It seems to me that we are both on similar pages regarding child Internet safety and measures that have been taken to increase safety. I come from a family where my parents were there to educate me on safety in the world, about strangers, about giving out personal information to anyone and anywhere, and other areas that concern my well-being. Basically, as you mention, they taught me how to “stay out of trouble”. When I hear about all the restrictive measures that schools and parents use for children on the Internet, I sometimes ask myself “Have the parents not educated their kids well enough to trust in their better judgment?” While I do understand that this is a difficult topic, I believe that kids are not the ones to blame for being victimized online. As do you, I feel the problem here is that parents need to know how to teach their kids how to use common sense in all areas of their lives and to learn how to sense when something smells like trouble. They should teach their kids how to become intelligent, both cognitively and emotionally.
One thing that stood out to me was when you mentioned that some children develop “strange behavior towards technology and internet” because of the restrictive measures that are placed on their Internet usage. I was wondering what kinds of behaviors you are referring to. Because if I were a kid of parent who was overly controlling over the Internet, I’d find a way to use it one way or another.
Lastly, you make a wonderful point in saying that restricting Internet access to children is restricting them from a plethora of information that could limit them in the future. Although I believe that parents should better educate their kids, maybe it’s the parents who need educating.