Parents, outlandish statements, and the web.

[MrCoffee]

Ok,

I ran into an article this morning while surfing around at work.

http://www.adequacy.org/stories/2001...2056.2147.html

I don't know if it is a spoof or not. As a parent I found it very disturbing, mostly because I fear some parents might take it as fact ir seriously.

Check it out, I am interested in what you all think.

*edit: I just realized that this has been around for a while, and by searching the authors name, I came up with a lot of hits. While it is poked fun at by a lot of people, the orginal post was intended to be serious. (GASP!).

[MrLinus]

It is a spoof, a bit old (2001) and I know it's been discussed here a few times (but can't seem to find the threads).

It does present the knee-jerk reaction that some parents took about their kids in the early 2000s. Whether that is still the case or not, I don't know.

[fourdc]

I have 2 teenagers. Computers and the internet have given me a better relationship with them than I had with my parents.

I snoop on my kids. I look at logs, I look at the browser cache. For most stuff I won't mention anything. When my daughters computer kept getting "infected" I traced her surfing habits and showed where she shouldn't be going. Bottom line, I know their interests and am prepared to discuss anything they care to bring up.

My parents did not have a clue of what I was into.

Buying your kid a computer and not staying aprised of their activities, buying full cable or dish and not blocking the adult channels, buying your kid a firearm, getting your kid the fastest sportscar on the block ... all I can say is there are some reckless parents out there.

[nihil]

Hmmmm,

The original article was certainly a spoof...............it was intended to be taken seriously, as in seriously funny. What gives it away is that the writer displays far too much knowledge to come out with such outrageous statements

ddddc as I see it, it is a question of generations and background............ I would imagine that your parents didn't know anything about computers or the embryonic internet as it was then?

The really "dangerous internet" has only come about in the last 10 years or so. Hell, before then my AV upgrades came by snail mail, once a month, on 3.5" floppies

From what I see around me today, the real issue is one of an apparent breakdown in parenting skills............. buy them this, buy them that, then ignore them.

I would also say that the average parent of teenagers these days still knows little or nothing about computers or the internet. If you do the math there weren't computers in schools in their day, and the computer exposure they might have experienced at work would have been with 5250 dumb terminals or the like.

"Logs", "browser cache", "parental controls", "warez", "P2P".............. most would not have the faintest idea what you were talking about............. I know, there is many a time that I have watched their eyes glaze over

[fourdc]

Nihil,

In 1970 it wasn't the internet. It was drugs, booze and a lot of other risky behaviors.

Because I never got brought home by the police, I was a good lad.

Parenting skills and effort have gone down considerably.

[nihil]

Hmmmm........

The Police come and collect you............... then they take you home........ I guess they were about as difficult to avoid as the Jesuit priests who taught me..............

OK the cops were cool, like I would play for their teams as a ringer........... when I got to shoot for Great Britain, I couldn't get away with that

Done it for a "certain respected US military unit in London" though

I had lots of problems with "authority figures" and "role models" when I was a kid............. they all wanted you to follow them?

I won't even dicuss Police Section House Parties..................................

[Moira]

I have 2 teenagers. Computers and the internet have given me a better relationship with them than I had with my parents.

I snoop on my kids. I look at logs, I look at the browser cache. For most stuff I won't mention anything. When my daughters computer kept getting "infected" I traced her surfing habits and showed where she shouldn't be going. Bottom line, I know their interests and am prepared to discuss anything they care to bring up.

My parents did not have a clue of what I was into.

Buying your kid a computer and not staying aprised of their activities, buying full cable or dish and not blocking the adult channels, buying your kid a firearm, getting your kid the fastest sportscar on the block ... all I can say is there are some reckless parents out there.

What a breath of fresh air to read something like this! That's exactly the line I took with my 4 kids and so many other parents haven't a clue what their children are up to. I wouldn't be bothered with Emily's msn conversations, I never mentioned anything I discovered they were doing if it was basically harmless, I encouraged them to experiment with what the computer could do .... but I always kept the upper hand and knew exactly what they were doing. It's surprising how often I was criticised for this.

I happily disinfected their PC when one of them managed to get CWS installed or that "look who's blocked you" msn thing ..... it's all in the name of progress. I find that parents now seem to either ban their kids from doing anything (which hampers their learning), or else they give them free reign and then wonder why the PC becomes uselesss with spyware or their children get into trouble or are exposed to the more evil side of the net.

Really my own interest in computers began when we first got the internet and I realised I had better learn fast how to keep one step ahead all the time.

[e><ius]

6. Does your son use Quake?

Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. It is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school.

Quake the game????? gota be kidding me. Virtual reality (video game), training grounds (learning how to shoot real guns), discuss hacking (while u are spectating for 1min), and anti-social tendencies (addictive sprite animated 3D game).

OMG. What a dumbass!

[nihil]

The article was a spoof (joke).............. sort of making fun of Bible Belt rednecks?

[rcgreen]

making fun of Bible Belt rednecks?

Now, I'm a bobble belt rednick, and even I knew it was a spoof.
Thing is, I thought it was making fun of liberal urban sophisticates,
the sort of people who could afford dsl back in 2001. When kids in my
neighborhood wanna get into trouble they steal riding lawnmowers
and race them up and down the streets.