Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

    • Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      Miss Loo wrote:

      You really are an idiot


      That idea was a bit stupid I agree. You can't "hack" your computer password in any sensible way. A better idea was what batgirl said the first time to just not be such a pussy generally and maybe your parents wouldn't be homosexual enough to put a password on your computer that you don't know.

      Anyway I'd like to point out that I live in GMT much like alex and it is fucking "tomorrow" once again... this is beyond failure.

    • Re: New shoutout thread.

      Actually I don't think my mum would be too angry about it. It's my dad that would be angry. I doubt you were stupid, but that was a long tim ago, internet safety wasn't really emphasised as much then. Not your fault.

      I think it's more to do with that I don't see myself as a child. When someone says child I think of ages 6-10. But whatever.

      You will be a good mum one day.

    • Re: New shoutout thread.

      hheartstrongg wrote:

      That's great! I'm glad that you having a computer yourself means everyone else should have had one at 13.

      Your mom must have trusted you a hell of a lot, to let you have your own computer. When I was 13 I could barely afford a ticket to the movies. For christmas, two of my cousins, 6 and 10, got brand new laptops. EACH. Who needs their own laptop at 6 or 10? or 13? You don't, go outside and play. When I was 11 I found out what masturbation was by going online and searching it. I also looked at penises and vaginas a lot. And not to mention the time I gave out my address and phone number. I think it's safe to say that giving a kid their own laptop so young is a stupid idea, for many reasons. A child 13 and under should only be on the computer with parental supervision, to be honest. Alex's mother is right in putting a password on, because who knows what he's up to? He's already mentioned how much trouble he'd be in if she found out he was on Teenhut, so that means he figured out a way of getting around her supervision. If he wanted, he could do much more.


      I don't really agree that children of 13 or under should have to be using the computer supervised, not all 13 year olds are irresponsible.

    • Re: New shoutout thread.

      I understand, although not angry, I think she would be unhappy about it. Not knowing isn't being stupid, but you made a mistake and you learned from it. Best that you learned from it.

      It's ok I understand. People have different meanings for different words.

      It sounds like that time has been very productive. I haven't thought about parenting much, and I don't plan to for a long time. Might aswell be young when I can.

    • Re: Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      Yes
      I don't see why any u13s would have any reason to be on the net for long periods of time anyway. All I did was research for school projects, play this stupid lemonade stand and other lame maths games and other than that I just went on MSN to talk to school friends and I had a MSN group called "Teen Talk in the Year 2004" and had like 40 members lol :p

      U13s should be supervised on the net, especially kids 10 and younger. For 13s imho parents don't need to sit there, but just be around and watch over every now and then. :)

    • Re: Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      Personally I like to spend a lot of time on the Internet. I spend a LOT of time on MSN talking to my friends and I spend a lot of time on here. Why? well I enjoy both greatly.

      Once again it really depends on the person. I think that we should be supervised, but as a person not as a number. When I am on the computer my parents will pop through every so often to check what I am doing. I have no problem with this. As long as privacy is given to an extent then it is ok. But if my parents were over supervising (going through my conversations and invading my privacy) then it would be a problem.

      I think a general rule should be that the computers/laptop stay in area of traffic in the house. IE. a side room with a glass door or a hallway or a busy room, not in the bedroom with closed doors.

    • Re: Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      Tbh as a whole I don't feel comfortable with anyone 8 or younger being on the internet regularly anyway. School stuff at that age doesn't need the net much, they can ring or see their friends at school and it would be a bad influence as they would get addicted and use it non-stop when they're older.

      I don't like the whole "parent sit there and watch child" thing, parents tend to ask "who's x? who's y?" etc.

    • Re: Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      As long as the child is mature, it shouldn't be much of a problem. I think 11 and under is a better age, because of all of the things on the internet that he/she might not be ready for. Even without going searching for inappropriate sites, they are bound to come up. Anything could on the internet, and it's something that has to be understood beforehand.

    • Re: Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      Alex wrote:

      I would say to check who they are talking to, but don't look at what is being said.


      Well seeing what's said could be way more important.

      ---------- Post added at 04:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------

      I think a parent has a right to see what's being said at any time, if you're like, 16 or younger.

    • Re: Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      I think it depends more on the maturity level of the child, rather than the age. If the child doesn't have enough common sense to understand the dangers of the Internet, the parent/guardian has good reason to supervise them.

      Parents also need to realise the Internet is not a black hole of doom, it will not eat away at their child's brain and turn them into psychotic killers. The parents should supervise the child when they believe it in necessary, but not restrict kids from using the Internet when it is such a productive and informative tool.

      I have been using the Internet ever since I was 12 years old. Yeah, I used to visit chat rooms, post on forums and play online games. But I knew if I downloaded a file there was always a risk of infecting the computer with a virus, and those "You're our 1000th visitor!" messages were complete nonsense. As I said, it really depends whether or not the child has an understanding of the Internet.
      [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Aannddyy ().

    • Re: Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      I think a parent would be very unwise to be letting their child loose on the Internet for the first time unsupervised, with a greater awareness of IT than they do. To put it simply, the real world has a door that a shop supervisor will be keeping an eye on, whilst the Internet has a useless little message asking if you're 18.
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    • Re: Should children 13 and under be supervised on the internet?

      I'm not going to give a big argument but basically give my own experience.

      When I was 13 I was very confused about my sexuality and if my parents has supervised my Internet usage I can guarentee I would have been too scared to explore who I was. I would have been to scared to search for articles on the internet about homosexuality, I wouldn't have gone into chat rooms (I was always sensible enough to never give personal details out) and talk to others in my position. I believe it would have taken me a lot longer to be comfortable with myself and my sexuality and at 18 now I wouldn't be comfortable as gay. The Internet was a very positive thing in my life. Obviously it's not for every child, for a lot even, however I believe my development and self-acceptance would have been deeply slowed.

      Generally, my opinion is that it depends on the maturity on the child but a parent must learn to trust their child because when that child turns 18 they need to have enough experience to be able to survive in adulthood.
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