Should children be allowed to surf the internet without adults?
By Masmasika
@Masmasika (1921)
Philippines
April 10, 2010 7:22pm CST
My friend's children who were ten, seven and three that time were victims of this internet surfing. Without the mother who was at work, the children were left only with the maid at home. The maid was busy so the children were left in the computer room playing games. They accidentally logged in a pornographic site and the three year old boy told the incident to the mother. My friend was fuming with anger because of what happened. The children were banned from opening the computer without an adult with them since that incident. This is bad and the children are the victims. Children should always be guided by adults when they surf the internet to avoid untoward incidents from happening. it is sad but the internet is having a really bad influence over the kids who are innocent.
This incident cannot be avoided with children being experts in surfing the internet. If you were a parent, would you allow your kids to surf the internet unguarded? How would you protect your kids from the bad influence of internet surfing? share your views regarding this matter. Many parents and other people will learn from you. Thanks.
1 person likes this
16 responses
@umit_umit (1984)
• India
11 Apr 10
well there should be always some check on the minors who are surfing the net and accordingly should be allowed to surf it!
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
You are right, umit-umit. Thanks for a sound advice. tap0991, thanks u too for telling the right terms.
@marmar75 (168)
• Australia
12 Apr 10
There should always be a responsible adult present. The cyberspace can be a very dangerous world too, and kids should be guarded and guided while they're at it. Even just a plain computer without internet connection, there should still be an adult present. Young kids do not understand yet and may accidentally delete important documents or programs.
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
11 Apr 10
I'm not sure that this is such a good idea really! I think there is a lot of news on now and we are all more educated about the dangers of young children using the Internet alone. I think that young children should always be supervised. Parental controls should also be utilised on the computer that the child is using. Yes, I think it's true, children are becoming that much smarter in terms of using the computer and they can share knowledge amongst their friends and I guess it's a vicious cycle. The best thing to do is to try and monitor what the child is doing from time to time and hopefully this will make the child more cautious and aware of the dangers! Andrew
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
Thanks AndrewFreyne, you are right, if parents aren't that busy they should always supervise the kids or block the adult sites so that the children can surf even without adults but for very young kids I really think they need an adult with them. thanks for the helpful suggestion.
@KrayZLady76 (66)
• United States
11 Apr 10
I have an 8 year old and a 4 year old and I never let them surf the net without me. I only allow my 8 year old to go to kid friendly sites and I never let my 4 year old on the internet. Our computer is in our kitchen so when he is on the computer, I am right there with him. I told him he is never to talk to anyone or email anyone on the computer or give out any information about himself. My 8 year old has taken 2 internet safety programs at school so I think he understands the importance of being safe on the internet. I trust my kids but I don't trust all the sickos out there who prey on kids.
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
That's a great way to protect kids from being victims of the bad activities in the internet.
@jiraiyasanin (642)
• Philippines
11 Apr 10
i think the parents is not needed while their children is surfing the net because for me the parents can block the prohibited site in the setting of the web browser so there is no problem when the kids start searching on the net
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
Yes, I only knew about this blocking issue so I have to tell my friends and other parents about this thing. thanks,.
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
That's a good suggestion but perhaps blocking the adult sites could help a lot too so that even without adults children can surf the internet. Thanks you.
@Jevendiran (778)
• India
11 Apr 10
Of course! Why not? Once you start doubting them and supervising them, children tend to do unwanted things when you are not present. But if you trust them and let them now that, they will try to develop self control and prevent themselves from getting into mischievous things. This is from my personal experience. I myself was a teenager when we got internet connection in our home. My parents never talked to me about using internet. I can use it whenever I wish to. Most of the time I used to be alone at home. But I never done anything wrong. Because, my parents trust me and I've to do some justice to their trust!
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
You are a good child. I wish all children are like you but they aren't all the same. Some children could do all naughty things without the supervision of adults.
@jasmeena (846)
• Indonesia
11 Apr 10
I think parents should monitor their child`s internet activity, especially if their children are active in social networking sites like FB,twitter etc. Parents must explain what they can do and what they mustn`t do, like parents can tell their kids not to approve people they don`t know in FB and children don`t trust 100% people they meet on FB, especially if they haven`t met before, and they mustn`t say something bad about other people in FB, twitter etc. socializing in virtual world also needs rules and etiquette. Computer should be put in family room, just like in my house, my nephew (11 years old) has a laptop and it is put in the living room, so his mom (my sister)can monitor his internet activity. If i am not mistaken, there is a software that can block children from opening sites that are not good for children.
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
Yes, that's right jasmeena, parents should also learn how to handle computer so that untoward incidents won't happen to kids. Thanks. I've learned something from all the responders.
@stanley777 (9402)
• Philippines
11 Apr 10
I think children below 12 should be guided... or if the child is mature enough or knows what he's doing i think it's all right. But once in a while- even rarely, we can check up on him/ her to see what he/ she is up to. :]
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
Yes, children must be guided accordingly to prevent them from going the wrong site. Thanks.
@raja_ahsaan (59)
• Saudi Arabia
11 Apr 10
The parents should allow their children to surf internet.But only at home because when go to internet cafe they open adult websites which is not good for childrens.
@Daniel94whelan (31)
• Ireland
11 Apr 10
the parents should allow children to surf the internet alone as long as there in the house. This way the children get the feeling that the parents trust them, and you can always regulate what there doing by downloading certain programs
@kongfan (3)
• China
11 Apr 10
I think it unwise both to forbbiden or let it alone.It is the best way to help them find the worthy work to take on and to help them in their deep mind ,but not ristrict them of their body,which will go to the reverse way.The perfect way to deal with these things is guiding,not confronting.Or not,you love will become your opponent.
@damindunc (7)
•
11 Apr 10
Internet is not a safe place for children. we can see sometimes adults are also messing up with internet. but parent should give the chance to know about the world to their children. they can simply do it by using a web filtering program...
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
You said it right. Although the internet has helped a lot, it also has its downsides that people should try to avoid. Thanks.
@prince05 (92)
• Philippines
11 Apr 10
For me you could always allow children to surf the internet after all the internet is a good stuff for learning when used properly. If parents should only learn how to manage their computer they could put specific restrictions to their computer for child safety. They could also managed the sites that their children are surfing on. They could also put a program in their computer in order to monitor their children while using the internet. It's just a matter of how you managed your computer with your children. You could always try to educate your children and put some rules to follow while using the internet. After all this is all parents discretion already on how their children used the internet. If something will happen to their children it's parents fault after all why they have not prevented such when there are a lot of things you can do to prevent it.
@Masmasika (1921)
• Philippines
12 Apr 10
I should tell my friend that she should do something. Thanks.
