1. Title of Project:

The Children and Teen’s Online Life

2. Aims:

With this project we aim to show to teachers and to parents how to have a close relationship with the internet, which is so present in our lives. The fact that parents and teachers do not know how to use the internet makes them, sometimes, so far away from the teens and children in their own homes and, consequently, they are somehow consenting that an unknown person may influence them.

We decided carry this project out to show the important role of the internet to all children and teens and how to do something to make them use it safely. Using the internet is necessary and useful because it is a tool that is part of modern life, and we should not ignore this fact. Quite the opposite, we should do it in a safe manner.

So thinking about the importance of the internet in the young’s life, and not just how to access it, is really the key to the world and to the children, adolescent and their families. They need to know how to keep themselves safe online to make it helpful for everyone who is exposed to bad influences of people who have committed crimes.

The data of research conducted by us will be able to help to prepare preventive and repressive actions to combat crimes committed by people who cause damage to children and teens through the internet.

We want teachers, parents, children and teens, together, to be able to enjoy all the resources offered to us by internet, in a healthy way.

3. Background:

We are interested in this project because we have heard about the occurrence of crimes and abuse committed against children and teens that must not happen. We are very concerned about it and we can do something to combat these illicit acts.

To do this research we previously read reports, articles and other sources. There were very concerning listening stories about the relationship among children, adolescents and their parents, and the cause of the problem is greatly because of the inappropriate use of the internet.

The world has changed; the computer is, now, part of everybody’s life, so it may be not a problem, but rather a useful instrument to base routine of the people. There are many families that have problems caused by the wrong use of the internet in a lot of homes. One attempt to reduce the effects of these problems is for parents to prohibit the children to access the internet, but nowadays it is not a good idea because everything that is forbidden is consequently more attractive.

According to journals we had read like BBC, O Globo, O Popular, and other, fifty-five percent of teenagers have some sort of social-networking-site presence, and, over 90 percent are online on a regular basis.

But another research made by  shows that today’s youth may be coming of age and struggling for autonomy and identity among new worlds for communication, friendship, play and self-expression. Many adults worry that children are online most of the time. The researchers like teachers, Academy of Paediatrics, parents who are concerned with the media’s effect on the health of children and educational foundation explain why youth find these activities important. The digital world is creating new opportunities for youth to get many social norms, explore interests, develop technical skills, experiment new forms of self-expression and obtain self-confidence, but without exaggerate using that can to cause dependency and to separate the children and teens of heir real live.

4. Significance:

The information that we will get with this research will be used for the development of a little book to orient all mothers, fathers and teachers how to deal with this new reality. This book will be funny to read and will have educational contents like tips, guidance and glossary with essential terms to understand how to use the internet in a better way, and how to prevent potential dangers in order to overcome that problem.

5. Description:

For a period of time we have studied and perceived that children and teens culture are surrounded by new media and technology. We have used data from journals, books, magazines and other source to conduct our project. Then we will use the information that we got to prepare preventive actions to combat crimes against children affected by the use of internet.

This project will serve to survey and to reflect about The Children and Teen’s Online Life at the first time, to carry our proposal which prioritize the prevention of the dangers caused by perverse people of bad character who use the internet to induce children and adolescent to practice misbehaviour.

6. Methodology:

The survey will be the first step to our proposal, which shall prioritize the prevention of the danger caused by the use of the internet without control among teenagers, interviewing and hanging out with 16-to-18-year-olds, and looking at how they use the internet, how they use social networking sites, instant messenger, cell phones and all new technology sources which they are exposed.

Then we will form a group of people responsible for receive and catalogue all kinds of crimes against teenager’s rights committed on the internet. After that, make available information in a homepage for free with clear objective to provide reliable and secure services about those dangerous, where teens help teens take healthy decisions, like how to make good use of home pages, blogs…

That is why it is vital that teen life on line recruit and train new counsellors all the time while sustaining its current group of teen volunteers.

7. Problems:

The Internet affords independence to teenagers that have not been seen again since the invention of the car. Teens are really able to escape from guardianship of their parents at home and go off with others in these really independent ways. Nowadays the teens more than leave home for a wander around, they travel by all world and they “know” or talk with all kind of people. This makes them able to have a public space even while they are at home yet. They are able to communicate with their friends and have an entire social life outside of the guardianship of their parents without actually having to leave the house.

Research made with adolescents proves that who spend many nights in front of the computer get many problems like disturbs of learning, lack of memory and sleep problems.

This fact is a big problem because we cannot control it. We think that it will be difficult to get information with them.

We are prepared to other difficulties like: people we hope to interview may not be available, necessitating going to other places; we may not find necessary or satisfactory information in books, journals, magazines, library or the internet.

8. Bibliography:

1. www.digitallearning.macfound.org/ethnography.

2. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/etc/links.html

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

4. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/online/open/

5. http://www.pbs.org/teachers/media_lit/related_sites.html

6. http://www.canalcontemporaneo.art.br/tecnopoliticas/archives/001060.html