Prompt 9: Using a New Technology
Technology is something that our generation eventually comes in contact at a young age. It seems that children are getting phones earlier and earlier. A technology that was a big part of my pre-teen years was AOL chat rooms. During my sixth grade in school, everyone in my grade started getting on AOL chat rooms and talking to people in our grade. Even though a lot of people in my grade had cell phones, I was only allowed to have a cell phone when I graduated from eighth grade. I was actually the last kid in my grade to get a phone and had to use our landline at our house. Using the AOL chat rooms was basically my way to text and keep in touch with people in my grade. I distinctly remember I could only get on AOL when I finished my homework. Sometimes I couldn’t get on because we had one family computer and I have three siblings. It was a constant battle to get computer time at my house. I would chat back and forth with my friends for hours. I felt especially mature when I would chat a boy in my class on AOL. Chatting on AOL also opened the door to cyberbullying, which I experienced and I think everyone can relate to. I have a memory of a girl in my class yelling at me in this chat room because I didn’t sit with her at lunch. Having a space where kids can talk about anything they want gives them freedom, but it also opens a door to bullying. This girl could chat me multiple times and I couldn’t do anything to stop her. Once seventh grade hit, a majority of my class had cell phones and would actually text instead of AOL chat. Although it seems sad that I didn’t have a phone at a young age, I’m glad that I didn’t. I got to hold onto my innocence and remain a child for a little longer than other kids. Instead of being occupied by a cell phone, I played outside with my neighbors and watched television. AOL chat rooms were a fun part of being a teenager and I find it funny that kids in 2015 would never message each other in chat rooms or e-mail back and forth like I used to.