Amber Cole: The Darker Side Of Technology

Nobody can argue that technology opens new possibilities.  The word possibilties has a positive connotation.  Being able to take pictures and videos without having to bring a separate camera when you have the right phone is great.  Being able to share pictures and videos without having to specify all the people you want to show it to is even better.  Just like everyone else, I found it easy to forget how this could be a bad thing, until I heard of Amber Cole.   

Disclaimer: The following article may or may not be suitable for children to read.  If you are under 18, please read at your own discretion

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Amber Cole, Google is your best friend.  If opening up a new tab to search for it isn't your best option, here's a brief summary: Amber Cole is a 14 year old girl who became  "famous" and one of the most discussed topics on Twitter after someone recorded her performing a fellatio on school grounds and uploaded it online.  This trend triggered a massive debate between those those criticizing her for her behavior and those claiming this as a symbol of societal decay on one side and people defending her on the other side.  What seems to get very little mention in this firestorm are any comments concerning her parents, school and technology.  Since this is a technology blog, I will leave my personal opinion of her parents out of this article.

While it's easy to blame societal decay and shout "What is this world coming to" or "this never happened back in my day!" one should closely take a look at how "society" was when one was in high school (assuming one is over 18) and how "society" is today.  If you went to high school in the United States, chances are you've met or at least knew of at least a girl who was known for doing things at age 14 (even on school grounds) that nobody wants their daughter to do at age 14, if not ever.  Almost every high school has their share, even the "prestigious" specialized high school I was admitted to.  However, chances are none of the people you knew who fit the description ever became famous.  So what made Amber Cole so famous?  Technology.

Ten years ago, sharing content on the internet, let alone using it was restricted to the tech-savvy and in the case of high school age children, only certain cliques bothered to use it.   Even fewer people knew how to access usegroups or forums to share or view shared photos or videos.  Furthermore, one had to specify who they wanted to send content to instead of sharing it to everyone with a click of a button like we do today.  The creation of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube simplified such procedures and attracted all kinds of people that would not have bothered learning how to use the internet ten years ago, such as those responsible for the Amber Cole video.

It is commonly known that there is a disconnect when one is on the internet as they are seemingly no longer accountable for their actions.  This effect is further amplified by the fact that many children spend most of their time outside of school use the internet as their main source of communication with outside people.  In spite of most of societal interactions taking place on the internet, schools dedicate very little time teaching children how to use technology.  With little education on the proper purpose of such tools, children are "free" to come up with their own interpretation for what it's meant to be used for which in this case, can be a terrible thing.  If schools don't teach how easily content can be spread around the internet, why should we assume kids should know better than to allow themselves to be recorded doing something they would regret later?  While it would be ideal for schools to spend more time with familiarizing children with such technology, it probably won't happen as our government running out of money.  Therefore, it's up to parents to teach their children things about the internet everyone is "supposed" to know.  

During my visit to the Japanese Pavilion of World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Canon showed off a product they were working on: a "camera" disguised as a bird feather that could take pictures of all 360 degrees, which would've sounded more appealing if you heard about it before you read this article.  Thanks to technological improvements that make everything more compact, convenient and accessible, Amber Cole will not be the last to be known for her actions.  The best you can do is make sure it's not someone you care about.