Net censorship may backfire counterproductive
The impulse to protect our children is universal and for so long now filtering or blocking certain Internet sites has been a part of that. There are strong justifications for this, of course. While the Internet is a valuable tool for both information and communication, there is much that it offers is of no value to anyone and considerable potential harm. Why would we want our children — or anyone for that matter — to be exposed to sites that could confuse them morally or make them potential victims of stalking or exploitation? There are horror stories told worldwide about young people who have become the victims of “cyber bullying,” which in some extreme cases has cost them their lives. Can we not reap the benefits of Internet technology without allowing these potentially devastating influences?
The problem is not with the concept of protecting our children — because, of course, that is our job — but in the fact that our attempts at protection may come at the cost of a canny ability to navigate today’s technological world, which — for better or for worse — we have entered. Two decades ago, the idea that practically every school child would have easy access to a mobile phone with all the features of a powerful computer and media outlet would have seemed laughable. Today this is a reality.
Sometimes it seems that children are actually the most adept at using new technology! Have you ever noticed how youth under the age of 20 seldom need to consult a manual to operate their “smart” devices? They just pick them up and seem to know instantly what to do with them. They have, potentially, more power to connect and find information than any other generation of young people has ever had. In light of this, our attempts to control that information are clumsy and backward.
Given that the tide of information is not only at our door but has engulfed us, starting with the young generation, would it not be best if we tried to ensure that they know how to swim? The energy that they may even now be spending in devising ways to overcome firewalls may better be devoted to finding their way in the sea of information.
Given that all cell phones now come with photo and digital capabilities, it is time for young people to develop their own sense and discretion about what information they choose to share and with whom.
Similarly, viewing content of a questionable moral or political nature will not corrupt people who have their own strong values and sense of identity, but they must be taught these values in the context of all that they may encounter. Shelter them too much, and they will not have the capacity to deal with the influx of information that will, I believe, inevitably make its way to them, by legal means or otherwise.
We did not ask to be born in this time when the Internet permeates our lives as a largely lawless and ungovernable frontier. But since we are living in these times and our children will never know a world without Internet technology, we have to get to know the lay of the land and develop our own defenses. I believe that this is best done on the level of the individual or family, as government censorship is clumsy, heavy-handed and unable to move with the times. By learning to protect ourselves and our children on an individual level, we can come out of it stronger and as better informed citizens of our country, our world and our time.
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