The Internet: A New Stranger

The Internet has been described as an information superhighway which will create one global village, drawing people closer and providing them with a wealth of information. This seductive reasoning sounds good at first hearing: for example, we no longer have to step out of our homes to look up information at the library, it's at our fingertips in our very own homes. We can converse with people all over the globe, learning more about other cultures. Because they are virtually faceless and nameless, our differences have less of a chance of getting in the way of our relationships - we can accept people for their "essence," their "virtual" reality.

As parents, we may also be seduced on behalf of our children. The idea that they can get help with homework over the Net, look up information for research papers without ever leaving home, even become "pen pals" with someone in Sweden, or Russia, or Alaska - all of these are conceptually pleasant. The reality, as we're discovering however, is not necessarily so agreeable. In truth, the Internet appears to have connected our children with strangers who - if we were to see them on a street corner - would cause us to cross to the other side. Yet we've virtually pulled up our lawn chairs, opened the gates between our homes and those of our unknown neighbors, and allowed our children to wander unsupervised into the backyard next door - the only problem is that we have no idea who lives there. Mary Pipher, PhD, in her book, The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families, states that we live in houses without walls. Our children and teens are exposed to information which they may not be developmentally capable of handling, and to people whose sole intent may be to harm them. Yet we freely allow them access without considering the ramifications of our actions. She says that "the speed of (technological) change is as dizzying as our lack of reflection on its consequences." Many precedents, however, have been set for the planning which must accompany change - the problem is that we are failing to heed those precedents. One powerful example comes to mind. Before the Seneca tribe made changes the elders of the community would ask how those changes would affect the next seven generations. Dr. Pipher points out that we're not even asking how the changes are affecting our current generation.

So what's a parent to do? The Internet may be likened to the magazine stands our children pass each day on the streets of New York - while many newsworthy and educational magazines are displayed, so too are the pornographic ones flagrantly flaunted for our children's impressionable minds to absorb. Can we ignore the fact that our children see these? Can we ask every newsstand to cover them up? Can we keep our children in our homes so that they are never exposed? Doubtful. We must, therefore, seek to educate ourselves and our children about the dangers, we must promote open communication, we must supervise our children appropriately