Everywhere I go, a glow (名詞: 光亮) of screens seems to illuminate (動詞: 照亮) rooms, buildings, and the dark night sky. There is no escaping the ubiquitous (形容詞: 普遍存在) presence of tablets, phones, and laptops. More often than not, the users of these devices are using the internet. At their fingertips, they are able to type emails to others. At their fingertips, they are able to snapchat a funny-looking squirrel to their friends. At their fingertips, they hold gadgets (名詞: 小機件、小玩意) which give them an excuse to ignore the world around them.
As of late, it seems that the older generation’s biggest problem with the internet is that it has left the youth in a quandary (名詞: 困窘) of communication. Instead of talking to people that they encounter, teenagers Facebook message their buddies. Instead of lifting up their heads to have intentional time with their parents, teenagers choose to watch YouTube videos. In fact, I am guilty of doing these things. I acknowledge that the internet has its flaws (名詞: 瑕疵) because of the behavior that it encourages from youth. But I also realize that the internet is an avenue through which youth are able to expand (動詞: 擴大、拓展) their perspectives (名詞: 觀點) and learn to interact with the world around them.
As mentioned previously, the internet has hindered (動詞: 妨礙) a generation of youth from engaging in deeper communication or relationships. Because of social media apps such as Twitter or Snapchat, people are encouraged to send superficial (形容詞: 外表的、膚淺) messages or post frivolous (形容詞: 輕浮的) updates. Because of the word limit for such apps, youth are not encouraged to express more meaningful thoughts. Also, my generation, myself included, is immersed in social media and all that the internet has to offer. As a result, we live in our own bubbles where we talk to only the people we want to talk to and do things that only we want to do. The more that we get sucked (動詞: 吸食、啜) into the internet, the less we are willing or able to interact with the world around us. Furthermore, the internet presents many pitfalls (名詞：陷阱) in the forms of sexually and violently explicit (形容詞: 詳述的) material, mindless (形容詞: 不加思想的) propaganda from biased (形容詞: 有偏見) news sources, and scams. Because youth, in their search of identity, are very impressionable (形容詞: 受影響) , the aforementioned content is more likely to degrade the behavior of young adults and teens.
Although the negative aspects of the internet are apparent (形容詞: 明顯的), there is another perspective of the internet that is worth considering–the perspective of the internet as a fountain of knowledge. Through the internet, youth are able to access information about everything imaginable. They can learn about diverse topics such as 14th Century Chinese Philosophy or Electrodynamics (名詞:電動力學). The exposure (名詞: 揭發、暴露) to different ideas that the internet provides is essential to the maturation (名詞: 成熟) and education of our generation. Youth are also able to interact with people from different cultures and countries. The same social media apps that detract (動詞:減損) from communication skills also present an opportunity for friends to keep in touch. These apps also allow home churches to connect with missionaries, Christian small groups to maintain contact, and distant family members to speak face to face with each other.
There are clear pros and cons to the internet for my generation. I want to strike (動詞: 擊打) the notion down that the internet is inherently (副詞: 天性、固定) bad or good. Personally, I think that the internet is a useful tool that stands as neutral(形容詞: 中立的; 不偏不倚的). The way in which people use the internet gives the internet its meaning and connotation (名詞: 含意). Through the internet, we are given many opportunities. But with many opportunities, we must also remember the responsibility that we have to rightfully use the internet.
不管走到那裡，我都會看到從螢光幕發出的光，照亮了房間、建築物，和漆黑的夜空。我們跟本沒辦法逃避那無所不在的平板電腦、手提電話和筆記本電腦。大部份這些裝置用家都使用互聯網，只需動動指頭，他們就可以送電郵給別人；他們就可以即時送給朋友一幅有趣的松鼠照片；他們就可以抓住一些讓他們忘掉整個世界的小玩意。
對於一些較年長的人來說，互聯網最大的問題，就是它把年輕人困在一個溝通的窘境裡。青少年寧願透過「臉書」來跟自己的好友傳遞信息，也不願跟人面對面的聊天。青少年寧願選擇看「YouTube」錄像，也不要抬起頭來跟父母交談。事實上，我也犯上同樣的錯誤。因為互聯網而衍生出來的這些行為，我不得不承認它有一定的瑕疵。但，與此同時，我也看到互聯網成了年輕一代接觸世界的一個渠道，成了擴展他們眼界的一個平臺。
我已經提過，互聯網成了年輕一代投入更深層的溝通和關係的障礙。某些社交媒體的程式，在無形中鼓勵人去放送一些表面的信息，或刊登一些輕浮的報導。因為有字數限制，年輕人並不能用較深刻的思維來表達自己。我的這一代，包括我自己，都浸泡在社交媒體和互聯網所提供的一切上。以致於，我們都住在自己的小泡泡裡面，我們只會和自己想交談的人交談，我們只會做自己想做的事。我們越是跟著互聯網走，我們越難，也越不願意跟我們周遭的世界接觸。再者，互聯網有很多隱藏的陷阱，如：露骨的色情和暴力資料、一些有偏見的新聞資源發佈的宣傳和騙局等。由於青少年都在找尋自己的身份，也很容易受影響，剛才提到的這些內容，很可能會降低了青少年的行為準則。
雖然互聯網的負面影響非常明顯，但我們也可以從知識的泉源這個值得考慮的角度來看它。年輕人能想像得到的資訊，都能透過互聯網找到。他們可以從中學習各式各樣的課題，從十四世紀的中國哲學思想到電動力學。互聯網所提供的不同看法，對我們這一代的年輕人，不但起了教育的作用，也幫助我們更趨成熟。青少年也可以透過不同的程式與其他裔族或國家的人交流。那些減低青少年溝通技巧的社交媒體，在另一方面，卻可以讓朋友們保持聯絡；讓身處異地的人可以面對面交談；讓教會與他們所支持的宣教士、基督徒小組與小組間聯繫。
互聯網對我們這一代有一定的益處，也有不利之處，我不想蓋棺定論，認定它是好的、或是壞的。我認為互聯網是一個有用的工具，是中立的，它的用意和含義，是由使用者來界定的。雖然透過互聯網，我們得到很多機會，可是，我們必須記住，能否正確地使用互聯網，乃是我們自己的責任。
◎ Ryan ◎ 翻譯：秦黃業玲