The Good… and the Ugly
Posted on May 10, 2006
Filed Under Internet |
The Internet has come to be a research, entertainment, and business tool for many people worldwide. Personally, I rarely pick up a phone book anymore nor do I often pick up a book to find an answer to a question. The Internet has all the answers I need at my fingertips.
It can be inspiring to hear stories of disabled individuals who are otherwise housebound finding companionship and even friendship online. There is no doubt that the world has become a much smaller place with the new found ability to communicate with practically anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Currently about 60% of Canadian homes have Internet access. Many of us simply couldn’t do our jobs without email, and web access is a must for learning about competitors, products, and prospective customers. As a business tool the Internet and computers in general are unrivaled in the way they’ve revolutionized our lives.
Every bright place has its dark corners however.
Back in March we were all horrified to learn of the child pornography ring that had first turned up in Edmonton. An Edmonton woman had overheard a conversation between two children that concerned her and reported it to the police. That led to arrests in Canada, the U.S., England, and Australia.
There were more than forty arrests worldwide and the mere descriptions of the pictures and videos police had seized were enough to bring tears to ones eyes.
As the father of a young child myself, I applaud the authorities for bringing this depravity to its knees. As a proponent of maintaining freedom of expression on the Internet while punishing those that would abuse that right to harm others, there seems to be only one real answer.
We can help the authorities by making sure our children don’t become victimized. If more parents were able to prevent their children from becoming abused, there would be less prey for the abusers and the Internet would be a safer place.
The rules have changed on the Internet. It’s not enough to trust any longer that our children are more technologically savvy than we are and therefore they are able to take care themselves in cyberspace.
It would be easy to just deny children Internet access altogether but in today’s world that is simply unrealistic. School work necessitates it, and the ability to learn from and use technology will be advantages in a child’s adult life.
To really help solve this problem, we as parents need to begin by understanding the threats that are out there. Learning about the problem inherently brings with it the ability to sense when something isn’t right.
I’ve compiled a shortlist of sites dedicated to the prevention of child pornography and abuse to get us started at http://www.bowesit.com/nokidshurt/. Please join me in learning more and doing our part to stop this iniquity.
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