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What Are Teens Really Learning from Blogs? Bridging the Gap Between Sex Education and the Internet

Webster, Nicholas A.

Abstract Details

2007, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, EDU Teaching and Learning.
This article attempts to synthesize a wide spectrum of literature to investigate how some teens may be using blogging as a means of sexual exploration. This review begins with an investigation of the politicization of knowledge surrounding the development of sexuality education programs in the United States, with particular emphasis on the rise of the abstinence-only movement. This is followed by an analysis of the effects of media and advances in technology on sexuality, primarily in the case of adolescents. The article then turns to examining how contemporary adolescents actually learn about sex. Literature is presented arguing that schools are not adequately engaging with technology to connect with students’ daily lives, that adolescents use their online abilities outside of adult supervision to find sexual content on the internet, and that adolescents are increasingly utilizing the Internet’s unique capabilities as an interactive medium to explore sexuality. This interaction is then fully examined through an analysis of the recent trend of blogging—what it means and how some young people may be using it as a powerful learning tool, whether or not they realize they are doing so. Finally, several suggestions will be provided for the directions future research should take to empirically investigate the practice of teen blogging as an innovative means of learning about sexuality.
Antoinette Errante (Advisor)
Mollie Blackburn (Committee Member)
63 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Webster, N. A. (2007). What Are Teens Really Learning from Blogs? Bridging the Gap Between Sex Education and the Internet [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1409755723

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Webster, Nicholas. What Are Teens Really Learning from Blogs? Bridging the Gap Between Sex Education and the Internet. 2007. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1409755723.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Webster, Nicholas. "What Are Teens Really Learning from Blogs? Bridging the Gap Between Sex Education and the Internet." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1409755723

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)