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> But with unlimited net access also comes extremely violent videos, social networks with all kinds of shady types hanging around etc... Those are all there in

by krstck 13y ago

> But with unlimited net access also comes extremely violent videos, social networks with all kinds of shady types hanging around etc... Those are all there in the real world, too. You can't protect kids from anything harmful or scary, nor should you. Stumbling across a porn or horror site is probably more traumatizing for the adult, anyway. It's like people have forgotten what it's like to be a kid! You've been told your whole life what to do, so there is nothing more amazing than the freedom to be treated like everyone else on the internet.

d23 13y ago
Yup, I can honestly say that I wouldn't be the person I am today without that unfettered access. I genuinely consider the internet to have parented me more intellectually than my parents ever did (at least, beyond the age of 10 or so).
codygman 13y ago
You're not really a 4 year old until you see your first beheading on the internet!
- vex 13y ago
  I saw plenty of beheading videos and weird pornography on kazaa when I was 11-12. And I turned out just fine today, thanks.
DanielStraight 13y ago
Really? Aside from rather extreme or contrived situations, the average person in the real world simply does not witness multiple graphic deaths or see thousands of women naked. Can we at least consider that there might be a psychological impact of the fact that in one afternoon you can see more horrors and more nudity than 99.999999% of the world would have seen in a lifetime two decades ago? That there is so incredibly much disturbing content and porn on the internet that the expected reaction is "meh", followed by moving on to yet more violence and porn? That there is so much porn that the craziest fetish you can imagine probably doesn't just exist online, but has an entire website dedicated to it? It is not just a difference of quantity either. The internet trains you to just move on from things which would have been life-changing events had you witnessed them in the real world pre-1990. Do you really think seeing a picture of a mass grave on the internet is the same as seeing one in real life? Do you think even seeing one in real life now is the same as seeing one in real life before it was possible to just ask the internet for thousands of pictures of one? In any fair comparison, the internet is absolutely nothing like real life.
- marktangotango 13y ago
  Thank you for posting this. Too me the most worrying aspect of it all is the dehumanization of the people depicted in these videos. It's a very short journey from 'people like me' to 'people not like me' to 'not people at all'. Much of the evil that has occurred thru out history happened because the people following the orders somehow justified their acts by considering the victims to be something less than human.
- Consultant32452 13y ago
  I think you have made a very strong argument that the internet content is not particularly damaging. As you assert you can see some pretty horrific stuff and just move right along. Of course seeing a picture on the internet is different than real life. Seeing that stuff in real life would be seriously damaging. Seeing it on the internet is "meh." I'd also like to add that I don't believe I've ever personally seen pictures of mass graves anywhere other than conventional media, television and news magazines. Yes, everything is on the internet, but if you're not looking for it you're not generally going to find it. And if you're looking for it, you're likely not going to be seriously harmed by seeing it.
- derefr 13y ago
  I think you're committing a naturalistic fallacy here. Yes, there might be a psychological impact... but who's to say it's a bad psychological impact? The rise of access to both porn, and violent video-games (for which I'd assume gory imagery/videos would substitute) have been found to have an interesting correlation to a drop in real-world violence.
  - DanielStraight 13y ago
    I didn't strictly say it was bad. Sure, I believe it is, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. The points I'm trying to make are that the internet isn't just another version of the "bad stuff" that has always been around and that because of how different the internet is, it's unreasonable to suggest it doesn't affect us or our kids. I'd also like to make the point that there is a middle ground between letting a 10-year old have unrestricted internet access and monitoring your child's every action. A sample of comments from this thread that I'm trying to argue against: > That stuff was there during the BBS days as well.... You wrap your kids in cotton and stifle them throughout their childhoods with your helicopter parenting... > Sure the internet is a HUGE medium, and it's a lot easier to get access to that material using the internet, but that content's been around for almost as long as we've had photography. > When will people understand that people online is no different from people you meet in real life. Some are shady, some will cause trouble if you talk to them, and violence exist everywhere?... 24/7 supervising is not healthy. > Is it okay for you to force your child to wear a wire to school? Is it healthy to use the tapes to intervene in her conflicts? Whereas I say that the internet is not just the same old stuff we've always had, it does affect us, and not wanting your 10-year old to watch porn or beheadings is not the same as wanting to watch them 24/7 and force them to wear a wire to school.

by krstck 13y ago

d23 13y ago

Yup, I can honestly say that I wouldn't be the person I am today without that unfettered access. I genuinely consider the internet to have parented me more intellectually than my parents ever did (at least, beyond the age of 10 or so).

codygman 13y ago

You're not really a 4 year old until you see your first beheading on the internet!

vex 13y ago
I saw plenty of beheading videos and weird pornography on kazaa when I was 11-12. And I turned out just fine today, thanks.

DanielStraight 13y ago

Really? Aside from rather extreme or contrived situations, the average person in the real world simply does not witness multiple graphic deaths or see thousands of women naked. Can we at least consider that there might be a psychological impact of the fact that in one afternoon you can see more horrors and more nudity than 99.999999% of the world would have seen in a lifetime two decades ago? That there is so incredibly much disturbing content and porn on the internet that the expected reaction is "meh", followed by moving on to yet more violence and porn? That there is so much porn that the craziest fetish you can imagine probably doesn't just exist online, but has an entire website dedicated to it? It is not just a difference of quantity either. The internet trains you to just move on from things which would have been life-changing events had you witnessed them in the real world pre-1990. Do you really think seeing a picture of a mass grave on the internet is the same as seeing one in real life? Do you think even seeing one in real life now is the same as seeing one in real life before it was possible to just ask the internet for thousands of pictures of one? In any fair comparison, the internet is absolutely nothing like real life.

marktangotango 13y ago
Thank you for posting this. Too me the most worrying aspect of it all is the dehumanization of the people depicted in these videos. It's a very short journey from 'people like me' to 'people not like me' to 'not people at all'. Much of the evil that has occurred thru out history happened because the people following the orders somehow justified their acts by considering the victims to be something less than human.
Consultant32452 13y ago
I think you have made a very strong argument that the internet content is not particularly damaging. As you assert you can see some pretty horrific stuff and just move right along. Of course seeing a picture on the internet is different than real life. Seeing that stuff in real life would be seriously damaging. Seeing it on the internet is "meh." I'd also like to add that I don't believe I've ever personally seen pictures of mass graves anywhere other than conventional media, television and news magazines. Yes, everything is on the internet, but if you're not looking for it you're not generally going to find it. And if you're looking for it, you're likely not going to be seriously harmed by seeing it.
derefr 13y ago
I think you're committing a naturalistic fallacy here. Yes, there might be a psychological impact... but who's to say it's a bad psychological impact? The rise of access to both porn, and violent video-games (for which I'd assume gory imagery/videos would substitute) have been found to have an interesting correlation to a drop in real-world violence.
- DanielStraight 13y ago
  I didn't strictly say it was bad. Sure, I believe it is, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. The points I'm trying to make are that the internet isn't just another version of the "bad stuff" that has always been around and that because of how different the internet is, it's unreasonable to suggest it doesn't affect us or our kids. I'd also like to make the point that there is a middle ground between letting a 10-year old have unrestricted internet access and monitoring your child's every action. A sample of comments from this thread that I'm trying to argue against: > That stuff was there during the BBS days as well.... You wrap your kids in cotton and stifle them throughout their childhoods with your helicopter parenting... > Sure the internet is a HUGE medium, and it's a lot easier to get access to that material using the internet, but that content's been around for almost as long as we've had photography. > When will people understand that people online is no different from people you meet in real life. Some are shady, some will cause trouble if you talk to them, and violence exist everywhere?... 24/7 supervising is not healthy. > Is it okay for you to force your child to wear a wire to school? Is it healthy to use the tapes to intervene in her conflicts? Whereas I say that the internet is not just the same old stuff we've always had, it does affect us, and not wanting your 10-year old to watch porn or beheadings is not the same as wanting to watch them 24/7 and force them to wear a wire to school.