All Grown Up: The Internet

The article and video on "growing up online" said the same things I've talked about in classes before. Adults are freaking out because kids spend too much time on the internet and it's not safe, and kids think it's safe and parents are overreacting. This isn't anything new. See, here's the thing: yeah, the internet is a very open place for creepers and pedophiles, but if kids just don't do stupid things, like post their addresses and numbers on facebook and myspace, they should be okay. Just be smart when on the internet. Kids that post videos and crude pictures of themselves are just asking for creepers to come and get them. Although I think parental blocks are unnecessary, because they just make kids want to go to blocked sites more when they have their own computers, parents should monitor a bit of what their kids are doing IF they suspect their kids of doing something inapropriate. If a parent has no reason to believe that his/her child is being a freak online, no parental controls should be set. A lot of kids really aren't idiots online, everyone just thinks there are because every time a kid does something ridiculous, it seems to show up on the evening news. If adults would stop freaking out making kids want to rebel, and if kids could use the internet in better ways (like networking and studying) the internet wouldn't seem like such a bad thing.