There’s something about the Internet that can bring out meanness in teenager

游客2023-11-03  23

问题     There’s something about the Internet that can bring out meanness in teenagers.
    That is one finding of a study to be released Wednesday, reporting that nine in ten teenagers say they have witnessed cruelty by their peers on social networks.
    For the vast majority of teens, Facebook is the social network of choice. Incidents of mean and cruel behavior are pervasive and cut across all ages and backgrounds on social networks, according to the study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, which surveyed 800 children between the ages of 12 and 17.
    The data on Internet experiences for young people is not all bad. Eight in ten teenagers said they have developed positive feelings about themselves and forged better friendships on social networking sites, according to Pew.
    Still, the prevalence of "mean" behavior—a term the center doesn’t define—raised concerns among child-safety advocates and parents who say adolescents may be subjecting themselves to unhealthy online environments. "For teens, these are exciting and rewarding spaces. But the majority have seen a darker side," said Amanda Lenhart, a co-author of Pew’s report, "Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites."
    Of course, bad behavior among children has been around as long as youngsters have stolen milk money and scribbled insults on bathroom walls, experts say. And online bullying is not as common as what takes place on the schoolyard or in the hallway, Pew said. But there is something about the ease of communication on the Internet that invites an abundance of commentary about peers, experts say. That escalates when people gang up on an individual. Of the teens who said they witnessed cruelty online, 21 percent said they joined in the harassment. Three out of 10 girls ages 12 to 13 said they have experienced mostly unkind treatment on social networks—the most negative response of any group of youth, according to the report.
    Lenhart and other experts on social media said teenagers see themselves differently online than in the real world. Some assume a sort of "alter ego" on the Web, engaging in conversation with more bravado(冒险)and taking more risks than they do when face to face with a peer, she said. Peers can be particularly cruel on sites such as FormSpring that allow users to post comments anonymously, or on the comment boards of sites such as YouTube, according to experts.
    Facebook—with 800 million global users—requires its members to use their real identities, which it thinks is one way to prevent anonymous bullying. It also allows users to block photos of and comments about themselves that they don’t like.
    But that hasn’t stopped all bullying. And some experts worry that younger adolescents are particularly vulnerable. Rachel Simmons, an author and speaker on children and social media, said bullying occurs most in middle school, yet parents are often helping their children get online when they are younger than 13, the minimum age required for Facebook.
    "The younger the kid, the meaner the peer group becomes, so this is an alert to parents that not every kid is ready for the independence of having their own social networking page," Simmons said. [br] From the study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, we know that______.

选项 A、something about the Internet lets teenagers suppress their anger
B、social networks are no longer popular among teenagers
C、cruelty and meanness prevail among teenagers on social networking sites
D、few of the teenagers surveyed report positive feelings toward the Internet

答案 C

解析 推理题。文章第三段第二句提到,皮尤研究中心的互联网和美国生活项目对800名12岁至17岁的孩子进行了调查研究,结果表明,社交网络中卑劣、残忍的行为在所有年龄段和不同社会背景的人群中普遍存在。可知,[C]“在社交网络上,残忍和卑劣的行为在青少年中普遍存在”为正确答案。第一段第一句提到,因特网上的某种东西可将青少年的卑劣显现出来,故排除[A]“因特网的某种东西让青少年压抑住了自己的愤怒”;第三段第一句提到,对绝大多数青少年而言,Facebook是他们中意的社交网站,故排除[B]“社交网络已不再受青少年的欢迎”;第四段第二句提到,10个青少年中有8个说他们在社交网络中发展了积极的自我情感,结下了更好的友谊,故排除[D]“被调查的青少年中有极少数表达了对网络的积极感受”。
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