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Most Parents Allow Unsupervised Internet Access To Children At Age 8
colinneagle writes "The timing for this study is interesting, given the arrests of two teenagers believed to have bullied a 12-year-old classmate until she committed suicide, but Microsoft found that 94% of parents said they allow their kids unsupervised access to at least one device or online service like email or social networks. The average age at which most children are allowed access to at least one online service, such as email or social media, was 8 years old, while 40% allow children under the age of 7 to access a computer unsupervised."
It's the parenting and maturity of the kid that counts; environment plays a role too.
Another problem with a statement like this is that "unsupervised" can mean a lot of things. When I was on a farm I had "unsupervised" access to my dirt bike at age five or so - even had chores which required its use about a mile away from the house (although I don't remember when the close in tasks/riding moved up to the further away ones). I bet my parents still kept an ear open and an eye on the clock while I was out on it and it's a sure thing that they spent the time making sure I knew what I was doing and how much trouble I'd be in if I went past the limits.
Other tools are the same way - knives, hand tools, power tools, guns (again environment is important - I was on a farm out in the country where there were active bounties on certain pests as well as other hazards (suspected rabid animals which needed putting down, etc...)), and even the internet. So, either parents these days are being reckless with their children's safety, or they've gotten a reasonable handle on how to teach their kids about limits and safety on the 'net. Personally, I think it's more of the latter than the former - but of course there's no test required to become a parent other than the physical.
Oh, if someone want's to play the "what if a pedophile targets your kid" card, I'll just say that there are tools to deal with that situation too - pretty much the same list as earlier ;)
Yeah, it's actually really depressing going to public libraries these days, how many people you can see just using the public computers for porn.
In an edifice full of the wisdom of millenia, instead they are looking at porn.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
At age 8, I would never have allowed my parents unsupervised use of the home PC.
Now, by 12 or 13, I had learned enough about security basics to limit their access enough as to render them relatively harmless. But before that? No frickin' way - One "install our daily free coupon print driver" ad away from needing to do a total reimage.
Oh, wait... You meant... Ahahaahahhaaaaahah!!11!!1!!!!!
How quaint. As though non-IT professional parents have the least shot at keeping their kids off the internet. Cute notion, though.
And in "real life" 100% of parents allow 8-year-olds to have unsupervised in-person social interaction with their peers (and probably on the phone as well). The fact that socialization is happening with the aid of a computer does not make it inherently more dangerous; without the Interwebs this girl would still have been harassed, and we should be working to stop the harassment, not to stop the use of computers in harassment.
If you don't have children, you have no clue about this topic. And if you do, you're concerned about the lost child. But not enough to support those that would turn the internet into a corporate sponsored lock down.
I use to think I'd be a fine husband, till I got married.
I use to think I'd be a fine father, till I had chidren.
I use to think I'd be a fine grandparent; I pray that I just don't fuck this up.
... my mother was driving the tractor on the farm at age five. What kind of moronic five year olds do you know?
You are a fucking shutin idiot if you dont think the poster you are replying to is actually fairly typical of a more rural area. Or even go back 30 years ago in the suburbs. 5 year old are much more capable than you presume.
Not them, but I rode my bicycle to and from elementary school starting at 1st grade... Age 5. I also had to help KILL, GUT, AND COOK food. Take a trip to any 3rd world country and you'll see kids younger than 5 helping out.
Your culture is bullshit. Thats why your kids are bullshit. That's why your parents are bullshit and try to censor the kids against reality... You laugh when little boys are DUMBER than 3rd world nation kids -- You laugh because boys think girls have penises and girls think that boys don't; Then you wonder why the ignorance leads to teen pregnancy. You shelter them from the reality of how their favorite foods make it to the table; Then you wonder why they don't give a damn about decades long wars that kill hundreds of thousands of INNOCENT people. You are the bullshit.
At age 8 I was reading about black holes in science magazines and had taught myself how to code in GW-BASIC and created a lesson plan / grade manager program (basically a custom spreadsheet w/ reports) for my Geography teacher, and was selling my software on Compuserve. My parents let me do, read and watch whatever I wanted, and stay up as long as I liked as long as I was respectful and my responsibilities were met: Chores done, and I went to school the next day. They respected that I was a sentient being. It's too bad your parents treated you like bullshit.
At age 8 I was reading about black holes in science magazines and had taught myself how to code in GW-BASIC
So you were a perfectly average 8-year-old in the 1980's. Good for you.
It was a different time. Kids today have advantages we would have killed for, sure, but they also face different problems. Parents also face dramatically different social and legal pressures.
When we were kids, it wasn't a big deal to ride your bike a few miles to a friends house, not checking in until after dark to ask if you can stay over night. Today, you're face would end up on the news before lunch, and net your parents a few visits from social services.
Christ, just look at shit like this. If it were satire, it would be too implausible to be funny, but that's reality.
Why can't little Johnny code? Because we suspended him for planning out a game where you shot alien space ships with guns. The Horror!
Blame "culture" if you want, but it's a culture we've created. We're not kids any more. This is our world now. We did this. We're the ones who allow nonsense like the above to continue unchecked.
What are you going to do about it?
Required reading for internet skeptics
The key I think is just parental supervision. That doens't mean forbidding things just putting it in perspective. Ie, homework must come FIRST, then chores, and only then spend the small amount of remaining time in the day on television or internet or texting on the phone. But even then good parental supervision might encourage the children to read a book first and to go outside and get some real exercise (unstructured play that is, not necessarily sports).
So when a parent says they can't help it when their kid is on the smartphone all day, that means they're abdicating their job. Just cancel the phone, it is that easy. If you're concerned that they won't be able to phone the police in an emergency then get a dumb phone or lock down the dataplan. This is NOT child abuse. We survived for millenia without having the internet in arms reach at all times.
Unsupervised access to internet should be like most other things in life, it gets granted to you as part of a gradually increasing amount of trust and responsibility. Child proves they are a bit more responsible which earns a bit more trust. Eventually you get to the stage of going out to dinner without hiring a babysitter first, and similarly there should be a time when the internet can be used even without adults in the house.
Today, your face would end up on the news before lunch, and net your parents a few visits from social services.
Only if you live in the United States of America.