Report Suggests That Nanny State Might Actually Not Be For the Best

tonyreadsnews writes "Usually, 'thinking of the children' is a starting point to impose limitations on video games and internet in general. For once, a study requested by UK's Prime Minister seems to be a bit more objective than most. In the Executive Summary (PDF) 'Children and young people need to be empowered to keep themselves safe — this isn't just about a top-down approach. Children will be children — pushing boundaries and taking risks. At a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim.' I think that is an important point that most studies miss, that just 'thinking of the children' and locking the bad stuff away is actually setting them up for failure later in life. A direct link to the full PDF is also available."

Comments

Re:Middle ground

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Pretty much it boils down to this, do not protect me from myself

The vast majority of the time someone is being protected from themselves, they are doing something stupid. What do you want to do that's so brilliant that you are being kept from doing.

Let's leave drug laws off the table however. To properly understand the effects of drugs and their levels of pleasure/harmlessness, I would have to have experience with them; I am and always was a goody-goody in that regard.