What is the Internet Teaching Our Kids?
In the article, How One Mom Talks to her Sons About Hate on the Internet, Joanna Schroeder, mother of two boys, talks about the things her children see online & what it has done
to their ideas about the world. To start, her sons proposed some controversial questions, which naturally
made her ask her own questions. One of the main ideas in this text is that social media exposed these
young white boys to some very right-wing ideas. For example, one of her sons asked why black people
can use white culture but white people could not use black culture. This question raises many disputable
conversations, but she simply asked her son if she could see the post about it. She did not want to come
off as judgemental, so that her sons will continue being open with her. The main question Schroeder
proposed is: what kind of content are current children looking at, and how does it change their own values and
ideas? As a parent, she taught her children their morals and values, and overall life lessons. With these
new social media influencers impacting these young boys and even some men, their morals and values
are being questioned. Although it comes off as a sort of comedy, there are some real effects on these boys.
Schroeder backs up her thesis by using her own life experiences. Throughout the text, she gives many
examples of things that her sons have asked her and the types of things they have seen. For
example, her son was looking at posts about nazis and hitler. Not only this, but one of Schroeder’s
friends has a thirteen year old daughter who was receiving messages on instagram with pictures of guns
and she was being called a feminazi by boys in her class. For being thirteen years old, these are some
very vulgar things to send. By using her own life experiences and some of her friends, she makes a
convincing argument.
to their ideas about the world. To start, her sons proposed some controversial questions, which naturally
made her ask her own questions. One of the main ideas in this text is that social media exposed these
young white boys to some very right-wing ideas. For example, one of her sons asked why black people
can use white culture but white people could not use black culture. This question raises many disputable
conversations, but she simply asked her son if she could see the post about it. She did not want to come
off as judgemental, so that her sons will continue being open with her. The main question Schroeder
proposed is: what kind of content are current children looking at, and how does it change their own values and
ideas? As a parent, she taught her children their morals and values, and overall life lessons. With these
new social media influencers impacting these young boys and even some men, their morals and values
are being questioned. Although it comes off as a sort of comedy, there are some real effects on these boys.
Schroeder backs up her thesis by using her own life experiences. Throughout the text, she gives many
examples of things that her sons have asked her and the types of things they have seen. For
example, her son was looking at posts about nazis and hitler. Not only this, but one of Schroeder’s
friends has a thirteen year old daughter who was receiving messages on instagram with pictures of guns
and she was being called a feminazi by boys in her class. For being thirteen years old, these are some
very vulgar things to send. By using her own life experiences and some of her friends, she makes a
convincing argument.
Shown by this article, things on the internet can be very controversial & should not be seen by children. With the technology that this generation is growing up with, they are being introduced to many different ideas that they are too young to understand. I believe that parents should regulate what their children see online because the internet is very influential on young kids & can actually change their ideas & morals about a concept. Joanna Schroeder is a perfect example of this because she taught her kids one thing, but things on the internet changed their perspective on the matter.
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