#!Parentsroom Weekly Poll Results - Should kids be allowed to use the Internet?
Don't forget to answer this weeks Poll
Should kids be allowed to use the Internet??
This week's poll resulted few surprises:
Here are the results:
- 83.3% say they believe kids should be SUPERVISED when using the Internet
- 16.7% say that children SHOULD be allowed to use the Internet regardless of supervision.
- No One said that children should NOT be allowed to use the Internet at all.
The following are some comments we received:
- The Internet is an exceptional tool for all ages to utilize although it should only be with parent's supervision for children because of all the non-informational subjects available. I don't even think blocking software is enough, although it would help, but nothing is better than parental supervision.
- The Internet is another area in which we (as parents) must take the responsibility to teach them right from wrong. Using a blocking device or sitting on top of them while they use it is like telling them we do not trust what we have taught them about right and wrong.
- I have seen too much on the Internet to allow my kids to use the Internet without any supervision. In doing a college project on ethics and the Internet I researched to see just what was out there. And I was shocked!!! Believe me its not just pornography. I entered the words "hot rods" in the Infoseek search engine and found a site dedicated to hot rods(cars), nudity, and real pictures of dead bodies. Knowing that this kind of thing is out there and it's not that hard to find I would never let my child use the net alone. It could be dangerous.
- This answer is based on the age and maturity level of the child. I do think that kids should be able and taught how to use the Internet, as it is a valuable resource for finding information. With technological advances in the area of computers, children need to be taught the rules of computer use as you do with other machinery such as, telephone use, television, vcr's etc. Parents should also monitor computer use as they monitor (or should monitor) phone, television and vcr use.
- I've never agreed with any type of censorship...but when it comes to the amount of readily available junk on the Internet, I feel it is important to play a more active role in our child's on-line time.
- The Internet is a wonderful place and should be used by everyone. It would be too bad if a few bad people ruined it for everyone else. But it is VERY important to use the blocking software and use adult supervision. My daughter got into some pornography on her very first day on the Internet. She also gave some stranger her phone number. Now we have the right software and I watch her more closely.
- Supervision should be used at all time. Since you can find anything, including pornography on the Internet, it's not a good idea to let children roam freely. And the chat rooms should be monitored also. Lots of sickos prey on young and older children there.
- I feel that in most families it should be the choice of the parent to teach the proper way for a child to make the right choices in what to use here on the Internet and what not to use on the Internet if you properly teach your child the way that the Internet is to be used, the more the child will use the Internet in the proper way!
- I believe that like TV, responsible adult supervision of the Internet is required. It is a great resource and teaching tool. But as anyone who has done a search knows inappropriate fare for children can pop up with the most unlikely search parameters! "Net blockers" are not a proper substitute for loving guidance, they can be disabled by teens and again sometimes adult natured materials get in even benign search strings!
- Parents should be in constant communication with their kids, including about what they are doing on the Internet.
- Parents should be in constant communication with their kids, including about what they are doing on the Internet.