Fighting Internet Filth

Image from library/thinkquest.org

I read the article Fighting Internet Filth by Mario Hipol, and one of the most important things I learned from the article is that there are so many different technologies within technology that you have to teach your children about. You can't just teach them to avoid sketchy websites, you have to teach them to go directly to the intended site or else they may get something bad in the search engine or URL. I also think an important thing I learned was that companies pay money to get their offensive material mixed in with other things, so that offensive material can come even when one is looking for wholesome material.

This article influenced the way I will teach my kids/students because it gave some helpful hints to make internet security a positive thing. For example, setting up bookmarks or favorites will let children get to the website directly. You could even pitch it to them as a "save time" tool, without even telling them it is to avoid bad things. Who doesn't want to save time to get to their favorite websites?

I think the way this article can help me be an influence on others is actually the way it was written. It is a very direct, blunt, straightforward article telling it how it is. I think that making internet safety a very open and public topic will increase awareness and safety. Many people are afraid to talk about bad things, and so they never mention it to their kids. It is a personal decision for each couple, but being shy about topics like pornography, sex, what constitutes sexual material (text, photographic, etc.), hate sites, or illegal sites, won't protect kids. Children are learning more adult subjects at younger ages and from more sources than ever before in the history of the world. I very much believe that definitions of these subjects better come from you (the parents/teachers) first, or it will come from peers, media, or experience.