TV Dinners Don't Equal Quality Time

As much as I think that blogging is hyped up a little too much, I also believe that it cannot harm the youth any more than any other element of pop culture. Television and music can be just as damaging and a “bad influence” as blogging. The argument that a form of media could be the soul factor in leading the youth down a horrific path is a total cop-out by parents that are too self-absorbed to raise their kids… people who probably shouldn’t have reproduced. (That, friends would have helped strengthen the population, not eliminating blogging).
In the chapter, “My So-Called Blog”, Nussbaum interviews teenagers who write in online journals, and received nothing but positive responses. Teenagers really feel that this medium of communication is “better than therapy”. They’re able to get their thoughts and feelings out there, without the repercussions and criticisms they would receive outside the cyber world.
Nussbaum states that online journals are not completely alternating the functioning of teenagers, but giving them another outlet to productively work through the stresses of adolescence:
At heart, an online journal is like a hyper flexible adolescent body… [it] offers a creative outlet with a hundred moving parts. And unlike a real journal, with a blog, your friends are all around, invisible voyeurs. (Kline and Burstein (356)
During adolescence, peers take up the majority of a young person’s support network. They can commiserate with one another, something that a fifteen year old can’t even fathom taking place with their parents. Blogging is just another means. If it never came into existence, there would still be meetings in school hallways, phones, etc. During the critical time in one’s development of adolescence, blogging is a God-send. It provides another mode of idea and energy exchange that kids need in order to become successful adults.
Some inappropriate topics do get posted. But, again, it has nothing to do with blogging. Teenagers are disgusting, crude little demons sometimes. (Most of the time). Kids are always going to do things that their parents don’t necessarily approve of, but that goes with the deal. If these parents really just wanted something to mindlessly do everything they wanted, they probably should have opted for a puppy.
If the real concern is that parents feel like their “losing their babies”, here’s an idea: make time for your kids. You put them on this planet, didn’t you?