Dear Parents,
I know the world is a scary place for your children, and I know you have some legitimate reasons to be worried about where they go and whom they talk to. But the world is a changing place, and you can't let your fear of the unknown cause you to put your child in a technological bubble. Yes, bad things can happen on those sites like "MySpace" and such, but banning them entirely is the equivalent of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The internet is capable of bringing your children more information than ever before and they need to learn how to utilize that tool. Now it may sound like a good idea to you to make the internet password protected to the point that your 13 year old cannot access the internet AT ALL without your password. But this is because its you who is the obsessive, controlling, out-of-touch tool who doesn't see any use the internet for anything besides porn and never needs to learn because (let's face it) you're not going anywhere else in this world. But your children need to learn and its your job to learn with them.
So don't come to Best Buy and ask me how to get into your son's email so you can read everything he sends, and don't ask me how to make your computer somehow record everything that is done on the computer so you can retrace their exact steps while you were out too busy to be parenting, and don't ask me for a keystroke monitor that records everything done so that you can learn every password, read every IM, and review every website visited. This is the equivalent of buying your daughter a locked diary to which you have a spare key just so you can see her deepest thoughts.... that's creepy.
Instead let me propose this: TALK TO YOUR KIDS! If you're worried about talking to strangers on IM, make sure you know their friends and ask them about what they're up to (you don't need to know every word). There are decent programs out there to block porn sites and even restrict usage between certain hours and limit the hours per day. These are all acceptable. The internet is not a replacement for a babysitter like you use the TV for... you may actually have to get off your butt, learn a thing or two, and God forbid, talk to your child.
Love Rob.
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3 comments:
So Mom, from the sound of it we agree perfectly... You need to be a good parent, and don't believe that banning a junior high student from using "that internet" is a good idea.
(every example I used was actually from various customers.)
What about husbands????? ;)
Breyn
Rob, great post. I do have to agree that parents need to be involved, but at the same time I do believe there need to be limits set. Don't argue with people who actually have children, you will never understand what we are thinking and feeling until you have an opportunity to put your kids in harms way and see what measures you will take to protect them.
My parents monitored a lot of what I did as a small child. By the time I was 15 they decided that I had proven I was "responsible" and could make good choices. They let me be. Yes, for the most part I did make good choice, but not always.
Working parents can not get home until usually 5-6 p.m. School gets out at 2:50 here in Springfield...that is a long time to be left to ones own devices on the internet. Restrictions are good!
Tabitha
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