#tekno

The pros are their potential and the cons are their actual use.

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There's a bunch of ideological stuff I could stumble my way through griping about, but I guess at base I would say be mindful that you are engaging with objects in the medium, not the medium for its own sake. That is to say, for example, "watch shows!", don't just "watch TV!". See the diff, don't you?

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Think about what you consume and make an effort to try and refine it's core ideas and opinions. As we grow up the things we read and watch will have lessons in them, and at first they will be spelled out for us. Eventually we will become drawn to things that appear to not contain lessons, things that are "just really cool" or "dark" or "funny". There is an adolescent notion that "grown up" media ceases to spoon feed you morals or ideologies, because the characters on screen don't have always have explicit epiphanies or go through teachable experiences. That it trusts you to already know everything you need to, and now it's time for grown up stuff. It's very important for teenagers to absorb that culture never stops trying to shape you, and that every cultural object reflects ideologies, of its creators, publishers, or patrons. This realisation was submerged in me through critically engaging with texts in English and History, for example, but it's such an important skill to hone and keep using, to confidently parse and engage with the volume of ideas now hailing down on us.

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The alternative is to avoid or reduce the use of cultural technology, which is also advisable. This should be encouraged as self-restraint over prohibition, and proceed as part of respectful and not fear-mongering instruction on addiction.

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