[LINK] NetAlert Campaign 'truth' finally coming out
Ivan Trundle
ivan at itrundle.com
Sat Dec 15 11:48:59 AEDT 2007
On 15/12/2007, at 11:34 AM, Craig Sanders wrote:
> <snip>
> and personally, i can't see what the fuss is about. really, who cares
> if they *talk* (remotely, over a telecommunications medium) with some
> complete stranger as long as they know:
>
> 1. not to give their address or other identifying information
>
> 2. not to arrange a meeting without a parent or other adult to
> supervise
>
> 3. that every single piece of information (name, age, photo, etc)
> provided by the person online could be fake and SHOULD be regarded
> as 100% fake until proven otherwise (i.e. via an adult-supervised
> face-to-face meeting).
>
> kids are actually savvy enough to realise this - and they generally
> know it better than their parents.
Very wise, sensible, and appropriate - but only once they (parents and
kids) understand the principles involved.
I'm sure that most Linkers' offspring would comprehend this, but I
come across a significant number of net users who don't, and who have
parents who don't understand these basic principles. It amazes me that
some generally well-educated parents can be so naïve and blinkered in
something as important as this. Many of these parents don't quite get
the difference between real life and internet life, and how much they
cross over, but especially for kids. They might think that they can
track and supervise/guide the real life of their children, but seem to
be at loss to track and guide online life.
>> All said and done, I'm no fan of NetAlert: the principle here is for
>> parents to take more interest and control, rather than abrogating
>> their
>> responsibilities to the government of the day. And the same goes
>> for the
>> workplace.
>
> yes. as always.
>
> and, also as always, the government of the day wants to present itself
> as if it is or can 'do something' about the 'problem'.
Agreed: governments should stick to their knitting, and draft
legislation that matters, and spend our money wisely. They should
reflect our morality and sensibilities, and not force it upon us.
iT
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