Most parents wouldn't hand their child a table saw, walk away and let them learn how to use it by chance.
How many never think twice, however, about letting their children navigate their way through the Internet with little to no supervision on their part? While the potential for physical injury might be greater with the razor-sharp woodworking tool, misuse of the Internet can result in wounds to a child's psyche that may be even more devastating and long term.
Tuesday marked International Safer Internet Day and the promotion of the positive use of that technology among children and youth. It's not something that can be left to chance, however, and parents hold the ultimate responsibility when it comes down to their child's use - or misuse - of the Internet. While the innocence of youth might not see the dangers for what they are, the potential for harm is very real.
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) units combine the efforts of RCMP and municipal police departments across the province. Those officers are kept much too busy. Last year alone ICE investigated more than 400 new cases of Internet-related child exploitation and laid 200 charges against 71 people province-wide.
The dangers of the Internet don't end there. Who knows how many young lives have already been ruined after teens posted inappropriate photos of themselves online - of a sexual nature or otherwise? What might have seemed like "harmless fun" between friends at the time takes on a whole new dimension when it's shared by potentially millions. And then there's online bullying, several incidents of which have made headlines after the depressed victim took their own life.
Robin Bright, a researcher with the University of Lethbridge, has been looking into cyber bullying for a number of years. She found that 84 per cent of parents surveyed thought their children would confide in them about being cyber bullied. Yet in reality, only eight per cent of kids actually speak to an adult about the issue. Among their fears in sharing that critical information were that mom or dad might take away their Internet or cellphone privileges. Bright says kids under the age of 10 do not have sufficient critical thinking skills to surf the Net alone, yet one study showed that 25 per cent of kids in Grades 4-6 were completely unsupervised online.
The theme for this year's Safer Internet Day was "connecting generations and educating each other," with lots of tips provided by various agencies on how parents could become better acquainted with the Internet and the various tools their kids use. It has to go beyond that, however. While some of the technology available these days may be outside the "comfort zone" of some parents, they need to make sure their children realize the potential impact of their actions while online. They also need to inform their children they will monitor their emails, texts and Facebook postings randomly to make sure nothing inappropriate is being communicated - and actually follow through. Yes, some of those teens might scream about invasions of privacy and being treated "like children," but the momentary discomfort parents might feel about being the "bad guy" pales with the devastation they'd feel if their child became the next online victim.