I'm sorry, I must have been using big words. I'll try again.
The process of bring up a child into adulthood is a complex one. It requires dedication and attention. It means sacrificing one's time and efforts, and most of all, it means facing up to the fact that you cannot protect your children. There is a big bad world out there, mostly full of friendly, helpful people, but with a small minority of clever, manipulative scumbags.
As a parent you have two choices:
Employ technology and lackeys in an attempt to shield your precious children from the harsh realities of life. This is both expensive and useless. Life has a nasty habit of catching up with everyone.
Talk openly and honestly with your children throughout their lives, giving them the information and judgement skills they require to make useful and informed choices, and make the correct call when faced with malevolent online or offline entities.
Thinking that a simple piece of software will keep your children safe is exactly the same kind of delusion that makes certain school boards think that if you do not give children sex education, they will not learn about sex, and they will remain virgins up until their wedding night, when they are suddenly let in on the whole, nasty business. The US knows how successful that approach has been, as it has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the Western World.
I realize that I used several words with more than two syllables, for which I apologize. Still, you can always go look them up in a dictionary.
It is not like parenting in exactly the same way as working 80 hours a week and raising your kids by nanny is not parenting. Parenting requires that you be directly involved in teaching and guiding your children in their path through life. That also means that you help them confront the dark side of the Internet, by educating them openly and honestly about it, and human nature.
Buying software to do your work for you is both a waste of money (i.e. about as successful as DRM has been as a solution to piracy), and a dereliction of parental duty. It is meant to salve the conscience of parents, by allowing them to avoid having difficult and embarrassing discussions, and get on with watching House instead.
The illusion that you can protect your children by attempting to hide certain unpalatable and potentially dangerous aspects of life from them is one of the worst mistakes a parent can make. Open and honest information is the only way to prepare your children for the big, bad outside world.
Because it divorces the need for the parent to be involved. It makes parents lazy, and lazy parents are the worst kind of parents. However noble the intention, it can't compete with attention.
What I can't quite understand is why no one has thought of parenting as being the best way to protect your children online. I realize it's revolutionary and scary, but hey, we could give it a try, couldn't we?
Interesting. I'd be fascinated to hear your comments on Dr Bussard's claims to have an electrostatic confinement fusion device close to production ready. $200 million and 5 years sounds a whole lot better than $10 billion and 20+ years. You can view his tech talk at Google here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1996321846 673788606
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The process of bring up a child into adulthood is a complex one. It requires dedication and attention. It means sacrificing one's time and efforts, and most of all, it means facing up to the fact that you cannot protect your children. There is a big bad world out there, mostly full of friendly, helpful people, but with a small minority of clever, manipulative scumbags.
As a parent you have two choices:
Thinking that a simple piece of software will keep your children safe is exactly the same kind of delusion that makes certain school boards think that if you do not give children sex education, they will not learn about sex, and they will remain virgins up until their wedding night, when they are suddenly let in on the whole, nasty business. The US knows how successful that approach has been, as it has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the Western World.
I realize that I used several words with more than two syllables, for which I apologize. Still, you can always go look them up in a dictionary.
It is not like parenting in exactly the same way as working 80 hours a week and raising your kids by nanny is not parenting. Parenting requires that you be directly involved in teaching and guiding your children in their path through life. That also means that you help them confront the dark side of the Internet, by educating them openly and honestly about it, and human nature. Buying software to do your work for you is both a waste of money (i.e. about as successful as DRM has been as a solution to piracy), and a dereliction of parental duty. It is meant to salve the conscience of parents, by allowing them to avoid having difficult and embarrassing discussions, and get on with watching House instead. The illusion that you can protect your children by attempting to hide certain unpalatable and potentially dangerous aspects of life from them is one of the worst mistakes a parent can make. Open and honest information is the only way to prepare your children for the big, bad outside world.
True enough. But at least they wouldn't have the illusion that they are doing their best because they spent $50 on software.
Because it divorces the need for the parent to be involved. It makes parents lazy, and lazy parents are the worst kind of parents. However noble the intention, it can't compete with attention.
What I can't quite understand is why no one has thought of parenting as being the best way to protect your children online. I realize it's revolutionary and scary, but hey, we could give it a try, couldn't we?
Interesting. I'd be fascinated to hear your comments on Dr Bussard's claims to have an electrostatic confinement fusion device close to production ready. $200 million and 5 years sounds a whole lot better than $10 billion and 20+ years. You can view his tech talk at Google here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1996321846 673788606