http://kidshealth.org/teen/
This site is a clearinghouse of information regarding healthy choices for kids. It is topic specific to answering questions that teens might have about major health issues and basic proactive healthy choices. It appears to be pretty neutral regarding belief system, just trying to give kids the information they may feel uncomfortable actually talking with someone about. The site is run by a nonprofit organization and uses mostly text to convey it's information. The biggest attraction of this site is the colors used and the depth of information given - all the embarrassing questions are asked already and teens just have to click on a link to find the answer. The overall message is positive that teens need to take care of their own health.
http://teens.drugabuse.gov/
This site is narrowly focused on drug abuse and is very heavily against all forms of drugs including marijuana, tobacco, and misused prescription drugs. The site is run by adults working with a nonprofit national agency. Content is a mixture of text and video with a heavier use of text. The biggest attraction of the site is the changing image at the top of the page and the colors used in the side menu bar. Adolescents might use it to get information about things they haven't heard of before or to watch the videos. The overall message of the site is that drugs are bad and you shouldn't do drugs. I think the message is negative because it's telling you what you shouldn't do and sets up anyone who's ever experimented with drugs as bad.
http://www.teen.com/
This is a site that covers teen entertainment interests such as Breaking Dawn and the new Rihanna album. It is of general interest because it explores all kinds of entertainment interests, but could also be considered topic specific since it is only entertainment and not sports, etc. There is no particular point of view expressed other than just following what's cool right now. It is a professional, for profit site run by adults. The content has a lot of photos, videos, and just a little bit of text. The biggest attraction about this site is the high number of photos used to organize the content. Most of it is images that can be clicked on to get videos or short articles about the stars. I don't think there is an overall message of the site other than its popular to consume meaningless information. It is positive in that it works to entertain people who are bored and surfing the net, but it's negative in that it encourages people to focus on really trivial information about people who won't really make any big difference in their personal life.
http://www.kidzworld.com/entertainment
This is a general information entertainment site intended to give kids something to do when they've got nothing else going on. It covers entertainment and sports news and also offers games, advice, school help, and a function to allow teens to talk to each other through chats or forums. It doesn't seem to have a particular point of view other than to have fun, but it does touch on some more serious topics like homework and the environment. It seems to be run by adults for profit because there are advertisements on the page. The content is mostly focused on interactive text and animation such as video and gaming. The biggest attraction about the site is the design and the amount of interactive content. Kids should leave this site feeling like they are not alone in whatever they're doing and that they had a good time, which is a positive thing.
3. What are Teenagers Learning from the Internet?
I think what kids are mostly getting from the internet is the message that it is a highly interactive form of entertainment. Sometimes, it can even be used to get information. The reason I think this is because even the information sites are set up to be entertaining and interactive. This could be positive or negative. Kids are learning while they're playing which is a good thing, but they don't always realize they're learning which makes it hard for them to apply what they've learned in other areas and is a bad thing. Thus, it is both helpful and harmful. Most of the sites I see either focus on teaching kids that drugs are bad and they have to practice safe sex or that they should be entertained 24/7. This is based on when I did my search for sites and those were really the only topics that came up. My examples above also illustrate this point. Although I can see why advocates would say parents should monitor their children's activity online, I don't think it's practical. Most cell phones will get online these days and parents can't be there full-time to see what their kids are doing. Even if the kid isn't provided with a smart phone, chances are high that they'll be able to use a friends, get on the school or library computers or otherwise find a way. I think it would be better for parents to teach their kids about the dangers, talk with them about their internet use, and help guide them to better quality material. If the communication lines are open, then kids will feel more comfortable coming to talk with their parents about any problems they encounter.
