The Internet - Friend or Foe?

The internet is an amazing tool but it is a very scary place too.

As a parent, one of the hardest things is thinking about the fact that I will not always be able to protect my children.

I know the time will come when my children will want their own computer, will not want me hanging around them when they are on the net, will have secret facebook accounts etc....

That time scares the hell out of me!

We don't know who our children are chatting to, have become friends with, sharing photos and personal information with over the internet.
There is only so much you can without invading on their personal space and growth.

We (a general we) are becoming much more aware about predators and how they groom our children, we are much more vigilant about talking to our children and informing them about the nasties that could be on the other end of the internet chat.

While we are moving forward in this aspect, another one I only see getting worse.


I remember being back in school and the bullying that would go on. But for the most part, what happened at school stayed at school.
Now days it is so very different. Bullying happens 24 hours a day, there is no escape for some children.
It's easy to say keep them off the net or take their phone away but that might do more harm then good.
For many children (and adults) technology has become apart of their identity, it helps to define them.



The extent and intensity that bully happens, especially on social media sites, is so utterly frightening.
And it's not just children or teenagers, it's adults too.

Even as an adult I have been a victim of online bullying. If adults do not know how to deal with issues in a mature way then how can we expect children to?

It is easy to write a nasty facebook comment, de-friend someone or in worse cases start a facebook page about them then it is to deal with conflict directly and get to the bottom of whatever issue there is.


Maybe it's time for schools to go back to basics and teach manners and conflict resolution.

We bombard our children with so much information, that the basics of human interaction, respect and socially acceptable behaviours has become somewhat warped.


Legislation will always be chasing it's tail when it comes to trying to keep up with technology, so we cannot rely on punishment and consequence. We need to work out how to stop this from happening, we need to make this not ok for people to do.