120 English

Dr. Steven Krause

There are many different things that people use to entertain them selves. A favorite by many is the Internet. The Internet is worldwide and can be use by all. It is "…a rapidly expanding system of networks, …" which "…links millions of people in new spaces". The Internet has a variety of communities. Some of which pertaining to entertainment, education, pleasure, and self-gratification. All of which mean different things to different people. Children under the age of 18 should have restriction on communities on the Internet such as adult content, racism, drugs, and other related articles.

A lot of children are gaining access to many adult communities on the Internet. Many times parents are unaware of what their children can get access to while surfing the web. For young children danger exists in the form of pornography, hate groups, drug related articles, and other material that are unfit for minors. For most parents, keeping their kids away from these types of Web Sites is a problem. By the parents not knowing how to keep there kids from these types of Web sites this causes varies risk that they are not aware of.

What are the risks for letting your child get on the Internet? One risk is that your children can be exposed to is inappropriate material that is sexual, hateful, and of a violent nature.

Many of these exposures can encourage activities that are dangerous or illegal. Harassment is a large problem and risk on a lot of communities on the Internet. A child might encounter E-mail, Chat room, or Bulletin messages that are harassing, demeaning, or belligerent. This risk my not be life threatening, but it could affect a child’s self esteem. Not only is this risky but this is likely to occur to any child or teenager that engages in chat rooms or exchanges messages and bulletin boards.

Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco are other factors to look out for. For instance, while parents are teaching their children to stay away from alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, children can get on the Internet and receive just the opposite. Also there are place on the Internet one can learn how to make a bomb or obtain weapons. A curious child can easily get hold of this particular site and out of rage and anger can utilize the dangerous information. A prime example is the Columbine High School incident. Two young men went on a killing spree at their high school setting off bombs everywhere in the school killing several of there classmates. These young men learned how to make these bombs off the Internet and utilized it to kill people. "In many cases in America working class children have little access to computers in or outside the classroom". Even with the projected reduction in the price of hardware, the cost of becoming connected remains just too great for many average families in the first world. Seeing all of the danger that children can get access to with out having restriction it might not be worth the Families efforts to try and get access when all they want for there children is safe educational online experiences.

What can the parents do to help prevent their children to get into these types of sites? One solution is called CleanNet With CYBERsitter installs easily and sets itself up to monitor your Web browser. If you’d prefer that your children stay away for certain things on the web, you can restrict them by blocking access to IRC, FTP sites, and Usenet newsgroups. There’s even an opt that will scan incoming and outgoing e-mails for inappropriate material. The program works by checking online activity against first and third party filters, plus lists of objectionable words, phrase and sites. When it spots a violation, Cybersitter logs it you can review it at a later time. If your child tries to access a restricted site, he or she won’t be able to get to it. Plus, if a blocked word is searched for, the outcome is a blank results page. If any adults should wishes to view mature material, there’s and option that turns Cybersitter off. You have the ability to password protect the program main interface to keep this option out of kids’ hands. If you’re worried about new sites that may not be included with the program’s current filiters, you’ll appreciate the installed update option, which updates filters for free, as often as you’d like. Another smart way to protect your children is Smart Parent.com this is a resource dedicated to educating parents on the best way to safeguard their children from the dangers presented by cyberspace. " Our goal is to help the online experience safe, educational and entertaining for children". Cyber sitter and Smart Parents.com are just one of the many things that you can do to protect your child from getting a whole of dangerous communities.

These days, it is important for parents, schools and communities to take a proactive approach in making our Internet community safe for the children of America and that’s why

Children under the age of 18 should have restriction on communities on the Internet such as adult content, raceism, drugs, related articles, and other material most would see unfit for minors. By the parents of America following these guideline and taking these precaution there will be less problems as far as the Internet not being safe for children. I hope that the information provides awareness on the problem that are Children and teenager on the Internet are facing and by putting restriction on these communities will help prevent these things from happening.