“Do you Google?” would have seemed a strange question a decade ago. Today, Google is a house-hold world. Through Google, Web surfers3 can access articles, videos, and music.
Your generation is the first to grow up in a digital world, where laptops4, iPods, and Sidekicks are changing the way people communicate. “My grandfather tells me all the time [how difficult it used to be],” says Elizabeth, 13. “He always says, ‘When I was a kid, we didn’t have Internet. We had to use the phone system.’”
Even telephones have changed dramatically. Today’s Razr phones, for instance, are light-years away from rotary5 phones.
We are so used to connecting instantly with people everywhere; it is difficult to imagine life before the digital age. Many kids don’t want to watch TV, they want to surf the net.
“I’d rather live without TV than [without] the Internet,” says Lester, 15. Lester says that he spends about two hours online each day. “I used [my computer] to talk to my sister, who’s away at college. I do research for my homework. I watch video and download music.”
Teens like Elizabeth and Lester are accessing the Internet in record numbers. According to a recent Pew Internet study, 87 percent of U.S. kids ages 12 to 17 are online.
Too Accessible6？
When did the Internet get its start? The United States Department of Defense created an early version of the Net in the last 1960s. It was intended as a communications system for the U.S. government. For the next two decades, it was mostly used by government agencies, universities, and libraries.
That changed in the early 1990s, with the arrival of the World Wide Web. The Web took the Net into homes and business around the world. In December 1990, there was just one Web site. Today, there are 10million sites and counting！
But there is a downside7 to being wired8 24/79. “We’re so accessible, we’re inaccessible,” a technologist told a New York Times columnist recently.“We can’t find the off switch on our devices or on ourselves... We want to wear an iPod as much to listen to our own play-lists10 as to block out11 the rest of the world.”
A Global Meeting Place
For many teens, meeting friends and new people online is one of the best features of the Web. “You can chat with people who are in China.” Says Elizabeth, “even though you’re in the U.S.”
The most popular networking12 sites include MySpace and Facebook. “I’m on MySpace everyday,” Says Bailey, 15. “I’ve found a lot of my old friends and gotten in touch with them.”
Still, some kids say that interest in such sites is cooling. “Over time, people are going to get sick of13 talking to people on the computer,” one high school sophomore14 told The Washington Post. “I just think people will want to spend more time with each other—without the wall of technology.”
For other kids, the lure of collecting friends online is irresistible15. While Bailey knows many of her online friends, many others she does not. Adding people you don’t know to your friend list can be risky. The 14-year-old you think you’re talking to may really be a 45-year-old looking for trouble.
Lester’s admits to worrying about his safety online. But that doesn’t stop him from accessing the Internet. Like millions of kids, the first thing he does when he comes home from school is turn on the computer. “It’s addictive16 if you let it be17.” Lester says. “I really enjoy it. The Internet lets me know what’s happening. It’s everywhere.”
Tips for Safe Surfing
1. Don’t post personal information that can be used to identify18 you, such as your real name, phone number, address, school or favorite hangout19.
2. Don’t add people you don’t know personally to your friend list.
3. Don’t post any photos or comments that could embarrass20 you later.
4. If you are being harassed21 online, tell a trusted adult.
5. Never respond to e-mails or instant messages from people you don’t know.
“你Google了吗？”如果十年前问这个问题会让人觉得奇怪，而今天，Google已是一个家喻户晓的数字世界。通过Google，网民们能够获取文章、视频和音乐。
你们这代人是在数字世界中长大的第一代，笔记本电脑、iPod音乐播放器和Sidekick手机正在改变人们的通讯方式。“我祖父总对我说[过去有多么艰难]，”13岁的伊丽莎白说，“他老是说，‘在我小的时候没有互联网，我们只能使用电话系统。’”
就连电话也发生了戏剧性的变化。比如，拿今天的摩托罗拉Razr手机和老式的转盘电话相比，可谓天壤之别。
我们对随时随地联络他人已经习以为常；很难想象数字时代之前的生活。许多孩子现在不想看电视，他们更热衷于上网。
“我的生活中宁可没有电视也不可没有互联网，”15岁的莱斯特说。莱斯特说他每天花大约两小时上网。“我用[电脑]和在外地读大学的姐姐聊天，在网上查找做家庭作业需要的资料，我还看视频和下载音乐。”
像伊丽莎白和莱斯特这样的青少年正以创纪录的人数登录互联网。据皮尤网络的最近一次调查，87％的12至17岁美国孩子在上网。
物极必反？
互联网始于何时？美国国防部在上世纪60年代创建了一个早期的网络版本，目的是用作美国政府的通讯系统。在其后的二十年中，它主要被用于政府机构、大学和图书馆。
到20世纪90年代，随着万维网络的问世形势发生了改变。万维网把网络带进了世界各地的千家万户和商业机构。1990年12月，全球仅有一个网站，今天这个数字已达千万，且仍在增长！
但是不分昼夜、无时不刻地粘在网上也有不利的一面。“网络四通八达，却又使我们与世隔绝，”一个技术专家最近对《纽约时报》的一位专栏作家说，“我们看不到设备的停止键，也找不着我们自身的停止键……我们一戴上iPod就剩下两个愿望：听自己的曲目，关闭外面的世界。”
全球性聚会场所
对许多青少年而言，在网上和新朋老友聚会是互联网的最佳特色之一。“你可以和远在中国的人聊天，”伊丽莎白说，“虽然你人在美国。”
人气最旺的沟通类网站包括MySpace和Facebook。“我每天都上MySpace，”15岁的贝利说，“我找到了很多老朋友，和他们建立了联系。”
尽管如此，有些孩子认为人们对此类网站的兴趣正在冷却。“随着时间的推移，人们将对网上聊天感到厌倦，”一名高二学生对《华盛顿邮报》说，“我认为将来人们会希望花更多的时间彼此呆在一起——没有技术设置的围墙。”
对另一些孩子们来说，网上交友的诱惑却是无法抵挡的。虽然贝利认识很多网友，但还有许多人她并不熟悉。把陌生人加入你的好友名单可能会有风险。你以为才14岁的那个跟你聊天的人或许就是一个45岁的心怀叵测者。
莱斯特的家人承认很担心他的上网安全，但这并没有阻止他登录网络。和其他成百上千万的孩子们一样，他从学校回家后做的第一件事就是打开电脑。“如果听之任之就会上瘾，”莱斯特说，“我真的很喜欢上网。互联网让我获取最新资讯，它无所不在。”
安全上网注意事项
1. 不要在网上发布可用于识别你的个人信息，如真实姓名、电话号码、住址、学校或最喜欢光顾的场所。
2. 不要把你本人不认识的人加入好友名单。
3. 不要发布任何将来有可能令你尴尬的照片或评论。
4. 如果在网上遭到骚扰，告诉一个你信赖的成人。
5. 绝不要回复来自陌生人的电子邮件或即时信息。
1. virtual adj. 虚拟的
2. click [klik] n. 鼠标点击声
3. surfer n. 网上冲浪者
4. laptop n. 笔记本电脑
5. rotary adj. 旋转的
6. accessible adj. 易得到的；方便的
7. downside n. 不利方面
8. wire v. 用电线连接
9. 24/7 twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
10. play-list [plei-list] n. 音乐播放曲目
11. block out 封闭，遮蔽
12. network v. 沟通，互助
13. get sick of 厌倦
14. sophomore n. 二年级学生
15. irresistible adj. 不可抵挡的
16. addictive adj. 上瘾的
17. let it be 随它去
18. identify v. 识别，确认
19. hangout n. 常去的地方
20. embarrass v. 使尴尬，使困窘
21. harass v. 骚扰