barr flatly says no. 'Blue' and 'Julia B.' (Random teens interviewed at public internet-access computer stations) agree that the Internet isn't safe, but neither is it dangerous if a few basic safety rules are followed. "I mean, I wouldn't give out my address/city/full name just to any random person or out in public, but I do auctions, and various stuff like that." (Blue, 13, May, 2001), in fact, the general consensus seems to point to that answer. The Internet certainly isn't safe for kids. Pornography and hate definitely do exist. There is the fact that the web domains 'KuKluxKlan.org', 'GodHatesFags.com', and 'WhitesOnly.com', all really do exist. Though these sites aren't actively sought out by most teens, they may be stumbled upon. This leads some to the conclusion that they should be eliminated. As closed-minded and backwards as these sites are, they currently have as much right to exist as the noted bookstore, Amazon.com. That leads us to the big question: Should the Internet be censored?

Mike Godwin was once quoted- "I worry about my child and the Internet all the time, even though she's too young to have logged on yet. I worry that 10 or 15 years from now, she will come to me and say 'Daddy, where were you when they took freedom of the press away from the Internet?'" The consensus on the censorship of the Internet seems to be a vague 'yes' from the vocal minority, but an outraged 'no' from the even more vocal majority. In fact, the slightest mention of any sort of censorship on the Internet has many teens raising their hackles and shouting about the first amendment and their rights to free speech. The Blue Ribbon Campaign, a user-based group dedicated to preserving free speech online, updates their web site frequently with issues of censorship. Julia put it well when she said, "I don't think the Internet should be censored, per se, but I think porno sites and the like should be placed on a different network altogether to decrease the chances of minors stumbling onto it by accident." (Julia B., 13, May, 2001)

So, the net is unsafe, but censorship is wrong. Where does this leave us? It leaves us with the annoying task of individually supervising our own youth, something that few Americans are willing to do. Sure, there's censoring software, but as one teen pointed out, it's rather ineffective- " I think the school censoring, where the school computers block crap like 'shopping' or 'blood' or 'porn' is already stupid. I mean, I can't even research something for war because it has blood or guns. And porn slips through anyway. Stuff you want to block doesn't block." (Blue, 13, May, 2001)

If the software doesn’t work, and censorship leaves us cold and oppressed (Not to mention violating the first amendment of the constitution) the only solutions left open to us are to supervise our children, or stop using the Internet altogether.

In conclusion, it has been determined that while generation y isn't actively seeking out that which our culture deems 'wrong', they are likely to find it accidentally, because the internet is unsafe. We've discovered that the Internet can't be effectively censored without mass protest, and we've discovered that personal filtering programs are highly ineffective.

The one fact that few sources mention is this: Teens have the ability to think, and to make their own choices. They are not small, innocent children, but rather pre-adults preparing to face the real world. The Internet, being an uncensored mirror, reflects this real world rather succinctly. If the Internet is supervised, censored, and oppressed, it will be one less stepping stone for the teen population.

So whether or not the Internet is dangerous, and regardless of what generation y is actually doing when they sign on, point, and click, the Internet should not be censored. Accept that, or log off.


Sources Jenkins, Henry- The Kids Are All Right Online. - Technology Review, Jan/Feb2001, Vol. 104 Issue 1

Gervey, Ben; Lin, Judy - The Age Factor: How Internet use varies from teens to seniors -Advertising Age, 2000 Special Issue, Vol. 71 Issue 16

Gilbert, Jennifer - New teen obsession - Advertising Age, 02/14/2000, Vol. 71 Issue 7

Barr, Rick. Personal Interview. 13, May, 2001

Blue. Personal Interview. 13, May, 2001

Julia B. Personal Interview. 13, May, 2001




~© 2000 Animonique~

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