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Internet Not Really Dangerous For Kids After All
Thomas M Hughes writes "We're all familiar with the claim that it's horribly dangerous to allow our children on to the Internet. It's long been believed that the moment a child logs on to the Internet, he will experience a flood of inappropriate sexual advances. Turns out this isn't an accurate representation of reality at all. A high-profile task force representing 49 state attorneys general was organized to find a solution to the problem of online sexual solicitation. But instead the panel has issued a report (due to be released tomorrow) claiming that 'Social networks are very much like real-world communities that are comprised mostly of good people who are there for the right reasons.' The report concluded that 'the problem of child-on-child bullying, both online and offline, poses a far more serious challenge than the sexual solicitation of minors by adults.' Turns out the danger to our children was all just media hype and parental anxiety." Those who have aggressively pushed the issue of the dangerous Internet, such as Connecticut's attorney general Richard Blumenthal, are less than happy with the report.
they will never know, given that this study is online.
This just in.. It is in fact a child's parents who are most likely to abduct them! Best throw the kids out on the street for their own safety.
What's next? Next thing you know they'll find out it's actually pretty hard to come by child porn, that it's not that easy to build a bomb off Internet instructions or that a "skilled hacker" cannot just infiltrate anything and do anything by typing onto his keyboard for 20 seconds.
Please, don't take our societal innocence away by destroying our misconceptions and delusions about the Internet.
You just got troll'd!
machine full of adware that pops up each minute trying to sell him viagra or one night stand services
But... But... I thought that WAS Windows?! ;)
A Man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties -- Albert Einstein
Hmmm... I've yet to get the shit beat out of me on the internet, but have gotten my ass kicked at a playground a couple times.
Which is more dangerous?
The playground bully who finds you on Facebook.
Just wait until the day your kids edit your hosts file to point their hostname/ip back to your own system.
Then you can take some acid and launch a VNC client....whooooooo!
You can't take the sky from me.
Quick, Smithers, massage my brain. I'm trying to think.
The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
Something tells me the research for this study avoided any site with "chan" in its URL.
Anybody want my mod points?
Good article... shows the mentality of the Psychologists/Social workers though, something like this:
Two social workers were walking through a rough part of the city in the evening. They heard moans and muted cries for help from a back lane.
Upon investigation, they found a semi-conscious man in a pool of blood. "Help me, I've been mugged and viciously beaten" he pleaded.
The two social workers turned and walked away. One remarked to her colleague: "You know the person that did this really needs help."
A Man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties -- Albert Einstein
I for one, welcome our underage Counter Strike playing overlords.
Well I'm a very consistent person, so in the same way that I make sure that my children cannot see anything that may disturb them a bit (OMG what if my children saw a grown man's wee wee? It would surely traumatise them for life), I don't let my children play on the playground with anything short of an American football player's protection gear (OMG what if they scrapped their knee and in resulted in tendon infection and we had to amputate their leg or something!)
I think that anyone who falls short of such measures of protection is a monster more than a parent and might as well push their children from the top of the helter skelter or show them a woman's breast.
You just got troll'd!
I've already done my part by donating money to the Jack Thompson Retirement Fund so we can alleviate his boredom and take his disbarment off his mind by offering him a video game console. And a copy of GTA IV (you saw that one coming admit it).
You just got troll'd!
When I was a kid the van was black.
And the candy was stale, like it was from the dollar store. But you had to take it or he wouldn't let you in the van.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Unfortunatly Mr. Jackson isn't available at the moment. Just leave a message after the beep.
My kids have been on the internet since a age of 2 (each).
Mine too. You can't understand what you don't know.
We have to train them as teens not to tease the perverts. They know they're sick, but they do enjoy taunting them.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
My son has just turned 14 last december, and he is not only free to surf on the internet but I personally encourage him to do it as a way of finding knowledge.
Wow. 14. Already? Are you sure he's ready?
Just kidding. My five year old son types faster than I do.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Wait wait wait. Bully's are now finding nerds to beat up via the internet? The universe tends towards maximal irony after all...
I Browse at +4 Flamebait
Open Source Sysadmin
ME
It's about time we all started thinking about me! just think of the troubles I've seen....
If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
As long as 4chan exists;
This article is wrong
Dear God,
May I suggest that we also prevent children from being able to see or touch their genitals before they reach the age of consent? I mean you know, we don't want them to experience anything erotic or sexual before they reach a certain age, for the sake of their own mental development and health, of course.
You just got troll'd!
You let your kids outside? If I had my way I'd imprison irresponsible parents like you who put their kids' lives in great danger.
Personally, I've solved the entire problem by encasing my children in polycarbonate resin which forms an airtight barrier between the sanctity of the child and the outside world - such as the aforementioed tendon infections, not to mention other fatal hazards such as necrotising fasciitis, piranha bees, country and western, homosexuality and religious freedom - which your pathetic padding does absolutely NOTHING to protect them from. You can't be too careful when it comes to exposing children to the world they find themselves living in.
So far I haven't had any complaints from the kids, their behaviour has improved immensely and they've even stopped over-eating and watching TV.
Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
"I'll find out what's wrong with this person that got him beat up. You go find the person who did this and tell him that it's not his fault."
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
I feel sorry for you. Most kids are just brats, but you've got a barbarian on your hands.
"I said it before, I say it again, boobs are nothing that belongs into the face of little kids!"
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
My sons both at a certain age discovered their respective penises and decided that it was fun playing with them. We had to remind our older kid that it is not polite to grab your crotch in public (even if your underwear isn't quite sitting right). That combined with their love of flirting with women (at least when they were younger) leads me to believe that I'll have my hands full when they hit the teenage years.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Don't worry about it. I used to show my penis to every girl in the bathroom in pre-school when I was barely 3 (it was like a daily routine for them to ask me "show me the pink" or "say hello", lol...), now I'm 22 and still a virgin. For now teaching them about appropriateness should be enough ;-).
You just got troll'd!
I'd believe that. If he was 14 it would be more like "I's C0n4n, whazzup LOL!!!"
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Given all the myriad ways that children could be hurt and abused, I think the approach that makes most sense is to ban children.
Umm... if hentai taught me anything, it's not really safe to ride the Tokyo sub wearing a school uniform...:)
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
You are a credit to parenthood !
* wipes a tear *
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
Wait wait wait. Bully's are now finding nerds to beat up via the internet? The universe tends towards maximal irony after all...
Are playground bullies usually smart enough for that? Don't they eventually become the city cops or something?
Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
May be your definition of OK is a bit fuzzier than ours is.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
Wait... this post is +5 insightful? Not funny? I guess the advantages of polycarbonate resin weren't well understood.