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I mean, when I was like 12 my friends and I got on BBS's and started to see naked pictures of beautiful women for the first time around 1991-ish. I mean at that

I mean, when I was like 12 my friends and I got on BBS's and started to see naked pictures of beautiful women for the first time around 1991-ish. I mean at that point my computer was even more "adult" than my parent's usage of computers. And yeah on AOL there were people that "lived near by and could hang out some time" but I already knew what a creep was... so.. why are kids these days so stupid? Is it because we treat them so?

andrewstuart2 4y ago
As a parent, I don't think kids these days are any stupider. The tech has gotten easier for both good and nefarious purposes, and IMO the education around it has kept up. I think it's FUD that's leveraged (deliberately or otherwise) to influence and gain authority, more than anything. I'm certainly biased as a more technical parent than most, but I don't think the average layperson knows that much less about the risks. If anything it's shouted from the news any time something remotely internet related happens, and people notice, because it plays on a pretty fundamental fear. I think awareness is up (not always in a good way) more than anything. There's a balance to strike between trying to make things safer and just teaching kids to navigate dangers that will always be there (and always be changing) and I tend to think these laws are a step or so too far into diminishing returns on making things safer. Even then, that's assuming we can even agree what safer means.