• Ataraxia@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I mean my dad had me help him code a game on his commodore 64 at 5 but my internet usage in 1999 was still monitored. My dad made sure I understood the dangers and implications of interacting with people online and I knew exactly how to rebuff any kind of solicitation. I never gave names, exact locations etc, when using chats of course asl was a popular thing to ask and I never was more specific than USA. I have also lied about my sex when I’d participate in chats where I found identifying as a girl got me nehative attention. Even then, when my dad wasn’t around, as he trusted us after some time… I somehow got porn pop-ups all over my screen and I have to say that I wish I hadn’t seen some of the stuff on there lol! We didn’t have social media in its present form but youtube became a thing while I was in college and I made the mistake of posting some videos of myself which I’m glad I removed shortly after realizing how embarrassing and cringeworthy they were. I’m just glad the posts I made on street fighter online forums and new grounds weren’t on something like Facebook or tik tok… as an adult I went back and deleted these profiles and posts because I obviously was too immature to post. I can’t believe what kind if drivel teenage me was spewing online and I’m glad there isn’t video evidence of the idiotic things I said and believed. I personally don’t care as I stopped teaching before this social media boom but if adults can be twisted and manipulated, pushed toward extremism and critical thinking goes in the backburner, I can’t imagine what it does to the mind of a child. Smart phones are great tools if you can somehow limit their functions while in the classroom like some kind of school mode.