Statistically speaking, your best chance of being raped or killed is by a family member or friend. This was true long before the Internet, and it’s true now. Sure, there are Internet horror stories — and I could tell similar stories that have no relation to the Internet.
The Internet puts a new twist on some old problems. It also provides some unique opportunities. Social networking enables kids to transcend the confines of family or geography and establish affinity and support groups hitherto impossible. You don’t have to be at the mercy of the local peer group or the “in crowd,” you can find friendly folk anywhere, especially if you’re “different” (smart, geeky, gay, whatever). It enables kids to find out the truth about things like birth control, things maybe parents have not been forthcoming about.
Good parenting is as important now as it’s always been — maybe more in a society whose media applauds violence and meaningless sex and the Mafia way of life. But I don’t see that the Internet has made that any worse.
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The Internet puts a new twist on some old problems. It also provides some unique opportunities. Social networking enables kids to transcend the confines of family or geography and establish affinity and support groups hitherto impossible. You don’t have to be at the mercy of the local peer group or the “in crowd,” you can find friendly folk anywhere, especially if you’re “different” (smart, geeky, gay, whatever). It enables kids to find out the truth about things like birth control, things maybe parents have not been forthcoming about.
Good parenting is as important now as it’s always been — maybe more in a society whose media applauds violence and meaningless sex and the Mafia way of life. But I don’t see that the Internet has made that any worse.