Ok great. So they will have the infrastructure -- publicly owned. What hoops will potential ISPs (State-run or private?!) have to pass through in order to provide service on this marvel?
I agree with your statement that "They[sic] best measure of your personal ethos and integrity is what you do when you think nobody is watching." -- my drill sergeant drilled into me [you'll pardon the pun] that "Discipline is doing the right thing even if you think no one is watching."
"What I will not do is sit back while they fill their minds with stuff they may or may not be ready to handle, or while they get chatted up by some pedophile".
At what point will they be able to handle it if not by stumbling on it? If mankind had taken that stance, we may never have found fire or the wheel etc, etc. The only way to learn when "they can handle it" is sink or swim. I'm not saying we ought to serve up smut to our kids but by the same token, should they encounter it, answer their questions about it (they'll either have questions or they will already know what it is!!). And for Pete's sake, educate them! Let them know that there are sites they have the potential to stumble on and explain *why* you are concerned about them. Explain *why* someone (the pedophile) might want to call them or meet them or ask about what they look like. Don't shield them without stating what the dangers are.
Further, sure protect your kids, but can you safeguard them forever? At what point can they go into public on their own? How is going to the mall alone any different from going online alone? The mall offers virtually the same evils. Hell -- cable TV offers about the same as the net!
I am not a parent, but having recently been a kid, I appreciate the privacy afforded me by my parents. Sure, if they knew precisely what I was up to, they would've been taken aback, but as they reminded me for years, parents aren't stupid! I'm sure they had a pretty good idea of what I was doing.
Anywhoo, while it is true that trust is earned, in the case of the teen with fresh access to the web, there has not yet been a precedent set -- no basis for either trust-*building* events or trust-*shattering* events. Trust is indeed earned, but from the kid's point of view, when trust is withheld without warranting circumstances, it causes a *lot* of resentment and acts of rebellion simply to spite the parent.
Along those lines, my folks simply had to (as all parents must at some point) learn to let go and let me fly solo -- how else was I to A) learn right from wrong B) learn to apply this judgment c) demonstrate that I knew how to act etc.?? I never broke the law simply because my parents instilled in me morals, integrity, and their faith in me.
In conclusion, yes: keep an eye on them. Yes: get involved with them. But learn at some point to let them go and have some faith until the day (that we all hope never comes) that they choose to betray that trust else they'll never learn to trust *you*!!
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Ok great. So they will have the infrastructure -- publicly owned. What hoops will potential ISPs (State-run or private?!) have to pass through in order to provide service on this marvel?
Mr The Tyro:
I agree with your statement that "They[sic] best measure of your personal ethos and integrity is what you do when you think nobody is watching." -- my drill sergeant drilled into me [you'll pardon the pun] that "Discipline is doing the right thing even if you think no one is watching."
"What I will not do is sit back while they fill their minds with stuff they may or may not be ready to handle, or while they get chatted up by some pedophile".
At what point will they be able to handle it if not by stumbling on it? If mankind had taken that stance, we may never have found fire or the wheel etc, etc. The only way to learn when "they can handle it" is sink or swim. I'm not saying we ought to serve up smut to our kids but by the same token, should they encounter it, answer their questions about it (they'll either have questions or they will already know what it is!!). And for Pete's sake, educate them! Let them know that there are sites they have the potential to stumble on and explain *why* you are concerned about them. Explain *why* someone (the pedophile) might want to call them or meet them or ask about what they look like. Don't shield them without stating what the dangers are.
Further, sure protect your kids, but can you safeguard them forever? At what point can they go into public on their own? How is going to the mall alone any different from going online alone? The mall offers virtually the same evils. Hell -- cable TV offers about the same as the net!
I am not a parent, but having recently been a kid, I appreciate the privacy afforded me by my parents. Sure, if they knew precisely what I was up to, they would've been taken aback, but as they reminded me for years, parents aren't stupid! I'm sure they had a pretty good idea of what I was doing.
Anywhoo, while it is true that trust is earned, in the case of the teen with fresh access to the web, there has not yet been a precedent set -- no basis for either trust-*building* events or trust-*shattering* events. Trust is indeed earned, but from the kid's point of view, when trust is withheld without warranting circumstances, it causes a *lot* of resentment and acts of rebellion simply to spite the parent.
Along those lines, my folks simply had to (as all parents must at some point) learn to let go and let me fly solo -- how else was I to A) learn right from wrong B) learn to apply this judgment c) demonstrate that I knew how to act etc.?? I never broke the law simply because my parents instilled in me morals, integrity, and their faith in me.
In conclusion, yes: keep an eye on them. Yes: get involved with them. But learn at some point to let them go and have some faith until the day (that we all hope never comes) that they choose to betray that trust else they'll never learn to trust *you*!!