My nine-year-old has been introduced to the opium that the Internet is. Her American friend, who moved to our pastoral town a few weeks ago, showed her some cool Web sites with games and tokens and things. To the tune of $59.95 a year, she could even become a member.
Not.
So her persistent friend showed her another Web site, which is free. My argument wilted like a daisy in the July sun.
Okay, here's one for you. You can't because I use my computer to feed you. You like to eat, right?
Well, what about your laptop that you use when you travel? my daughter quipped.
Oh, you mean the dinosaur that barely boots up?
Uh huh.
MySpace has no space in my daughter's life. Yet. But I know kids, including my niece who lives in Virginia, who is rapidly being exposed to the Internet through school.
Worried about cyberbullying? You should be.
According to educator and digital expert Dr. Uma Gupta, "parents [need] to take an active role in monitoring the activities of their child on the Internet and to be prepared to take action on their own if their child is being cyber-bullied." Freedom of speech is pretty big in the United States, as well it should be since it is constitutionally protected after all. The lines blur quickly when it comes to a child's welfare. Is it okay to post mean things about someone for everyone to see? When is it slander?
I spent a good ten hours crafting a new chapter for a book I'm hoping to sell (soon). It discusses our compulsions, our poor relationship to time, and our cyberinsanity. I was hoping my kids would be spared.
It looks as though I was dead wrong.