My long-time opinion has been that kids should not have access to the Internet in places unmonitored by adults, and that parents should be taught what they should be looking out for. To aid in the effort, I created the website ChildSafetyOnline.net that was to be an (un-threatening newbie friendly) website designed to try and teach parents how to protect their offspring from some of the more common dangers. I have not yet had time to continue that task, but I’ll get back to it someday.
Anyway, the reason I am bring this up is this recent article on TheRegister. In short, the statistics reveal that 57% of kids have come in contact with porn while online and that only 16% of parents where aware of it. Also that a third of kids have had “unwanted sexual or nasty comments” thrust upon them, with only 1 in 20 parents being aware of the problem.
The statistics come from a report from the London School of Economics, and while this site is not UK based, you can be sure the same statistics would be applicable to pretty much all western nations.
So parents, if you have a net connected PC in your kids room, you might want to consider moving it to a position where you can see what they are doing, and where they go. Kids are too trusting, and it’s up to you to be their guide, even though they might be far more computer literate then you.
Regards
Franki
