Well, this promises to be an interesting debate…
Kids and their access to the Internet has been a pretty divisive issue among parents for quite a long time now and I don’t think it’s going anywhere…because the Internet sure isn’t!
AskReddit users debated whether young kids should have access to the Internet. Let’s see how it went.
1. No reason for it.
“They have no reason to have access to internet.
They will find information that will destroy their innocence
They will start being influenced by d*ckheads on the internet, e.g. Jake Paul.
Which will lead to a bunch of other problems.”
2. Limited access.
“They should have limited access.
When I was like 10-11 my parents monitored me but still let me have fun. Because of that I got to get into gaming, acting (online videos inspired me) and drawing (art you tubers).
Of course I found some edgy offensive humor and s*x jokes but kids still found out about those at that age before the internet.”
3. Depends on the kid.
“I think that’s because really it depends on the child, how they were raised and how naturally vigilant they are. (meaning a lot of active internet people disagree because they turned out fine)
You can’t just say all children need to be monitored, but it may be good to check on ‘em now and again just to be on the safe side.
However it is doubtful you will successfully protect a 11-13 year old from losing their ‘innocence’. This is the age where children start to get curious end will look for stuff whether the parent likes it or not.
Really I believe it’s better to provide a safe environment where they feel they aren’t patronized, but you can be sure nothing really bad happens. The alternative being them sating their curiosity will mean being forced to look for it elsewhere and god knows what they will be exposed to.”
4. Keep an eye on them.
“We monitor our kids fairly closely, and my six year old watches a ton of videos on science and nature.
He probably knows more than me about some topic because of it and it’s really made him even more interested in space, geography, etc.
He also watches videos about video games, but the good has definitely outweighed the time wasting.”
5. Has to be more specific.
“I wouldn’t agree that that is the right way to think of it. It’s like saying that kids shouldn’t read books because some books are not the correct content.
What I would agree with would be more specific. Certain material should be off limits which can be done quite easily with certain programs or firewalls etc. K9 web protection is maybe a good example.
I get what you are saying though.
But I don’t agree with cutting off their ability to watch Netflix (internet) maybe even Google cookie recipes (internet) say they like playing fireboy and watergirl (internet).”
6. Parental controls.
“I suggest parental controls/monitoring your child – it’s kind of hard to block or monitor everything. Like YouTube, there’s everything from children’s cartoons to violence.
I’m not a parent so I don’t know how much it takes to monitor a child on a device, I’m sure it’s not easy though.”
7. Gotta be careful.
“Good luck finding parents that will monitor their children by watching along with them.
Jake Paul is a famous d*ckhead that will get into your child’s head.
The classmates will try to make your kid watch his videos and in the end your kid will start to rebel you by seeing you as an overprotective chopper parent.”
8. Can be amazing.
“Watching my 9 year old son research how to mod Minecraft was amazing.
He literally uses computers and does research more effectively than many baby boomers I know.
He learned way more from that about research than he did at school.”
9. They don’t need it.
“I don’t possibly have the time to monitor their every internet usage.
Also, I don’t want or need to learn all the techno crap involved in blocking them from internet bad stuff.
I didn’t have internet at 12, they don’t need it either.”
10. Times have changed.
“I would’ve agreed with this 15 years ago when the internet was much newer.
But nowadays a lot of schools are even use the internet for learning and teaching. There’s a lot of important content that they may need to have access to.
And honestly, the internet has become a part of our daily lives like electricity is. It’s no longer a luxury or this crazy new thing.”
11. A fine line.
“Overprotectiveness can end in negative outcomes too. Teach your child what is internet, how to use it as a tool and only as a tool.
Internet is a means to an end. It gives you basically 70-80% of human knowledge at the end of your fingertips. Helps you keep in touch with people who are tens or hundreds kilometers away.
Can give you entertainment. But it can also show you things toxic, or be used as a weapon.”
12. As simple as that.
“Children should just be monitored by their parents. It’s really that simple.
There are many tools at a parents disposal to monitor child usage of a computer and of a web browser. If the parents are doing their job then the child won’t have access to anything detrimental to their psyche.
My child has learned so much that I am not capable of teaching him through monitored use of the internet.”
What do you think about this issue?
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