Arguments against my position: The internet has little to no regulations in place that provide protection for underage and adolescent individuals.


Arguments #1: Young people don’t need protection from the internet, as it benefits them in many ways.

“Online social networking can facilitate identity exploration, provide social cognitive skills such as perspective taking, and fulfill the need for social support, intimacy, and autonomy. Whether constructing their profiles in Myspace, creating a video and posting it on YouTube, or talking in chat rooms, teens are constantly creating, recreating, and honing their identities—a primary goal of adolescent development (Greenfield, Gross, Subrahmanyam, Suzuki, & Tynes, 2006)” (P.597 Tynes,).  

“Livingstone (2008) invited children to compare communication online and offline, finding that, for 50% of 11-16 year old internet users across Europe, it is a bit or even much easier to be themselves on the internet than face-to-face; further, 45% say they talk about different things on the internet than when speaking to people face-to-face, and 32% say that on the internet they talk about private things which they do not share with people face-to-face" (P.179 Zilka,).  

                                                                                                    

 

Arguments #2: The internet is a vast network of connections, which cannot censor everything

“Davison and colleagues (2012) suggest ways in which various aspects of online content could be used in the future to provide job-relevant information on applicants once reliable measuring techniques have been developed. Blog posts and status updates could help HR managers assess the language proficiency of applicants, because such postings reveal the candidate’s writing style in a more informal context. The creativity of applicants could be assessed according to the narrative and content available on their personal Web pages. Their networks of friends could be used to evaluate their personalities and social environments, while pictures and discussions with other users have the potential to reveal whether applicants possess the appropriate interpersonal skills”(P182 Ouytsel, Joris, et al.). 


“Monitoring potential or actual youth exposure is increasingly challenging as the web evolves” (P.93 Jernigan & Rushman).

 

 

Sources

Tynes, Brendesha M. “Internet safety gone wild? Sacrificing the educational and psychosocial benefits of online social environments.” Journal of Adolescent Research, vol. 22, no. 6, Jan. 2007, pp. 575–584. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com Accessed 21 Sept. 2019

Van Ouytsel, Joris, et al. “How schools can help their students to strengthen their online reputations.” Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, vol. 87, no. 4, Jan. 2014, pp. 180–185. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com

Zilka, Gila Cohen. "E-safety in the use of social networking apps by children, adolescents and young adults." Interdisciplinary Journal of e-Skills and Lifelong Learning, vol. 14, 2018, p. 177+. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link-gale-com. Accessed 12 Sept. 2019.

Jernigan, David H., and Anne E. Rushman. “Measuring youth exposure to alcohol marketing on social networking sites: challenges and prospects.” Journal of Public Health Policy, vol. 35, no. 1, 2014, pp. 91–104. JSTOR, www.jstor.org Accessed 21 Sept. 2019