Internet Safety

Jesse’s presentation left me with an unprecedented feeling of anxiety. I realize that his presentation was meant to be shocking to truly drive home his point, and the way I feel about the information presented is my own decision. Unfortunately, the words of Jesse have led me to question almost every decision I’ve made (even if I made the right career choice!) Through his prompting, I found an old instagram account I had made with some friends back in high school. The contents of the posts were very embarrassing and inappropriate, the account needed to be deleted immediately. Unfortunately, I had forgotten the password and was unable to log back into the account. The process of getting into the account took me 4 straight hours, during which I felt the most anxiety I’ve felt in years. Eventually I was able to access the account and delete all of its contents. Although I fully agree that the account needed to be deleted for many reasons, I became discouraged at the fact that something I had done when I was only 16 and still a child, could have ruined my chances of ever being employed. I understand that as a child educator it is important to display a certain image so as to appear competent in the eyes of parents. What I’m having a hard time understanding is how my actions as a child are an accurate reflection of who I am now and how I will behave as a teacher. We are only human and bound to make mistakes! Being reckless as a teenager is an essential aspect of growing up. I know that I no longer need to worry about this, as the account has been removed. That being said, I couldn’t help but feel as if that was unfair. How was I supposed to know better when I was only a child? I suppose this was the whole purpose of Jesse’s presentation; to reinforce the importance of teaching students about internet safety and the possible life altering repercussions of their actions on the internet. Although this event was very stressful, it reminded me to be careful of what I post online, because anyone has access to this and the posts have the potential to give off the wrong impression about who I really am.