Slashdot Mirror
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.
But.. who are we going to have to think of now?
You just got troll'd!
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.
I've seen 8 year olds riding Tokyo's subway system solo. The instant any of them show any signs of confusion or distress -- and that's very rare, since their parents teach them how to ride -- any number of genuinely helpful adults (plural) in the vicinity come to their rescue. This is all perfectly normal, and it's entirely within the physical world. Everyone is safe.
The Internet is not even physical. There's always a wire (or wireless connection) separating its participants. Simply combine the Internet with a parent or responsible adult and it's safer (psychologically) than even the Tokyo Metro. (And it's always physically safer.) If government simply concentrated on promoting and supporting good parenting, that'd solve myriad problems. [How about starting by allowing all qualified parent(s), including same-sex parents, to adopt?] The Internet is not a parent any more than a subway car or glass of milk is, so it's ridiculous that any government would try to make the Internet a parent.
My kids have been on the internet since a age of 2 (each).
Yes, the browser was pointed to Disney or Sesame Street, but they learned to go where they wanted to go. My oldest had the lock Netscape, but around 5yr I came one day found she had found away to URL prompt. So from that day forward I have left the browsers unlocked. My youngest first words would to the effect of "mom-dot-see-oh-em'.
Yes, I check on kids usage via firewall logs from time to time, but find nothing wrong. I even enter their rooms to see what they are doing (but VNC is easier).
My wife while telling about the birds and bees, also give the kids on-line lessons as well. Showing what happens when you mis-type some kids site names and showing how to get out of the mistake.
It is up to us to raise our kids.
It is up the Richard Blumenthals of the world to find a new job and let us raise our kids!
But for every group of people who try to act good around young children on the internet, there will be 100 more groups willing to link them to 4chan.
I think most kids figure out in about 2 minutes on the internet not to click on random links. The ones that don't, deserve what they get.
Experience is the best teacher.
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.
Of course, because without fear it is far more difficult to control people.
for adults.
But seriously sights of nudity and sex will not destroy a child. Parental abuse on the other hand...
I saw porn at age 8 due to discovering a friend's older brother's cache, and I am not a rapist nor would I ever hurt anybody...in fact, the porn was not that interesting until I hit puberty.
All it did was make me realize how much of the world was being hidden from me by adults, and it got me to read some childbirth books in the library to confirm the rumours.
So my theory is beating your children will make them rapists, not porn, because violence is taught best by action and those with bitter hearts will have less mercy.
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
Obligatory bullying ref:
Big, Bad Bully
Excellent article on the phenomenon of bullying. Gave me a lot of insight into the dynamic.
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.
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.
"Children are solicited every day online," Mr. Blumenthal said. "Some fall prey, and the results are tragic. That harsh reality defies the statistical academic research underlying the report."
He could use that disgusting sentence in a nice anti-intellectualism banner.
When the torment is physical, you can easily fight back and have a fairly good chance of winning (especially if it's not your first time and/or it's not jock-on-dork). If you lose, yeah, it's not a great feeling psychologically, but you eventually wind up with the idea that you can take the guy if ever in another altercation. You're also less likely to be suspended/expelled if you fight back "in self defense"; whereas if you throw a punch because a bully said something that pushed your buttons, he gets a medal of commendation and you get a week's worth of detention.
With just word of mouth bullying, how do you fight it?
Your own retorts? The bullies will just laugh; they've spent lots of time thinking of good remarks to use on you, and find your response amusing, as it means they won.
Tell the teacher? Most teachers don't give half a shit. Same thing for the principal, and sometimes even the school counselor (if yours has one). If you succeed, the bully gets one or two detentions. It's nothing new for him (or her), and when it's over he comes back twice as hard because "you went crying to mommy".
Litigation/filing for assault just seems way out of proportion, and likely will have the same result as telling a teacher.
And then of course there are female bullies. From my experience and those related to me, male bullies are relatively fucking cheerful. Female bullies, especially towards other females, take the "passive aggressive" approach; rather than just making fun to a target's face, they'll take their time to, as a group, make up and spread rumors about the target. As these rumors get around, kids tend to take them more to heart. It also becomes much harder to find out who originally started the rumors (technically slander). And then everyone will start giving stares in the hallway or in class, and the target won't know exactly why, which just adds to it.
So you keep it pent up inside and it does stuff to you. As someone who was picked on often as a kid, I sure as hell wish my tormentors had turned physical so I would have had a good reason to fight back. Even if I lost, I would have given them a few shiners and would have lost a lot of my aggression/aggravation.
Physical bullying can have an emotional impact, but not nearly as hard or long-lasting as non-physical bullying.
On a somewhat-related note, should I ever have a kid (of either sex) I plan to tell them to do the following if they are bullied, each step if the previous doesn't stop it:
1) Tell the kid to stop.
2) Tell the closest teacher when an incident happens.
3) Tell the principal
4) Punch the kid in the nose
Every step they should tell me what's going on, and I'd probably be included in the discussion with the principal. If the school won't try to handle the situation (or does a bad job), I feel my kid is fully in the right to take matters into his own hand. One could try contacting the bully's parents, but, honestly, it's quite rare to find parents that will accept such accusations without hardcore proof (as a negative light on their child reflects back on them.)
"Children are run over by cars every day. That harsh reality defies any statistical research that most of them don't."
So let's ban cars. Or let's keep kids from crossing streets.
Seriously. When you send your kids to school, they'll have to cross a street or two (provided you're not in the fortunate position of having a school bus or similar system). So what do you do? Do you throw your little 6 year old out and tell him "this way, keep going 'til you're at the school"? Or do you take him or her by the hand and guide him, show him the traffic lights and how they work, show them the pedestrian crossing places and that they have to look out for cars? Go with him a few times, then send them alone while still following them to see whether they heed your guide?
So you do that when teaching your child to go to school, yes? Why the hell do you not do anything similar when they start using the internet? It works the same way. Sit down with them, explain to them how the various things work, what they should be aware of, how they should never tell anyone their real name or address, no matter how "nice" they are or how much they claim they're just another child, etc.?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.