Disagreement (article 1)

I disagree with what the author says about the negatives to children using the internet is that it is costly. I think that many young people today us the internet to keep in contact an talk to their friends as they would rather have conversations with their friends over msn, or the wall of a social networking site like facebook rather than talk to them over the phone on their mobile. It doesn't cost anything like what a mobile phone bill would if you were talking to your friends who are on the other side of the world for hours on end.

The study that was taken out in this article about the use of tv, videos, books, computer games, music and personal computers which finds that young people use media technology for up to 5 hours a day. I dont think this is fair to say as yes i do agree that many young people will spend this long a day using technology sometimes even more. However i do not think every child/teenager is the same and think that it depends how a child likes to spend their time as to how long they spend watching the tele or been on their computer for instance. Children who love been outdoors and play lots of physical activity may not even interact with any technology some day whereas others may just like sitting in doors and playing on their playstation or computer for hours.
I think that maybe the statistics for how many children do use technology for hours a day is rising but only because it is accessible to them. Many many years ago this media technology wasn't availavle to children so they had to find other ways of entertaining themselves which often included games outside in the streets and parks etc. However times have changed and media has developed and most children today do have their own computers and televisions in their rooms so have the choise of spending their free time attached to them.

The article raises issues about how parents are concerned for thier children's safety outdoors so would rather them be sat inside on the internet. Surely there are issues concerning safety where children are concerned when they are on these social networking sites and chatrooms?. These aren't exactly safe for children to be on and can be as dangerous as children playing out on the streets i would say.