What's Wrong With Parents Teaching Their Kids That Not All Internet Content Is Good?
Date : 03 10 2008 Category : Business
Techdirt
It's no secret that not all content online is good for kids to see -- though, the "threats" have been greatly exaggerated. However, it doesn't stop self-declared online child safety "experts" from giving terrible advice. For example, here's an entire article based on the claims of one such expert claiming that, rather than teaching kids how to deal with stuff they might see online, the real answer is for parents to hover over their kids when they use the internet. This would be from the same expert who once suggested that the answer to cyberbullying was to have someone dress up as Spiderman and tell kids that cyberbullying was "bad" (very bad!). She also goes on (like others) to blame YouTube for making kids want to do bad stuff. The simple fact of the matter, however, is that it is not reasonable nor practical to monitor your kids' every action online. Obviously, for very young children, it could make sense, but once they reach a certain age, it's not going to happen. Yet, instead of hovering over them at all times, why not teach them some online street smarts -- just as you would teach them to be safe when they walk outside alone? Teach kids that not everything online is good, and teach them how to be careful when they surf. In other words, don't act like bad stuff will automatically kill them -- but teach them how to deal with it so that when it inevitably does come up, they know can handle it.
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