I'm a bit concerned. So many parents here are talking non-stop about how to control the internet. What ever happened to sitting down with our children and discussing the dangers of the internet in detail and helping THEM to have a knowledge of warning signs to look for? Telling them what information to never give out, how to beat the feeling of flattery that comes with someone being interested in you and what the results can be?
I have little doubt that if my 11 year old daughter is faced with any signs of an online predator that she'll immediately end the discussion or come and get me to see what I think. She has been using the internet for about 3 to 4 years now. I won't say that I'm so insane that I don't limit the sites that she visits... heck- I even bump into a porn site on accident every so often. But parental controlls are there for a reason- on both the computer AND the tv.
I truly think that the amount of monitoring that you give your children depends completely on how much you trust them. I still glance over my baby's shoulder as I stroll through the living room, by all means. But I also know that my daughter understands the consequences of talking to strangers- whether in front of our house or on the web- and she will do just as much as I will to protect her and guarantee that those consequences never happen.
The internet is definately a very scary place! But knowledge is power for even children- and we can only protect them from the world for so long before society starts expecting them to be intelligent enough to make their own decisions.
I think a LOT of people might be surprised if they started laying information and choices at their childrens feet a little more and tried to GUIDE them into a good decision instead of brow beating them with whats right.
It's really no wonder there's teenage pregnancies and drug addicts all over... what got these kids in trouble in the first place (at least in my opinion) is the simple fact that they just finally made their first decision on their own at 16 & 17... is it any wonder they screwed it up??