# Should Minors Have Extremely Limited / No Access to the Internet?



## Sidon's fleshlight (Oct 11, 2020)

I've had, and seen, this conversation within other threads on this website; but I'd like to colliquate the discussion of such a topic into this thread. The full argument presented is that, in the recent years, the Internet has become a place of controversial topics (politics, sexual, etc.) due to various background factors at play (e.g., more extreme political sides, lack of parenting, desensitization of extreme content, etc.). And thus, the Internet is becoming less of a space where a minor could interact safely within; and anyone on this website will know that exposing children to these adult topics could have a seriously negative impact on their mentality. Thus, various individuals, including myself, have proposed that minors should have extremely limited, or even no access, to the internet to prevent them
from accessing such content. Would this restriction improve their overall growth, or is the internet too necessary for them to have such limited access?


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## Tim Buckley (Oct 11, 2020)

The first computer related thing I learned as a child was how to bypass parental control and expose myself to the most corruptable shit imaginable, I still remember the joy on my face when I exposed my classmates to ED's Offended page, protecting your kids will only turn them into faggots, just teach them about online predators and let them jerk off to furry tranny hentai while you cry yourself to sleep.

It is what it is.


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## Lonely Grave (Oct 11, 2020)

Forbidding something from children is a sure-fire way to get them to access it clandestinely. That's a fact of life.

I believe the critical part lies in when they are very young. Sooner or later peer pressure will catch up to them and there is nothing a parent can do to stop a child's access to the internet. Education and wisdom at that point is key - supplemented by education in physical media like paper material (but not newspapers - newspapers are trash these days and the golden age of journalist worship is long gone).


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## Exigent Circumcisions (Oct 11, 2020)

Tim Buckley said:


> The first computer related thing I learned as a child was how to bypass parental control


Sounds like you had normie parents.


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## The Real SVP (Oct 11, 2020)

_People_ should have no access to the internet. If it was up to me, all forms of remote communication would be reserved for licensed professionals and amateurs, who can prove a need to use, and basic competence in operating them.


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## A Rastafarian Skeleton (Oct 11, 2020)

It's too late. There's already an entire generation raised on insane fucked up Elsa Spiderman finger family baby shark indian videos.


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## Zero Day Defense (Oct 11, 2020)

Make a user verify that they're an adult (e.g. with a credit card) in order to access pornographic websites.

That's really my only problem re: access.


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## гape (Oct 11, 2020)

Spoiler: are ya winnin, son?


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## Kane Lives (Oct 11, 2020)

Like all things children-related, the solution is NOT banning things. It's making parents do their job as parents. You can still fuck a kid up without internet if you raise him on iPads and Barney videos.


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## make_it_so (Oct 11, 2020)

Kane Lives said:


> Like all things children-related, the solution is NOT banning things. It's making parents do their job as parents. You can still fuck a kid up without internet if you raise him on iPads and Barney videos.


Kids really should be encouraged to spend as much time as possible playing outside or reading, or doing some other kind of productive activity.  Internet use should really be saved up until later years when they've matured a bit, for two reasons.
1. It helps protect them content that might be harmful, which leads to 
2. Limiting children's access to the internet helps protect the rights and privileges of adults who use the internet, as it prevents to moral panic crowd from screaming "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!" when crafting legislation or other schemes to infringe on those rights and privileges.


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## verissimus (Oct 11, 2020)

I say yes to an extent and only at a personal up to at most a local level (i.e. not state or federal), and the older (essentially teenage) they get the more access they may have. 

 I can't see any reason for the very young ones to surf all over the net.  At the least, it's a distraction.  At worse they'll stumble into sick crap, possibly give away private information, or try actually meeting with someone they chatted with online who they shouldn't.


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## Judgment Boy (Oct 11, 2020)

If you truly want to ban all children from the internet, then you would just have to outright ban the internet from every civilian in general.

It doesn't matter what precautions you take, what you block, or what you tell yourself for a peace of mind, if there is civilian access to a computer, a kid can and will find their way onto it. Even if you somehow manage to have god-tier parental blocks on your own household machine, there are just too many options. If not at home, then they could just go to a friend's house where their parents aren't strict, a laidback family member, could be at a library, could be at school, no limits anymore. And the less access a child has to something, the more coveted and 'cool' it is, so it's just going to make them try harder to get access to a computer or smart phone, and likely getting into more trouble than it's worth by doing so. Banning anything from anyone is just challenging them to get access to it, and children are particularly sneaky with more smarts than we like to credit them for.

Personally, I believe that parental controls are mostly unnecessary and about as affective as an "Explicit" warning on iTunes, and just an excuse for parents to be hands off while still feeling like they're doing the best they can. However, the best and most affective way to deal with most kids (but not all, as I know some kids require unique attention) and the internet is to be upfront and honest about what's out there, and teach them basic internet safety. Some may call it scare tactics, but fuck, if honesty is all it takes to scare them from being dipshits online, then it is what it is.



Spoiler: Parenting 101: "The Internet Problem"



Tell them that anything they post on the internet, every image, every word, every video, is there forever. Anyone in the world can view those things if they want to, and there are people out there who can take it a step further and find out exactly where you live if you put your phone number or real name anywhere online. Teach them that "secure" and "private" are just words, and with every maze there's always a mouse smart enough to get through to the cheese, but in this case, the cheese is you, your pictures, and your information. Some will just have this information and do nothing with it, but there are others out there who will use it to their advantage. Whether they use it to just watch over you or something worse, very rarely do they have good intentions. Emphasize the importance of not posting their real information, say that first name is fine, but never give out your last name, never tell anyone where you live, never give out your phone number no matter how harmless a website seems, don't post about the name of your school, absolutely never turn on the webcam for people, etc etc. And if anything slips through the cracks, as the craftier pests tend to, make sure your kid knows that no matter what, if someone they're speaking to online is making them uncomfortable or demanding "sexy pics", and them saying no isn't being respected, they should absolutely stop the conversation, maybe block the person, or at the very least come tell you about it. 

When the dreaded time finally comes and your kid asks about making a social media account for themselves, make them show you the guidelines on age. If they're too young to have an account, either tell them, "No, you need to wait a couple more years", or you can say yes, but only if you have access to it to make sure they aren't being contacted by sex pests. If they're old enough, then yeah, why not? Just make sure to check in every once in a while about what sites they're on, and hopefully have enough trust built up between you two that they'll come to you if someone makes them uncomfortable. Maybe remind them that your ear's always open just incase, because sometimes they need the offer to be out there before opening up. Something about teenage pride or whatever.

Being vigilant and in the know of their activity is probably one of your best ways to "filter" their content. Let's say that you're just looking at your child's page to check up on them and what they post and you find something incredibly inappropriate, like a picture that's a bit too "sexually charged" or pretty much anything on TikTok, confront them and make them take it down. Either do the naggy parent thing and berate them for what they did wrong, or try to be calm and approach the topic gently. Either way, make sure you don't leave that room until they know exactly what predators online could do with that footage and why it shouldn't be posted. Always remind your kids that the people they're talking to online (not counting friends from their school) may not be who they say they are. Even if they send basic selcas of some stock image teen or something, they very well could be some 45+ year old creep in their basement looking for something more than just a friendship. Perhaps most importantly of all, always teach your kids to *never ever* meet up with someone they don't know and/or met online by themselves or in private.



Just teach your child to not necessarily be scared of everything, but to be *wary* and _*critical*_ of the online world and the people they come into contact with through it. The internet is so deeply ingrained into our livelihoods that there's just no feasible way to raise a kid with an incredibly limited access to the internet, and parental controls just don't do shit anymore. Just have to parent with a modern outlook, and teaching the kids the dangers of the internet before they can even Tweet is an important way to do that.  Of course, always encourage going outside, taking up an active hobby, and spending time away from the screen as much as you can. Maybe have a designated day or two where you guys all go on a walk around the block or something, knock out family time and exercise in one go.

[And if you don't think absolutely any of this will work on your special angsty teen or do anything to deter their curiosity, could just do what my parents did and tell me that the router kept a record of whatever websites I was going on, so if I went on one they didn't like, they would know.]


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## Mage of Conquest (Oct 11, 2020)

Kane Lives said:


> Like all things children-related, the solution is NOT banning things. It's making parents do their job as parents. You can still fuck a kid up without internet if you raise him on iPads and Barney videos.



Your post is such a heaven-sent.

Seriously, I get that parents worry that their children will run into things they don't want them seeing, but schools have computers with internet; that is a sure fire way that kids will still have access to some crazy material without the parents knowing.

And let's say the parents have done a bang up job of watching over their kids, their internet usage, and what they check out. What if the child asks their dad and mom about a topic they shouldn't have touched? Them parents better be damn ready to have a good talk about those sort of subjects.

But let's not forget the most important thing: kids are kids. How the hell would they know what they did or what they saw was bad? They're curious by nature, and they won't rest until their curiosity is satisfied.

Overall, if you plan on banning your kid from the internet, you're going to have to either homeschool your child or find a school that won't give the child access to the internet. And good luck with the latter if that's your plan.


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## Troonos (Oct 11, 2020)

My kids will have no phone and no tablet until they're old enough to get a job and buy it for themselves. We'll have a computer in a common area like the living room, and it will have every single piece of blocking and monitoring software I can find. We both want to homeschool.

I'm not raising a kid who spends their formative years addicted to social media, porn, and Fortnite. If they want to get into that garbage during adulthood, that's their choice.


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## Rupert Bear (Oct 11, 2020)

make_it_so said:


> Kids really should be encouraged to spend as much time as possible playing outside or reading, or doing some other kind of productive activity.  Internet use should really be saved up until later years when they've matured a bit, for two reasons.
> 1. It helps protect them content that might be harmful, which leads to
> 2. Limiting children's access to the internet helps protect the rights and privileges of adults who use the internet, as it prevents to moral panic crowd from screaming "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!" when crafting legislation or other schemes to infringe on those rights and privileges.


Cute of everyone ITT to think that barring kids away from the internet means the return of children going outside and playing and socializing and being innocent and having adventures in the woods.
Most likely, these kids will still be forced by their paranoid, lazy, uninvolved boomer parents to remain locked inside their shitty rooms, now being unable to socialize out of school and having nothing to do beyond staring at blank walls. Or even worse, immerse into escapistic media like videogames and cartoons, and grow into NEET fodder afraid of reality and unable to proficiently do anything other than consume media. (Literally part of how OPL was raised)

I can agree that there's perhaps too many kids on the internet now, and that not all of them really can even comprehend how it works or should use it, but for some it really can be a godsend.


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## Kingu Cinnamon (Oct 11, 2020)

I think that in an ideal (impossible) world you would lock them off from the internet until a reasonable age, say 16 and 18, and in the meantime, teach them how to use it.

I think the best way is to introduce the internet to children as something they should have a healthy respect for, like how you would introduce any potentially dangerous tool or environment. A respect that is not blindly posting embarrassing photos on Facebook but not cutting them off from any and all internet use. 

Make it clear that anything they will post now will at best be soul-crushingly cringe-worthy in 10 years and at worst will render them unemployable. Let them know that the internet is filled with the greatest degenerates mankind has ever seen. Teach them the basic bitch stuff that we all take for granted like using different names for different websites, how to make throwaway emails etc. Equip them with all the knowledge they would need rather than let them wander in clueless. 

If after all that they still filling in the location section of forum bios with their actual address then fuck 'em, they are retarded. Social Darwinism


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## CivilianOfTheFandomWars (Oct 11, 2020)

On one hand, look how unlimited access to porno, social media, and general madness has messed up a bunch of young people. In that sense, I think it’s important for some degree of sheltering kids. Sheltering your kids isn’t all bad, they’re young, immature and impressionable and that’s why they need you to take care of them and give them the tools needed to become functional human beings.
In that sense, absolutely kids should not have unlimited access to the web.
On the other, there will come a day when no matter how smart you are, no matter how locked down the computer is, your kid will get the leg up on you in regards to tech just because that’s how life goes. Then it’s really up to them what they see, and hopefully you’ve instilled some values in them that would help them not fuck up horribly.
The Internet is insane, crazy, and disgusting, but it’s also full of more knowledge than anything we have ever had. It’s amazing, you can literally learn anything you set your mind to if you know what you’re doing on it. Just think of how many younger people have learned something they were never taught in school, something that’s useful or something they’re passionate about, just because of the Internet. We have a legion of people who grew up learning Java just because they wanted to fuck around with _Minecraft_, for example. Or are practically gourmet home chefs because they watched loads of cooking on Youtube. Or are fantastic musicians because they found free online lessons.
These things would have been next to impossible for most of them without the Internet, so there’s good and bad to it.


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## Crazedking (Oct 11, 2020)

i dont think they should have no access at all but they should have limited access to internet. Literally just control what your kids has access to. If they are smart they will figure out how to bypass whatever shitty parental control and/or play the system with you for more internet time which are important skills to develop anyway. Check whats their habits and verify the content they consooommmmmm.

Just dont give them a tablet pr computer with literally 0 controls on what they watch just so they are entertained. Dont give them money (robux or fornite buck), have them play outside. GO OUTSIDE WITH YOUR KID ASWELL YOU FAT FUCKS.


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## Xarpho (Oct 11, 2020)

As a kid I was permitted to 15 minute Internet intervals, but also because it tied up the phone line.


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## JoshPlz (Oct 11, 2020)

Yes, extremely limited/selective/monitored access, so they don't get brainwashed by all the propaganda and degenerate bullshit.
I'd like my children to have a realistic chance of growing up to be healthy adults, not turn into self-mutilating troons who end up killing themselves.

But this should be enforced by parents, not the state or corporations.


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## Unpaid Emotional Labourer (Oct 11, 2020)

I mean...I think most parents are too internet-dependent themselves to do what would be necessary, but I am always baffled by this attitude that parents are helpless to stop their kids from doing anything they like on the internet. Did you know, parents out there, that in fact your children don’t have to have phones or other devices that can access it? Did you know that if you don’t buy them they won’t have them? Did you know you can keep the family PC in a shared living space? 

By the time a kid is old enough to figure out how to score his own devices and secretly obtain the WiFi password, the danger is largely over. We’re not trying to keep 16-yos from watching porn. We’re trying to keep 8-yos from doing so.

Might he go over to some feral friend‘s house where his feral family has been letting him watch porn since elementary school? Sure he might. He might also end up raiding the liquor cabinet over there, but that doesn’t mean you should make sure he has open access to yours. He *should* have to sneak around to do questionable shit. 

Anyway, the reason parents usually can’t manage this is because they don’t want to spend time with their kids, and that is what it would take. If the parents are going be zoned out on their phone all the time, they’re going to let the kid be as well, so he doesn’t interrupt them. But if the parents take the kids outside, go out and about as a family, are involved in sports and community stuff, etc, then the available time for everyone to vegetate is greatly reduced. That is the sacrifice most parents are unwilling to make, which is why they pretend they’re helpless.


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## Johan Schmidt (Oct 11, 2020)

Yes. Children should have limited access to the internet; same as they should have limited access to TV and sugar. Raise your kids yourself.


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## Sidon's fleshlight (Oct 11, 2020)

I did want to add here, since I posted this earlier than intended (e.g., I pressed enter rather than shift + enter); though I did want to outline a more fleshed out argument for the advantages and drawbacks to such a bill, and possibly talk about an alternative solution that could work out better.

Pros:
- Children don't have early exposure to obscene / adult content (e.g., porn, shock material, grooming, etc.), and thusly can have a better opportunity to grow up with a regular childhood.
- Parents have to step up their parenting skills and actually raise their children.
- Other adults on the internet don't have to worry about other legislation censoring their content because, "think of the children".

Cons:
- What sort of method would be used to verify the user is an adult (e.g., credit card, country ID, etc.)?
- Children could bypass the restrictions.
- Such a law could interfere with our privacy and make every website become Facebook, essentially (in terms of how much PII they need).

Those are just some of the listed points, though I think a lot of you have pointed out some others on this thread. Now as for what alternative solution could be used, it's using similar theoretical bill; however, the twist is that it would only be used as a threat, rather than actually making it law (e.g., congress creates a bill with similar language described to restrict access to the internet from minors, and they will only enact it into law if parents continue to let their children roam the internet freely). Essentially, you're forcing self-regulation among parents (similar in concept to what the government did with the video game industry for them to create the ESRB). So I'd like to hear what you guys think of this alternative too.


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## Consenticles (Oct 11, 2020)

No limits. No regulation of any sort. 

Regulation always leads to more regulation, and I do not wish for someone else to choose who gets to be online and who does not.

You always have a few bad eggs in a sample size as large as the US, but this is simply like putting a band aid on a severed limb. It does not solve the real problem when it comes to mental health and parenting.


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## remiem (Oct 11, 2020)

IMO. Young kids need it rationed. The amount of children who have tech withdraw fits when parents finally get a clue that maybe the Ipad/Phone/TV/Game system of your choice raising their kid isn't a good idea is pretty insane. Setting reasonable limits on technology is a must when they're little. 

When they're older it's almost impossible to stop as it becomes more and more incorporated in education and teachers often have less of a clue than the students do. It's really a matter of keeping an eye on what your kids are doing when accessing the internet and having appropriate conversations when the need arises. It's better to teach and prepare, than try to make it not exist. I wouldn't allow social media at all if it were me, especially fucking twitter, unless the parents also have access to accounts. Phone gets left somewhere else in the house, not taken to bedroom at night. 

The internet is a tool used in so many aspects of life that banning it is pointless at this point. As a parent you need to prepare, educate yourself, keep up with trends, and be able to monitor your child. It's also important to not lose your mind if the child does go somewhere they shouldn't be online because they'll buckle down on not tell you and trying to bypass your efforts to monitor. There's a balance and you should use every opportunity to teach that you possibly can, instead of resorting to anger.

As someone who grew up in the generation where home computers and the internet didn't exist until I was in elementary school. The current generation doesn't have as much of a clue as some of us.  I think at times it's easy to think that because internet access is so common these days that everyone has a greater understanding of it when it most cases, they really don't. We've full circled from it being this new thing of exploration to just being a part of life, so they don't dig into it as much. 



Spoiler: anecdote relating to internet



I had a family member who had a small business and had a student hired on a grant.  The grant was a contract that basically made them un-fireable. The student decides instead of doing the work requested by the family member they're gonna sign up for an additional online course and do that while they're at work. So family member calls me and I drop into the place after hours to look into the use of the business computer. The student in question was a generation that has never not had the internet or home computers. They hadn't even cleared the history to hide what they were doing. So I installed a browser add-on to block the site(s). Not even like heavy duty, just an add-on that could theoretically be turned off.  The student couldn't figure out how to get back on the now blocked website or open incognito mode.  I'd added a keylogger too just in case, so a case could be made to break the contract for failure to do their job and using their work time for non-work activities. Checking that showed me they basically gave up after the website wouldn't load.


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## Jimjamflimflam (Oct 12, 2020)

With the mass consolidation of the internet it's easier to white list a set of accept sites then blacklist unacceptable.

No internet or media devices in their room.

Family computer in a visible area.

And the most important part:

Fucking engage your kids, talk to them, play a game, cook together, just anything.  

To many parents think their parental responsibility ends after you provide the basics of food, clothes and shelter.  That kids will raise themselves.


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## ⋖ cørdion ⋗ (Oct 12, 2020)

On a less deep-web level, you can see how this shit goes around with streamers like GrossGore, who now literally only streams himself rambling in his room with his daughter running around on an ipad. He was on the Twitch therapist's stream, and to his daughter, he was sitting in the middle of the kitchen staring up at a camera talking loudly while ignoring her. People have called the child protective services on him (basically SWATing) but  honestly you could argue it's the right move.






Personally I feel it's less about the damage the internet can do, and more-so the reliance on it for entertainment. He literally just throws her in a seat and make her watch YouTube tier shit on the TV. Not even Disney+ or whatever.


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## NPC (Oct 16, 2020)

Tim Buckley said:


> The first computer related thing I learned as a child was how to bypass parental control and expose myself to the most corruptable shit imaginable, I still remember the joy on my face when I exposed my classmates to ED's Offended page, protecting your kids will only turn them into faggots, just teach them about online predators and let them jerk off to furry tranny hentai while you cry yourself to sleep.
> 
> It is what it is.


When I was in HS I knew fraternal twins whose parents were extremely devout and limited their access to the net. Even when we were graduating they were the most optimistic, cheerful, and kind people I've ever met.


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## Tim Buckley (Oct 16, 2020)

Polack said:


> When I was in HS I knew fraternal twins whose parents were extremely devout and limited their access to the net. Even when we were graduating they were the most optimistic, cheerful, and kind people I've ever met.


I know


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## NPC (Oct 16, 2020)

Tim Buckley said:


> I know
> View attachment 1667432


Haha yeah, I couldn't help but think the same thing. Despite not using the net early on the brother became one of the best programmers in our class. The sister didn't care for it much outside of helping her develop her art skills, school, and music. If you raise your kids right you probably will have no reason to worry in their later years as they should be capable of making the right choices by then even when tempted.


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## Heckler1 (Oct 26, 2020)

Children and the internet need to be treated like children in swimming pools. Make sure they can only stay in the shallows, and monitor them so they don't wonder into the deeper parts before they can swim properly. People seem to be lazy parents now, and expect school/internet/TV to raise their children for them. So their kids drown.


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## Gapernaper Rifle (Oct 26, 2020)

I think kids should be limited in their access to the internet. The best solution is to not give kids devices until they are of a much more age, at least 14 or 15, preferably 16 or 17. Give them access to a computer in a place that normally has a parent like the kitchen or the living room, which gives the parents some panoptic control. Also they should not in any circumstances be allowed access to social media accounts until that age, because social media can fuck kids up on a whole other level.

Edit: The government shouldn't write this into law. They are already too involved in parenting. Parents need to grow a sack and raise their kids. Their your kids, they will listen to you if you just put your fucking foot down.


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## janedoe (Oct 27, 2020)

yes. 
you should be encouraging them to engage in different more productive activities, throughout the day, and let them have their downtime browsing whatever stupid site kids go on these days. but put a time limit on internet access. growing up my parents curbed my internet addiction by doing so, and at like 7pm the internet would shut off and i would have nothing better to to but head to bed. 
my parents, of course, were not as dependent on the internet back then and one of them was and is a really big tech person. now adays parents are just as guilty as spending too much time online. so unless you know how to practice restraint, you'll never be able to instill it in your kid. the 'do as i say not as i do' shit never works, you just make your kid respect you less and less that way. 
this is why i am not a parent, actually, i am not ready to make those kinds of sacrifices or exercise restraint. the last thing i'd want is to raise a kid with the same social issues i did, because internet addiction made me an immense fucking autist. i'd never wish that on anyone.

internet is a lot like junk food. its ok in moderation but don't let your kids develop this hedonistic mindset that everyone has, that they somehow have a right to it. if you're not entitled to be a fat fuck, then you're not entitled to be glued to that screen.


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## -4ZURE- (Oct 27, 2020)

I feel like children should be allowed to freely explore the deeper web. I think going around and gaining many views and experiences is important and keeps when from fully cementing themselves in an echo chamber. I think the main thing to worry about is FaceBook and Twitter. The two sites are an overload of information and promote the most unfulfilling of life styles and choices that only lead to misery. I think my main push would be to teach the child that the internet and life are separate realities. One needs to keep the two separate at all times as to not fully end up in misery. Stuff like Twitter or Instagram sound good, but they muddy that concept to much. They make your personal relationships a display for everyone. If you want healthy relationships, do not engage with classmates on public platforms, save that for face-to-face interactions. As for internet friends, they are just that. They should be disconnected from you, an avatar and username comes used as a wall between. You can tell stories, but never give an address or anything that really would lead anyone to know who you are. Never make internet friends personal, they are always just there to chat, nothing else. The more disconnected you are from the internet, the more likely you are to understand and appreciate it. Too many leave their whole lives online, and for what? Experiences are not meant to be shared in this way. You cannot enjoy the world if you snap trendy images of it at all times. Taking it in, maybe leaving nothing to go back to to remember so you just have to rely on memory, is probably the healthiest way to live.


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## Samson Pumpkin Jr. (Oct 27, 2020)

Children are dumb animals that need to be beaten in order for them to learn anything, and _*you*_ want them to be on the internet?


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## PhoBingas (Oct 27, 2020)

Actually parent your imaginary kids instead of sticking them in front of a tablet or computer. Monitoring internet access should be something parents do not big daddy gubmint.


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## Sage In All Fields (Oct 27, 2020)

I think it's best that children be given very minimal computing facilities that they can work on and cultivate, this would help them to have real ownership over their computers rather than simply using it to consoom. In doing this their ability to use the internet will be severely curtailed until they are old enough to buy their own computer or building/compiling their own graphical web browser or something along those lines, by which point they will have developed the willpower, intelligence and discipline to avoid vices like pornography and the influence of fools.


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## JudgementKazzy (Jan 5, 2021)

If I was a parent, I would have multiple talks to my kid about using my internet. Yes, not just THE TALK, but rather THE TALKS. I haven't thought this through on how to approach this, but generally the idea should be to teach that the internet is a place that is very volatile and a different world from the one we face outside the internet. I think the best approach is to show your kids about how bad the internet can be if you use it very unwisely, expose them to the horrors of the internet while holding their hand (I'll probably even tell my kids about this website, but I'm sure as hell not gonna allow them to actually use it until they're of age and maturity.)

I'll also teach them that you must guard your fucking privacy and identity, and only give it out when it is absolutely necessary and keep a squeaky clean appearance. That pretty much means no social media for them to use, but I'll have to show them about how it works and how bad it could be. Binding your real life identity with the internet is a recipe for fucking disaster all of the time, if you do not know what you are doing.

However, I do not think it helps to be a moralfagging Luddite and completely ban them from all technology, because what happens when they are adults and they get introduced and lured to bad shit on the internet that their parents just told them "not to go to, or not to do it." I think a very good fundamental of being a parent is not just to tell your kids why "doing this" is bad, but rather _*SHOWING *_why it is bad.

I would also add that they would need to develop interests outside of the internet. Such as sports/fitness, reading, drawing, cooking, being at least moderately social, you know: normal and nice things a kid should do.


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## Luminous47 (Jan 6, 2021)

No. It’s the PARENT’s job to raise their child, not the internet’s. Half of the internet’s problems would probably be minimal if parents kept an eye on their kids.


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## jje100010001 (Jan 7, 2021)

Troonos said:


> My kids will have no phone and no tablet until they're old enough to get a job and buy it for themselves. We'll have a computer in a common area like the living room, and it will have every single piece of blocking and monitoring software I can find.


I honestly think this may be the solution.

I think people are arguing about the wrong thing- the problem is not the internet itself (it always had that seediness to it), but the rise of smartphones and tablets making access to it 24-7 and easy-to-access- which has created many addicts to that steady dopamine drip of streamed content.

As such, the solution is not about banning children from the internet (and regulations harm more than they help), but making them use it in a place where parents can monitor and regulate their usage.


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## Jewelsmakerguy (Jan 7, 2021)

Here's how I see it, the internet is one of those things where there's too many variables to worry about, and with how it's seeped into our everyday lives, it'll be inevitable that it would happen. The problem is that parents seem content on leaving them in front of screens all day instead of actually taking care of them (this also applies to TVs as well). Infants definitely don't need the internet, but as they get older, maybe a few educational sites and one or two other major sites they can use until they turn 13. And keep them away from social media until they're 16 at the very least.

Then again, I grew up in an era where the internet was still in its wild west era, so my views might be a little skewed.


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## eDove (Jan 8, 2021)

JudgementKazzy said:


> I think a very good fundamental of being a parent is not just to tell your kids why "doing this" is bad, but rather _*SHOWING *_why it is bad.



This is key. Children are so curious by nature and you need to provide them explanations so they don't go discovering these things for themselves.  know a super "Christian" family whose parents are deep into their Church, yet none of their adult children know a thing about the Bible apart from the surface-level stuff. Just about all of the daughters got pregnant out of wedlock. The youngest one (who is old enough to drink) is a confused, suicidal, and anxious young woman. She was EXTREMELY sheltered along with her sisters. She can barely use a computer and has the maturity of a fourteen-year-old. 

All these kids are screwed up 'cause their parents didn't teach them shit. They were the Biblical instruction spouted by every Church-Christian parent, but they were never given the Biblical reasoning. They were sheltered from all tech, from bad movies, bad shows, music, video games, et cetera, but it didn't matter because when they came in contact with these "bad" things, they went nuts. Sheltering your child is _worthless_ if you aren't explaining to them why you're doing it. Don't try to protect them so hard that you won't even broach adult subjects with them.

That said, my parents didn't do a good job monitoring me and they've completely given up on my younger siblings. They're basically the opposite of sheltering and that extreme isn't better. 

I want to give my kids all of the firsthand knowledge I have when I inevitably limit their internet use, so they have an idea how dangerous the internet is for a young person. Even if you come out of it, somehow, without getting flashed or molested, your perception can be totally warped and you can fall into the wrong crowd—crowds that can be much weirder and much more degenerate than what you'd find at school.


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## TFT-A9 (Jan 8, 2021)

if it keeps stupid squeakers out of my online games, fuck yes


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## IceGray (Jan 9, 2021)

eDove said:


> This is key. Children are so curious by nature and you need to provide them explanations so they don't go discovering these things for themselves. know a super "Christian" family whose parents are deep into their Church, yet none of their adult children know a thing about the Bible apart from the surface-level stuff. Just about all of the daughters got pregnant out of wedlock. The youngest one (who is old enough to drink) is a confused, suicidal, and anxious young woman. She was EXTREMELY sheltered along with her sisters. She can barely use a computer and has the maturity of a fourteen-year-old.



A total ban is completely unfeasible for the average person, but I'm thinking discretion should be applied by the parents, guardians, elder siblings, rather than any government interference.

If I have kids I'm going to have a long talk about 4chan memes, why they tick that way, and how not to blindly swallow and parrot them. Same goes for leftist propaganda. Don't want any additional Holya Secundus coming up.

I think the bitter irony of things is that you still have to know about the shit that is spouted on the net, and yet have the discretion not to swallow said shit and whole-heartedly believe it is immutable fact.

Definitely gonna teach them how not to leave a paper trail that can lead to them being doxed. Another thing I shall teach them is how not to piss people off so badly that they try to dox said kids too.


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## Rupert Bear (Jan 12, 2021)

IceGray said:


> If I have kids I'm going to have a long talk about 4chan memes, why they tick that way, and how not to blindly swallow and parrot them. Same goes for leftist propaganda. Don't want any additional Holya Secundus coming up.


Any sort of labels should be avoided, really. If they take things such as "Normies" or "NPCs" too seriously they'll wind up like the Incels.co fags categorizing everyone as 'betas', 'chads', 'stacies', 'simps', etc. well into their mid 20's.


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## Crunchy Oats (Jan 12, 2021)

I thought this was about not letting black people use the internet at first.. damn, oh well.


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## Lemmingwise (Jan 13, 2021)

Tim Buckley said:


> The first computer related thing I learned as a child was how to bypass parental control and expose myself to the most corruptable shit imaginable.



This catastrophe of parenting is what turns internet fuckwads into the broken people that enjoy coming to the kiwifarms.


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## Top Hat Mann (Feb 10, 2021)

Tim Buckley said:


> The first computer related thing I learned as a child was how to bypass parental control and expose myself to the most corruptable shit imaginable, I still remember the joy on my face when I exposed my classmates to ED's Offended page, protecting your kids will only turn them into faggots, just teach them about online predators and let them jerk off to furry tranny hentai while you cry yourself to sleep.
> 
> It is what it is.


aphex twin based


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