Should kids be allowed to use the internet?

[XL xQgg?QcQCaTYDMjqoDnYpG]

Yes. If the question is "allowed", then that logically means that saying "no" is equal to legitimizing the use of force to stop or prevent children from using the Internet.
Using the Internet is not some activity that involves a physical conflict over a thing (as opposed to, say, you wanting to use a road for protesting and me wanting to drive a car on that road - we get into a physical conflict with one another because our use of the road is incompatible), therefore I see no way to justify a blanket "not allowed" for that

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Alternatively, kids could be given access to an intranet with a list of pre-approved educational and entertainment websites with no social interaction features. It’d be like a digital version of those “kid city” job roleplay theme parks; a simulation of the adult internet that preps them for future life, but without the risks inherent in the real thing. It could be set up in a way where more sites become accessible with age too.

Gameshark kinda had something like this for the N64 called Sharkwire.

 

[anliteralidiot]

I want to say no, but the internet was invaluable to me as a young teen. Maybe the internet was safer in the early/mid 2000s, but it's not anymore.

I think it's a yes, but with a lot of caveats, like parental supervision, limited website allowance, and only on a desktop.

 

[Cougar Pump]

With how ubiquitous the Internet is in our daily lives nowadays, outright barring kids from it simply isn’t feasible.

Disagree. It's absolutely feasible to ban kids from the Internet. You approach it as with alcohol consumption, smoking etc - Parental responsibility and legislation. Internet access comes through relatively few mechanisms all of which are effectively gatekept by payment mechanisms. All that's really required to make this happen is the will to implement it, and society/governance is not within a lightyear of considering it a serious proposition so it'll never happen.

They need to learn technological and internet literacy while growing up. However, they shouldn’t be able to browse the internet without restrictions. Their internet should be monitored by parents, subject to strict parental control, and have no access to social media of any kind until at least 16.

Again don't really agree. Technology is not some scary beast like it used to be, your basic person's needs are met by very friendly, easy to use systems and concepts that are very well packaged. The amount of background needed to get to grips with it is comparable, at most, to learning to drive. I doubt it'd even need to be that much effort tbh. You introduce it under adult supervision in controlled environments (at home, classroom) like anything else.

Alternatively, kids could be given access to an intranet with a list of pre-approved educational and entertainment websites with no social interaction features. It’d be like a digital version of those “kid city” job roleplay theme parks; a simulation of the adult internet that preps them for future life, but without the risks inherent in the real thing. It could be set up in a way where more sites become accessible with age too.

This used to exist in various forms (AOL etc).

All of this is poking holes in a fairly one-sided argument against the concept but consider the absolutely enourmous benefit of preventing minors from accessing the Internet - Predators have no prey, kids grow up socializing properly and not digitally at their most formative times, and the Internet as an adult forum for ideas and sharing becomes entirely unencombered by the lowest-common-denominator restriction of needing to be safe for children.

As I've said before on this topic, let kids get access to the Internet when they are judged mature enough for other potentially harmful activities - Voting, drinking, driving, and enlisting. If you don't consider a child's mind mature enough to make informed decisions on those, it's absurd to argue that the Internet is a suitable place for them to spend most, or indeed any, of their time.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

kid city

Maybe the internet was safer in the early/mid 2000s, but it's not anymore.

There used to be kid-friendly websites back in the day. But seems like it's just "TikTok" and other "social media" in Current Year. So now there's "Sephora kid" as a thing.

Oh yeah, and maybe it's best if kids aren't allowed on "social media" in any case. And especially not on that newfangled "Discord" internet thing where mods can be groomer.

 

[Goose the Redeemer]

No, and neither should adults. Burn it all to the ground.

---

There's nothing inherently wrong with the Internet as a concept, parents just need to actually raise their children instead of just sitting them in front of a television for hours handing them a tablet or smartphone. There is no need for government intervention, we just need to bring back social shaming of poor parenting decisions.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Not until their last year of high school, only at school for educational purposes. They need to know how to use the Internet but it should be restricted to an educational environment at a late age.

 

[ShittlerNiggler]

Would you let your child into a house filled with porn actors, commies, pedos, libshits and other degenerates?

 

[I hate women (like you)]

you shouldnt give unrestricted access to kids, but taking it too far in the other way is just as retarded. whether we like it or not, the internet aint going anywhere and its only going to get shittier and more omnipresent. Ideally, you would teach your kid how to use the internet responsibly and safely, giving them more autonomy, independent screen time and getting into more nuances as they get older, integrate the internet into the family life and not being a hypocrite about internet usage (that is, not locking yourself in a room to watch KF DT TTD edits). I think.

 

[BradeRunna]

Kids should be able to use the internet. Most of the bad shit on the internet doesn't come to you. You have to go find it. You have to actively search for it.

If you have a kid looking at fucked up shit on the internet then they went looking for it. You have a fucked up kid. I don't know what else to say.

 

[anliteralidiot]

kids grow up socializing properly and not digitally at their most formative times

What if a kid has no other socializing outlet? It's easy to tell a kid to socialize with other kids, but what about the kids who live in rural areas, with no way to visit anyone, outside of their school?

 

[Premium Gonzo]

Given the rate of increased trannies and pooners no..

 

[Pierre D'Olnique]

Ironically, the failed mid-2000 attempts at censoring/limiting the Internet usage (in particular in classrooms) via 3rd party software is kind of what's needed today. Unfortunately, a program actually doing it right is lighting in a bottle. Would have to leash the tards just right and be nigh impossible to remove.

 

[Idiotron]

The internet? Yes.
Social media and porn? No.

Personally, I would know a lot more, get scholarships early in life instead of later, if I had what I have today as a kid.
I would be able to do a lot more too.
So much knowledge at my fingertips, it's amazing how it changed everything.

The issue is that parents don't check what their kids even do online.
A lot of parents have this idea that it's like when they were growing up in front of the TV.
But TV, however bad it might be, is curated carefully.
It won't suddenly show your kid furry porn or get him in touch with a pedo who lives 30 minutes away.
Curating your child's internet consumption is a new part of the life of a parent, thems the breaks, it's 2025.

Just make social media users embarrassing in the eyes of your kids, it's really easy to do.
Teach them to use the internet productively.

 

[Super Malario]

No, they could end up on KiwiFarms

 

[Lieutenant Rasczak]

There used to be kid-friendly websites back in the day. But seems like it's just "TikTok" and other "social media" in Current Year. So now there's "Sephora kid" as a thing.

This is the Internet I grew up with. Unfortunately now a days, you have an intermingling of adults and kids on various websites which leads to places like discord having a massive pedophile problem. If tech companies genuinely cared about the problem, they'd create separate services where people are separated by age. Ideally kids shouldn't be on the Internet at all. Realistically speaking, creating separate websites for kids is more viable.

 

[Beautiful Border]

Based on my own childhood experience (completely unrestricted Internet use from a very young age), I'd do things very differently. I would give them limited Internet access until the age of 16 - no smartphone or social media, and I'd keep an eye on what they're looking at. I was 10 and looking at sites like 4chan and Encyclopedia Dramatica and my parents had no clue for years.

 

[DefinitelyNotMe]

as much as i want to say no Internet became a integral part of our society to the point were you cant function normally without it.
and that means we would have to learn how to interact with it as a kid to use it properly.
of course letting kids on the big "I" Internet is a bad idea with all the horrors that they can discover, or just be trapped in the endless loop of cheap entertainment rotting their brains out.and parent can monitor everything that the kid doing out there especially if they learn how to clear their history. so a smaller and more controlled version of the Internet would be a solution but i do not trust anyone to create it, since pretty much every kid communities had weirdos in it. From nickelodeon to roblox.

 

[Juan But Not Forgotten]

Children should stay away from the internet, they make it dumber.

 

[2mm and 99 others]

Imagine that in the age of videos and animations that can explain in an entertaining and visually comprehensible way everything you might have problem understanding in school, you are still dependent on written notes and such. These days, many teachers can be replaced by youtube, because their ways are incomprehensible, dated and boring, or too fast. And I wouldn't want to lose a knowledge base and source of valuable shared experiences. Also kids who live in the middle of fuck'o' nowhere have nothing else.
Taking internet away from kids would be like overturning a kiddie bathtub with baby in it. Those who lived without internet their entire kid years and then gain access to it out of nowhere, are more suspectible to fall for scam and manipulation like an absolute idiot, especially if they are socially unable IRL.

In the time I already had stable internet connection, things like YWNBAW (M) were still a given fact, and it's not the fault of the internet itself, that some governments (=mostly old farts and people nobody voted for) think otherwise now. It's not the fault of the internet, that kids aren often insufficiently educated and warned about the things one can find there.

If are kids addicted to brainrot, the question is, how come that for them, the IRL has seemingly nothing better and more interesting to offer.