http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/10/pirillo.kids.internet/index.html
This article published by CNN.com on Tuesday, February 10th talks about parents unknowingly allowing their children to surf the dangerous net without guidelines and rules. The author, Chris Pirillo, gives a few suggestions to help clueless parents control what their children view on the internet, including investing in some parent controls and establishing firm rules about what kinds of websites are appropriate.
As Pirillo explains, it's not that these parents are intentionally being negligent in their parenting, but rather the disparities of age and even education are inhibiting them from making good decisions regarding what their children do in their free time. This article relates with what we've been learning about because people of our parents' age were not raised with the internet, and some therefore do not understand it and/or are familiar with it. This is a great example of two cultural disparities (age and education) getting in the way of understanding/accessing a modern information technology (the Internet).
Video Reflection
14 years ago
This is an interesting topic that I have never really taken into consideration. The internet can be a dangerous place for children and it is important for parents to educate them and set up boundaries. In order to accomplish this, they need to be fluent with the internet as well. A good method to better understand this issue would be to look at the cohorts and find data about internet usage. Knowing approximately how little parents know about the internet can allow you to better assess the problem. Surveys would also be helpful to find out what specifically they know about the internet and interviews could be conducted to determine the concerns of the parents. Education is the solution to the problem. In generations to come, this problem may diminish. Young adults today are very capable with computers and will be able to provide basic protection for their kids.
ReplyDelete