Dangers of the Internet

Along with risks such as identity theft and computer fraud, there are risks to very

naпve and innocent children of America. The Supreme court in 1997 stated “the content

on the internet is as diverse as human thought.” As it should be since all of the information

out there is derived from human thoughts and ideas. Not all human thoughts are meant for

the eyes and ears on children though. “One in five children using computer chat rooms

has been approached over the internet by pedophiles.” states Nora Cleeve of the Sunday

Post. There are millions and millions of pornographic web sites out there. Those are not

the only dangerous ones to our youth though. Sites dedicated to alcohol, alternative

lifestyles, anarchy, chat, criminal skills (sites promoting illegal activities), cults, drug use,

gambling, hate/ discrimination and obscenity poison minds of children.

What is to be done then? Well Lorraine Best founder of Surf on the Safeside says,

“there has to be supervision….” It is up to the parent to decide where this supervision

comes from. Whether it is directly through mommy and daddy looking over the shoulder

or by one of the many internet filters today.

The government has left it in the hands of parent to this point with their ruling in

June of this year. When the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which would fine

$50,000 anyone who made pornography easily available to minors, came before the

Supreme Court, they decided 5 to 4 against it. They feared that it would infringe upon the

first amendment rights. The COPA commission was formed in 1988 and researched such

areas as age verification, filtering / blocking, and labeling and rating systems. The final

report was published in October 2000 and can be accessed at

www.copacommission.com.The courts felt that these provided enough protection. Even if

the act did get passed, “40 % of porn sites are outside the U.S and would not fall under the laws” (Augusta Chronicle, Augusta, Alaska).

Back to direct intervention or filtering and blocking. There are many different

internet filters and blockers out there today. From ones that come pre installed like

content advisor in Internet Explorer to software you can purchase and install on your

computer to server based software that your computer surfs the web through. The

National Coalition Against Censorship (www.ncac.org) did some research on some of the

better