Dear FRONTLINE,

After the broadcast I was left speechless. At first I had no idea what to think about the internet, but then I realized how easily the next generation can get access to the web whether you like it or not.

I have a baby sister that, by the age of 5, could operate a computer and log onto the internet. She is now 8 and goes on youtube constantly to look up her favorite cartoons. Since her vocabulary knowledge of the global environment isn't so extensive she asked me what certain stuff she'd seen online were. I learned about how she would watch things like Family Guy or some random videos that I would never allow her to watch in the first place.

It's scary, experience this level of angst for my sister. She's so young and so impressionable. But seeing that she is much smarter and much more eager to learn lessons about all of the new technologies that society comes up with, I have faith in her to be able to look after herself. Of course, from time to time I find myself checking up on her, just to make sure. Point is, society must try its best to deal with this transition to the modern age of global connectivity. Embracing the internet will undoubtedly unlock the great positive potentials yet to be seen. Surely, the web is something special and we should not lose sight of that.

Nai Saephanh
Oakland, California

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am a mother of two sons, both in their teens and both typically involved in the world of computer games, msn, facebook and the internet. I can't help but feel the issue with any of these platforms of communication is balance- I frequently "dare" my sons to walk away at any given "high" point in their games to see if they actually can.

About two weeks ago my 13 year old son woke me around midnight with a smile on his face and proceeded to tell me how he had moments earlier, closed his World Of Warcraft account (which he had worked on for months)- He'd "walked away from it" because he said he felt that it was starting to taking over his life- he knew his school work was starting to take a dive and that it was the first thing and last thing he would think about in the day... I am very proud of him for pulling the plug at 13 on one of the most seductive and addictive online games without my needing to step in as an enforcer, which I was prepared to do if things didn't change. I believe he was able to do so partly due to many open debates in our home. I have been a great advocate of talking about issues of the day. We have had many interesting talks about the nature of addiction, habits gone wild, becoming obsessed with things/people/foods/computer games etc. This always returns to the issue of habits. What habits do we create that are in our best interest and what habits do we chose to keep that are not? I started early with coaching my kids about sugar-which I call the First Addiction- all the others follow suit...Each person knows their own answers to what habits work in their best interest and which ones don't... How do we teach our children to chose those habits that serve their highest well being? Especially if, as parents we haven't chosen those habits that serve our own highest well being...

I think the teens of this first generation of cyber community may wish to note thatthere is something very different going on when they are once removed from a person- whether that be by phone, internet, webcam, texting. Not all your senses are involved. When we are present in person with someone ALL our senses are firing-and all our senses are being exercised- Doesn't matter how convenient and revolutionary the technology- when you start dulling the intelligences of a wholeperson, I believe there's trouble on the horizon.

The thing that concerns me in the long run is when you do un-plug the computers and TVs and this generation stands still without a mouse or remote in hand, will they be lost and unable to hear their own inner self? .

I vote for Go Outside And Play...something about sunshine, fresh air, day dreaming,natures power to contribute to our well being, developing street smarts, tuning in to the real world around us...which all develop the power of presence...

Cheers from Victoria BC Canada,

Victoria BC, Canada

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for this informative program....I hear about "this stuff" in my practice daily as an adolescent psychotherapist. As a relatively new sociological/psychological phenomena, reflecting and moving beyond the angst and enjoyment of human contact, more attention to understanding, prevention and education is needed in the professions that serve adolescents...probably for adults as well. We now have new layer of interaction and intimacy, violence, economics, politics, and communication with the technology that we have developed as a society.

Perhaps the old one-on-one personal interaction with the real life therapist is one of the last confidential refuges for teens before they act on thoughts of self-harm, when they feel trapped and see no way out, to learn how to cope with and not be victimized, to understand consequences, to be accountable when it can't be mom and dad....extended family not there for many.

I would encourage any parent who has an inkling that their adolescent's computer time/concern is becoming out-of-balance in relation to his/her real life interactions seek assessment/help with a therapist....no strings/labels attached. Both victims, cyberbullies need help.

Hopefully your show is like a mass email to parents so that individuals don't get scapegoated.

Karen Ritter, LCSW
San Diego, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

It's a shame that the teachers were using technology to simply transmit information. Replacing a chalkboard for a smartboard and a book for an e-book might be a more convenient way of distributing information but it doesn't seem to change much in the way kids learn.

Digital technology gives people the tools to create and express themselves, not just consume information. The hope is that schools would focus on giving kids the opportunities to create and express themselves using technology in a way that exposes them to powerful ideas from fields like engineering, science and art.

Creation rather than consumption is a better way of looking at the role of technology in education.

Andres Monroy-Hernandez
Cambridge, MA

Dear FRONTLINE,

I just finished watching the documentary and was really disappointed with how completely off the mark it was on so many points It was doubly disappointing because all of this mildly hysterical, white-bread suberban luddite panic was brought to "viewers like you" through the tremendous resource of Frontline and its relatively audible voice in the white noise of the media stream.

The kids were great. They were far far more perceptive about Growing Up on the Internet than any of the adults who came on the screen only to dither their way through really important issues concerning the web, its inhabitants, and the stunning paradigm shift it is producing around the globe.

Evan was the worst and, sadly, so typical of all the parents and experts who spoke in strings of euphemisms that even an average 5th grader could see through. Every time she would appear in her house and begin to speak, I could not help but to sense the immense physical space, social space, and cyber space between her and the minorities who were merely present in the documentary as token symbols of the democratized space of the Internet. It is individuals like her who create a kind of quotidian, low level hysteria about kids' access to technologies that give them real power to transform their lives and and to actually participate in meaningful ways beyond the dead, consensus culture of adulthood.

This documentary was such a missed opportunity to address this profound paradigm shift that the Web has produced.

Tony Allard
San Diego, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for this informative program....I hear about "this stuff" in my practice daily as an adolescent psychotherapist.

As a relatively new sociological/psychological phenomena, reflecting and moving beyond the angst and enjoyment of human contact, more attention to understanding, prevention and education is needed in the professions that serve adolescents...probably for adults as well. We now have new layer of interaction and intimacy, violence, economics, politics, and communication with the technology that we have developed as a society.

I would encourage any parent who has an inkling that their adolescent's computer time/concern is becoming out-of-balance in relation to his/her real life interactions seek assessment/help with a therapist....no strings/labels attached. Both victims, cyberbullies need help. Hopefully your show is like a mass email to parents so that individuals don't get scapegoated.

Karen Ritter, LCSW
San Diego, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for confirming my belief that my daughter should not have internet access until she's 30 and out of my house.

It is extremely discouraging to me to see the parents of out of control children at a total loss for what to do. GET RID OF THE COMPUTER! It's pretty easy! Let the children move out and get their own computer if they insist on treating their parents with such disrespect!

The young man who was so incensed that his mother forwarded photos of him and his friends breaking the law should be ashamed that he's so stupid to have posted them on a public forum in the first place. He should spend more time in school developing his critical thinking skills. And the fact that his mother received tons of emails from irate parents telling her to mind her own business is the entire problem. Negligent parenting. Parents who let their minor children drink, smoke, have sex, chat online in highly explicit rooms, etc. etc. All negligent and contributing to the delinquency of minors and they should be prosecuted and fined.

I believe today's children would benefit far more from interacting on a human level with actual human beings face-to-face instead of wasting away in front of a flickering screen. Every one of those kids need a dose of being of service to other people. The selfishness and self-indulgent nature of online obsession is robbing them of their humanity. They need to go weed their elderly neighbor's yards, help out at the town homeless shelter, visit the sick...anything to show them that others exist besides themselves and their so-called problems.

And that poor child who killed himself. How sad. How sad that other children, selfish children, contributed to his despair. How tragic that no one knew how desperate he was. We are all lacking human connection these days and I beleive we will all suffer from it.

Megan Fox
Chicago, IL

Dear FRONTLINE,

Sometimes I wonder if the children are more responsible than the adults. I work in a casino at Lake Tahoe.

Incline Village, Neveda

Dear FRONTLINE,

I only saw part of this program on growing up online. I feel like it's a catch 22 situation. I have allowed my kids to My Space, and they give me their passwords. I read up on kids and even went to other kids profiles to see if they were the type of kid I suspected them to be. I found out a lot about my own children,friends, Where they were hanging out and what kids were doing. I feel like it is my right as their parent. I was able to talk to them about some things and persuade them not to participate in partying and found out things about my friends kids as well. Mom's have a secret club where they can find out at games and functions about their kids and other kids. A network to protect their kids and other kids. My space was an open source for me to see into the lives of teens. I feel like it gave me a heads up on what to talk about or how to talk about subjects such as sex, smoking, drinking and drugs. Some of my kids friends thought I was crazy and hated me for it, even quit talking to my kids or blocked them. But that was just a way of weeding out some of the bad influences. Parents you have to do what ever you can to protect your kids, even if it means not being liked by their friends and momentarily by them. I can handle teenagers not liking me, but I can't handle my child's life being taken by bullying, drugs or suicide. Be strong Parents!

Gig Harbor , Washington

Dear FRONTLINE,

I'm glad I happen to have caught the program "Growing up online".It was very timely. My son just recently talked to me about his My Space page and shared it with me today. Of course like so many concerned parents, I worry where all the open access to the world (of the unknown) could take our children to. The program helped educate me more to this new and fairly unfamiliar world that my son spends so much time in. I do look at it as a blessing and a curse. My son has a physical disability which has limited his access to the world "outside", not freely being able to come and go on his own as he pleases. So, the internet has been a way to level the playing field and allow him to fit in. The vulerablity issue that concerns all parents is there just the same. I appreciate getting some perspective on this from watching your program and reading the comments of the participants. Thanks,

Brookhaven, Pa.

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am one of the few that has had a computer since they first came out. My son has been on a computer since birth; he is now 22. The internet has no one "in charge", but it does represent a truth about society that has always been true.

It's not always nice out there and our ability (as parents)to keep our children "safe" never really existed.

Is it really a bad thing that my 22 year understands what it took me twice as long to figure out?

Melissa Reichert
Hedgesville, WV

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank You for such an investigative report about the youth and using the internet. It is important to remind and educate that although there are adult stalkers and kids cyberbulling, there is also the very real danger of teens with weapons who post messages or videos with intent to harm. Last year we have seen many reports of these events in the news worldwide. The internet has expanded from a information technology to a personal social identity in the world.

Seattle, Wa

Dear FRONTLINE,

I felt compelled to respond to J.R. from New York, NY's letter. J.R. accuses the mother from Chatham of being "domineering and hostile" toward her children. In the sentence prior, J.R. advises that she "step back and let them be the adults they clearly already are."

I wonder if we were watching the same program. Her children were acting like, well, children. Spoiled and much loved children, like ones you see all over the country with a cell phone to their ear and an ipod on their hip.

I don't see how J.R. can pity children who have two caring parents who are trying to do the very best they can for their kids.

Kirsten Waldron
Bevercreek, OH

Dear FRONTLINE,

I think Cam Skinner is a brat and should be thankful his mother cares about him enough to do what she's done. He needs to think how this experience has affected her life too. When I was growing up in the 80s my mother respected my brother's and my privacy but still checked our rooms from time to time. We weren't hiding anything so we didn't care. And if she found something she confronted us about it.

Boys are known for not opening up like girls are, particularly to their mothers, so sometimes invading their privacy is necessary to know what's going on in their lives. Grow up Cam and put yourself in your mother's shoes and think about what you would do to protect your kids growing up in this crappy culture of ours.

Brendan LaCivita
Alexandria, Virginia

Dear FRONTLINE,

Computers and the Internet are today's new "babysitter". Many kids have already grown up with the tv for a companion while the parents were busy making ends meet or chose to improve their material status.

It is critical that parents build a caring and respectful relationship with their children or else the kids may "virtually" flee from home.

My kids experienced the Internet since they were 15 (they are now 23 and 20) It offered them friendships they could not find at school. Discovering who you are and how you fit in this world is what adolescence is all about and you do need peers for that.

We have always had a very loving and intellectual connection with our kids. As a result we felt they could be trusted to use the Internet responsibly. I believe it is because of this connection and mutual respect that we still have a loving bond with them today.

Conny Jensen
Greeley, Colorado