By Carter Helschien
Since the invention of fire, it seems that teenagers in society have always acted the same: when confronted with a problem, a teenager will turn to his or her parents for advice. In the internet-era, however, when a typical teenager is confronted with a problem, his or her first instinct will be to go to the internet to find the answer. But why is the internet so ideal for teenagers to use to solve their personal problems?
First and perhaps above all, the internet provides anonymity. Consequently, there is no possibility that a teenager can be humiliated when asking his or her question. Instead of asking his or her parents for advice, and risk being judged negatively, a teenager can simply go on the internet and ask without any fear that his or her question is unintelligent, embarrassing, or illogical.
Moreover, another reason teenagers like me love consulting the internet for problems instead of parents is that, in reality, nobody is perfect. Consequently, teenagers prefer to find a wide-array of opinions and answers to a particular problem online than to leave it to non-perfect parents to decide. Say, for example, Johnny is having trouble dealing with an ethical problem, such as he saw his friend Billy cheat on a test and is not sure if he should tell the teacher or not.
Though Johnny could consult his parents for advice in this situation, he views his parents’ advice as being “adult advice.” What this means is that Johnny assumes that whatever advice his parents give in this situation is bad advice, as his parents, he assumes, have not considered how it might affect his friendship with Billy, but rather have decided that, based on the universal principles of right and wrong, Johnny should tell the teacher. When Johnny consults the internet, however, he believes he is receiving advice from fellow teenagers who understand his situation more than his parents do, and, consequently, even though he might receive the same advice, Johnny is more willing to follow what various individuals like him on the internet suggest.
The invention of the internet has lead to a multitude of new possibilities and innovations; at the same time, however, it also has its own fair share of risks. In reading this, hopefully parents will be able to understand the reason teenagers are reluctant to seek them out for advice. So, now parents must be wondering, “how can we combat the possibility of our sons and daughters receiving bad advice on the internet?” Fortunately, the solution is simple: if parents realize that their son or daughter has a problem and needs advice, then parents should attempt to understand first what their son or daughter wants to prevent from happening (such as losing a friend), and give advice for the situation. In the end, if the previous advice is followed, teenagers will realize that parents truly do have their best intentions at heart, and will, ultimately, follow their advice.