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State Winner
Erin Schilmoeller
7th Grade, All Souls School
I can be an independent thinker in an internet dependent world by using my sources wisely. Many people in our world today use just one source for an essay, or a report, or even a paragraph. I cannot believe the number of times that I come home from school with an assignment and go straight to the internet, or the World Wide Web. Sometimes I think that our generation goes straight to the computer for things that can be looked up easily in books, magazines, or newspapers. Secondly, everything on the internet is not true. It is nice to look some things up on a website, but how does the public know what is fact and what is fiction on the site? Lastly, when people have questions they do not have to go straight to the internet, some individuals may know the answer. Even if the person does not know the answer; you can keep asking others until it is found.
Using more books, magazines, and newspapers is just one of the ways that people can stay away from the box on their desk: the computer. Some just have to remember that there are still school libraries and public libraries out there. Many libraries will carry the book or books that the person is looking for. If not, they can look the book up in other library systems. Since the library is a quiet place the person may stay and work on their papers there. Magazines like "National Geographic" and "US News and World Report" give current information on many topics. "National Geographic" give information on people, geography, countries, climate, history, and natural resources. This information can help in country reports as well as geography reports. The "US News and World Report" gives us information on world news and current events. Magazines can help educate us on government happenings, political issues, as well as current events. This magazine keeps us up to date on the news around the world. The library that I go to has rows and rows of magazines. You can find magazines and newspapers at home, the neighbors, the grocery store, newsstands and doctor's offices. Newspapers like The New York Times or The Denver Post carry the latest news. The newspapers have it all, from food to sports to weather. Some parents may even have clipping from newspapers a while back. While some newspapers carry information about the city or the state like The Denver Post, some have worldwide news like The New York Times. Many homes have a dictionary, thesaurus, and many more other books. Parents may also have reference books on various subjects. So, if they do not have a library near, they can use those book sources for help.
Not everything that we see on the internet is true. That is why one must be careful when searching the internet for factual information. The places that I use the internet for are the CIA World Fact Bok, Encyclopedia of Nations and several others. Most of these are used to look up information on countries, but I'm sure that there are more sites for other topics. Wikipedia is a site on the web that is not a good place to get information. For example: I was looking up facts for my country in the site Wikipedia. I printed off a page from there and then went to the CIA World Factbook. The same information that I just got off of Wikipedia was not correct. The information on the CIA World Factbook page had just been updated a few days earlier. From that day on I have not used Wikipedia.
Asking questions more frequently instead of just going straight to the internet is a great way to get information. People are around us every day. Why not ask them questions? Many times people will know the answer. If not, they may know someone who will. Instead of going straight to the net, go ask Mom or Dad the question. I have an example of going and asking a question. A couple of months ago my grammar teacher asked us what Charlie Parker, the jazz musician's nickname was. Instead of going to the internet, I went to the music teacher. He told me that Charlie's nickname was "Bird". Another example of getting out there and asking questions is when I called my grandfather with a social studies question. Not only did he help me figure out the answer, but also the answer for the next assignment too.
I can be an independent thinker in an internet dependent world by using my sources wisely. Even though it is hard to stay off of the internet, use books, magazines, and newspapers more often than the internet could be a great habit to start. The library has many books and probably has the one you are looking for. Look up information that is factual not fiction, because everything on the internet is not true. By asking questions we are asking the people around us for information that we do not know, and we are not sitting in front of the computer in our homes. The internet can be a good thing in some respects, but by using more sources wisely it can be a limited one and less depended on.