You’ll find it in today’s Dear Abby.
If today’s column were an aberration, I wouldn’t worry too much, but this is now the common American attitude about the Internet. (And her syndicator brags that Julianne Phillips brings a "young" attitude to her job — jeebus.)
Here is what Dear Abby advises. Don’t let your kids get on the Internet. It’s not suitable for children. Children must be protected from the Internet. Don’t let them have it in their rooms. Don’t have it without censorware. Don’t let them hang out with friends who have it.
They might see naked bodies. Some stranger might try to contact them. All sorts of things might happen.
This is more than mere Luddism. This is a rejection of reality that keeps our teenagers infantalized and is rendering them fearful beyond belief, even into adulthood. And it must be confronted directly if our society is to move forward.
It’s this kind of attitude that brought us George W. Bush, and keeps fearmongers like him in power around the world. When you rule your family by fear you will in turn be ruled by fear. And fear is the great enemy of our time. It is what we have most to fear. Fear itself.
Does this mean there aren’t dangers on the Internet, as well as
dangerous people and software? Of course there are dangers. But turning your back on
the resource out of fear is not the answer.
The answer is much simpler. Communication. Education. Talk to your kids about the
dangers of the Internet, and the dangerous people who may be hiding behind screen names. Talk to them about sex, as soon as it’s
appropriate. This includes the subject of porn — the business, its
purpose, its attraction. De-mystify it. As well as the subject of evil. (Like the guy at the left, a convicted Internet predator who masqueraded as a kid in order to prey on children.)
The reason today’s parents won’t let their kids have access to the
Internet is because they themselves are ruled by fear. And that is the
real problem.
You fight fear with knowledge. Denying knowledge only lets fear grow. And kids, more than anything else, want knowledge. Give them as much as they can handle, and when they ask for more give that to them, too. They are going to inherit the world — all of it — and if they are denied knowledge of it they will be unable to run it.
So learn about anti-virals, and anti-spyware software. Get on the Internet
more yourself. Find out who your kid’s friends are — including their online friends — and take the same
precautions regarding their use of the Internet as you do with about
their driving cars, hanging out at malls, or who they talk to on their way to school.
The Internet is the Great Wide World. When you shut your kids off from
it, you shut them off from the world. You isolate them, as you isolate
yourself. And isolated people will destroy themselves with prejudices
both real and imagined.
As we are destroying ourselves right now.
