kids these days.

1. last day of tuesday classes of 2010! YAY! the day went pretty quickly and i am glad it's over! i finished up all my work on time and get to relax for a day or two. one class tomorrow, two sessions of participants to run, and then FREEDOM. can't wait for tomorrow night.
2. almost wrapped up all my christmas shopping. as i get older, the shopping becomes more difficult. more people to buy for and harder to figure out what to get. sometimes i miss the days of giving coupon books to my parents...haha. 
3. trying to figure out a schedule for my exam week here. it really shouldn't be too bad. i have an italian exam on monday, a 10 page history paper due on monday afternoon, a film and culture exam on thursday (that i can use a cheat sheet on), and an emailed english exam due friday afternoon. 

tonight...oh man. i read this article about cyberbullying and it blew my mind. it is shocking what happens on the internet. i am supposedly of this technology generation and i guess i am since i was addicted to instant messaging when i was in middle school, but i totally missed the facebook and myspace phase for middle and even most of high school. people's ENTIRE LIVES are online now! i mean, hell, look at me--blogging every night because i actually think that people care enough about what i have to say. how arrogant! and granted, i am doing this in part for me but i also enjoy (most of the time) writing about stuff i think people will care about reading. but still. this article just absolutely made me crazy. and so nervous for kids growing up in this environment. basically, what is most threatening about online bullying is the anonymity, the difficulty finding the culprit, and that basically nothing can be done about it. i talked with my roommate about it tonight and was adamant that my kids would not have the online stuff at such a young age...but is that realistic? my parents trusted me to use IM wisely, which i did for the most part, though i was not innocent of participating in cyberbullying and was a victim of it. it was just how my friends were all communicating. and i did have time limits for my screen names, which was definitely a good step, and i was policed to some extent. but the rest of it was all basically up to me--and i turned out okay. so what is the right thing to do? the article is quite long but well worth the read. http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111504/as-bullies-go-digital-parents-play-catch-up it is just so confusing to know how to handle yourself as a kid and as a parent. there are so many fine lines to toe that it becomes exhausting for both parties. i am mainly appalled that the kids who cyber bully are such horrible little demons. how can kids think this stuff is okay?! maybe even i am too far removed from the middle and early high school days to remember how it is being that young and growing up and trying to fit in, but damn. these stories are extreme...which is why they were chosen for the article, i guess. this is just another reason i am a psychology major. i'm just trying to understand adolescents.