Frontline: Growing up Online directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio

ASIN: B0013MOLPY

PBS (2008)

56 minutes
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/
Reading/Viewing Level: Grade 9 and up.

Summary:

This PBS Frontline segment covers the lives and stories of a handful of teens who have grown up with the Internet their entire life. Both parents and their teens discuss their sides on such matters as privacy, cyber-bulling, and other issues that have changed the way childhood is looked at and experienced from the decades of yesteryear. The Internet has also changed education. Teens now need to have a constant stream of information thrown at them with computer screens, and teachers become “entertainers” to keep the students engaged. This documentary also tackles eating disorders and the websites that glorify them and speaks to a teen who tries to turn her life around as well as a teen who, because of cyber-bullying, killed himself when he was only 13-years-old. Although there are many areas teens need to be careful of when using the Internet, there are also many wonderful ways to use the Internet in order to break free into adulthood and feel at one with themselves.

Critical Evaluation:

This documentary shows an unbiased look at the downfalls and advantages that the Internet brings both teens and adults, as well as the points of view of each.

As Greg, a teen, says, “You need to have the Internet on to talk to your friends because everybody uses it. It's like a currency. If you don't use it, you're going to be at the loss.”

This prevalent attitude of teens is one that adults must take seriously. They must monitor their teens’ viewing habits, as well as make sure that they are not immersed in their digital world so much that they forget how to live without being “plugged in.” Teens need to face the consequences of their actions such as posting pictures on MySpace or Facebook or appearing on a YouTube video, which may hurt their chances at college or employment because teens operate in the present while adults think of the future. The teens’ points of view, however, are not simply discounted, but reveals many of them to be responsible about how they deal with potential predators and others who may want to cause them harm. At one point, the narrator states, “It's been said that the Internet has created the greatest generation gap since the advent of rock-and-roll.” I disagree. Saying such things makes the Internet seem as harmless as rock-and-roll. Yet one scene shows a girl who is battling eating disorders finding help for her disease at sites that glorify eating disorders, and another profiles a young boy who learned how to kill himself through the Internet and had contact with a teen who encouraged suicide. Both prove that the Internet can often be a portal for tragedy. Still, the most important message is that a balance of life and Internet use, as well as continually clear lines of communication between adults and children, are a must. Teens need to be able to turn away from the Internet sometimes in order for their attention span not to worsen and for them to be able to succeed in high school, college, and life in general.

Reader’s Annotation:

Take a look at the risks and rewards of the Internet and all the rooms it enters.

Author Biography:
Rachel Dretzin  has won many awards and has been producing documentaries for Frontline since the mid-1990s, focusing on filming American life and the culture that surrounds men and women. John Maggio has been a producer, director, screenwriter, and editor. He’s co-produced and co-directed films for PBS’ American Experience.

Since 1983, Frontline has been producing documentaries in its public affairs series. It has been on television for over 28 seasons, covering “the scope and complexity of the human experience,” including controversial issues over and over again. (Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/us/).

Genre: Film - PBS Documentary – Social and cultural issues

Curriculum Ties:

This documentary can be used in a social studies class in order for students to see their parents’ point of view and how cyber-bullying and privacy rights affect their lives, as well as who they should turn to in case of trouble.

Booktalking Ideas:

-Discuss how online time is used and what house rules, if any, do you have.

-Do your parents have your passwords?

-Do teens know about on-line predators?
As in the documentary, do they know to “stop, block, and tell”?

View-Alikes:

There are over 90 Frontline programs that a viewer can access online here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/, and many are available through on-line streaming on Netflix as well. Many can be used for teens and research for their papers.

Titles include Digital Nation, The Medicated Child, When Kids Get Life, Inside the Teenage Brain, Medicating Kids, and A Class Divided.

Challenge Issue:

I wasn’t able to find any challenge issues on this documentary or any other PBS Frontline documentaries. They prove to be a great outlet for research and learning
for both teens and their parents.

Reason to include in blog:

I have always found these documentaries very interesting and, for teens, they’re a good length, at around 55 to 60 minutes. Many times the transcript is also available for those who want to go back and study them.

References:

Frontline. (2011). A brief history. Retrieved from

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/us/

Frontline. (2008). Growing up Online. Retrieved from

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/

Trailer: