Child safety on the internet. What do you think?

September 21, 2009 3:33pm CST
Do you think children are safe enough on the internet? If you have children, do you trust them to surf the internet on their own or do you watch to make sure? Do you think safety precautions (such as the majority of websites being blocked in some schools, including google images and international newspapers) are a step too far? Any other points you would like to make are welcome! I am taking the subject EPQ in my A levels which means I need to choose a subject and write about it, and so I chose Child Safety on the internet. I think it's an interesting topic as many children seem to complain about the precautions made yet there are a lot of bad places on the internet, and people, so its a two way discussion. For example, blocked websites could save a child from getting into some bad trouble, but they can also disrupt learning! I would really like to hear your ideas and opinions! Thanks a lot! :)
4 responses
kutedarsu
@kutedarsu (254)
• India
22 Sep 09
Chat rooms have been a favorite pastime for kids on the inter net.. they can have friends and they have fun as well.. the problem with chat is that they are generally anonymous, so that person they chatting may not be who they say who they are....
thoseappleslooknice
@thoseappleslooknice (461)
•
22 Sep 09
I know that this has been a major problem for fan bases. Sometimes, people pretend to be a celebrity and say they will meet young fans when they are of course paedophiles. It is really sad that people believe these terrible people and I am glad that celebrities often get involved in campaigns etc. against this happening, making sure their fans know they do not use networking places such as MSN. Thanks for the response!
vdhaval
@vdhaval (119)
• India
22 Sep 09
the internet is as dangerous of a place as a real street. parents need to instruct their children as to which sites are safe and which are not the idea of children going to online chat rooms and chatting with unknown strangers who also mite be pedophiles is scary also i see no point in which young children should sign up on social networking sites and putting up photos of their life blocking of websites is way which may not be effective as everyone can find ways of bypassing security what makes more sense is guidin young children to be vigilant before accessing any website or givin out personal info
thoseappleslooknice
@thoseappleslooknice (461)
•
22 Sep 09
You have brought up another interesting fact. It is true that website blocking is not completely effective! I have just asked someone a similar question that I will ask you. You have said that parents are the people who need to instruct their children what is right and wrong, but the internet is so new that many adults do not know how to use it and because the children are getting lessons, they are learning about all of the places on the internet they shouldn't before their parents are able to stop them from being able to reach them. Do you believe, therefore, that children should get lessons in safety on the internet? Or in these cases do you think perhaps parents should attend sessions to learn about how to keep their children safe on the internet? Thanks for responding!
EliteUser
@EliteUser (3964)
• Australia
1 Oct 09
Hey, Well I think that children any younger than 12 shouldn't be exposed to the Internet at that age. This is because their mind is really immature and they have no idea what they are actually doing. And their are many 'adult' sites out their, that just pop up. Make sure you have a good day, God bless and Happy Lotting!!
kryptoscode
@kryptoscode (452)
• Philippines
22 Sep 09
Blocking sites or I should say Bad sites doesn't disrupt learning. I been an System Administrator for more than year and this what we implemented at our office same goes at our home. There numerous ways we can block bad sites without hampering learning to our children there are new technologies right now that intelligently prevent bad sites from opening on a child's computer.So I must say in own opinion this problem can be prevented in way. We don't stop children from accessing the net as long as there is proper ways of delivering it to them.Internet right now has a lot information that a child could learn of course with our proper guidance as parents like us.Parents has always a big role in upbringing it's children in the right direction.