EDUC 6809 Chapters 2 and 3 Friendship and Intimacy

Popular media accounts tend to portray young people’s interactions with social media as anti-social and detrimental to their abilities to communicate effectively in face-to-face settings. Additionally, many adults tend to view adolescents interactions with social media as delinquent or frivolous. In a blog posting answer the following questions:

How do these chapters support or counter adult views of adolescent use of social media as destructive or frivolous?  How did this chapter change or confirm your understanding of adolescent use of social media? What connections, if any, can you make between this chapter and learning in school?

 It was a surprise to find out, “Despite the perception that online media are enabling teens to reach out to a new set of social relations online, we found that for the vast majority of teens, the relations fostered in school are by far the most dominant in how they define their peers and friendships” (pg. 82) Honestly, (today)  I would have thought that social networks played a more dominant role in defining friendships and relationships. So, I found this chapter interesting due to the overwhelming comparisons between the core practices of friendships that have remained the same throughout history,  and “the changes we see are only variants of these core practices, inflected in distinctive ways”. (pg. 80)  So how do we get parents, teachers, etc… to understand new media practices, and not immediately respond to situations without understanding the culture and literacies of social media?   I do agree what takes place online is reproduced and discussed offline.  As a parent, and teacher you just have to listen to conversations.  Online and offline are just different settings, however the online setting provides a powerful setting to allow “always on, or always accessible”.  “Always on or, always accessible” can be positive or negative.  Positive in that teens are able to express themselves, maintain and create friendships, understand cultures different from their own, and learn to mediate or negotiate situations.   However, I never really thought about “some of the monitoring that happens during teens’ relationships veers eerily close to serious and emotional control or abuse.” (pg. 141)  I suppose if teens feel vulnerable or anxiety ridden about their intimate relationships, then “always accessible” provides the opportunity to continuously monitor or check on the other person.  I have to admit though, when it comes to “bullying”  I thought social networks  made it a little easier to “bully” others.  “Technology provides more channels through which youth can potentially bully one another”. (pg. 108)  But, according to (pg. 107) “Measuring cyberbullying or internet harassment , is difficult, in part  because both scholars and teens struggle to define it.”  I truly struggle with the concept of bullying, mainly because as educators we sit through seminars, confiscate cell phones, denied access to sites at school, listen to local law enforcement narrate stories with tragic outcomes, and listen to other parents talk about specific situations.  I’m not making light of the situations that have occurred, but I do want to garner a better understanding of this explosive, pervasive topic.   To personally make connections between these two chapters and school is based on the premise that we don’t actually understand the new literacies our students are negotiating, learning, and seamlessly interacting with on a daily basis.  How do we harness these truly amazing skills and processes and integrate into educational environments?   I believe we begin with erasing the negative mindsets, attitudes, the thought “what was good enough for me, is good enough for them”, and genuinely focus on being co-participants and leaders in new media literacies.