The Digital Generation of Children and Adolescents in Face of Internet Dangers

Abstract

The dynamic development of digital media and the tools which create the world of new technologies influence their users' social and cultural transformations on a global scale. Undoubtedly, cyberspace enriches educational, upbringing and socializing opportunities of digital natives, that is children and adolescents who have grown up in the media space. The apparent usefulness of the Internet should not, however, lull parents' and teachers' vigilance, as it is potentially a highly dangerous tool due to its telepresence and the fact that young people are immersed in it. The aim of the article is to analyze online identity of the digital generation, that is young people who have grown up in a completely new reality, different from any other in the past, and who describe themselves as 'always connected'. Since in the postmodern world (also in cyberspace) constructing one's identity is an individual's task, it seems justified to outline selected Internet dangers, such as cyber violence, Internet pornography and Internet hate. In order to facilitate young people's healthy development, the article lists a handful of preventive measures to be introduced in basic rearing environments that is family and school.