We Need Censorship to Protect Children Online
One Source Cited This paper will elaborate the reasons why minors deserve legislative protection while using the internet, and how to implement this protection.
Most families agree that the custody, care, and nurture of the child resides first with the parent. On the other hand, the widespread availability of the Internet presents opportunities for minors to access materials through the World Wide Web in a manner that can frustrate parental supervision or control, for example, at the local public library(Morales). The protection of the physical and psychological well- being of minors by shielding them from materials that are harmful to them is a compelling interest to most parents.
To date, while the industry has developed innovative ways to help parents and educators restrict material that is harmful to minors through parental control protections and self-regulation, such efforts have not provided a national solution to the problem of minors accessing harmful material on the World Wide Web. Notwithstanding the existence of protections that limit the distribution over the World Wide Web of material that is harmful to minors, parents, educators, and industry must continue efforts to find ways to protect children from being exposed to harmful material found on the Internet.
Meanwhile, a prohibition on the distribution of material harmful to minors, combined with legitimate defenses, is currently the most effective and least restrictive means by which to satisfy the compelling interest of parents.
Such prohibition should include the following conduct: Whoever knowingly and with knowledge of the character of the material, in interstate or foreign commerce by means of the World Wide Web, makes any communication for commercial purposes that is available to any minor and that includes any material that is harmful to minors shall be fined and possibly imprisoned. Intentional repetition of this violation should accrue greater penalties.
This prohibition should not apply to carriers and other internet service providers, including:
(1) a telecommunications carrier engaged in the provision of a telecommunications service;
(2) a person engaged in the business of providing an Internet access service;
(3) a person engaged in the business of providing an Internet information location tool; or
(4) similarly engaged in the transmission, storage, retrieval, hosting, formatting, or translation (or any combination thereof) of a communication made by another person, without selection or alteration of the content of the communication.
Online predators, pornography, drug trafficking, piracy, and hate sites are just some of the dangers that a child can face on the internet. The article “The Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben states that parents should use spyware to monitor their children. Coben argues that parents should be able to know what is in their children’s lives. he believes that spyware can prevent children from being targeted by internet predators on social networking sites and even prevent children from being cyber bullied. I agree with Coben’s claim that parents should consider using spyware as a protection for their teens online. There are many possible dangers facing children on the internet and it is essential that parents install spyware.
using the bible it will not tell you what is the correct thing to do.
The action of censoring means to examine a material in order to find and delete any objectionable content. This act has been used by many different organizations, both governmental and religious, to help push certain ideologies upon the public. It has been one of the foundations of society since ancient times, turning censoring and its institutional use as a normal facet of life. Although, in some situations, censorship by both governmental and religious institutions, can be an acceptable way to protect the public; but in most situations, it is nothing more than manipulation by a deceitful elite trying to keep their ideologies in power.
Since the internet has been available in schools and libraries in this country, there has been a debate about what should be accessible to users, especially minors. The amount of information disseminated on the world wide web is vast, with some sources valuable for scholarly and personal research and entertainment, and some sources that contain material that is objectionable to some (ie. pornography, gambling, hate groups sites, violent materials). Some information potentially accessible on the internet such as child pornography and obscenity is strictly illegal and is not protected under the First Amendment. Some information available on the internet that may be valuable to some is at the same time perceived to be worthless or potentially harmful to some. For libraries serving the public, there has been controversy on the issue of providing the internet, free of censorship or filtering, to users. While some librarians and their professional associations align with ideals of free and unfiltered access to all information provided by the internet, some feel that filtering internet content to exclude possibly objectionable materials is a reasonable measure to prevent potential harm to minors.
Especially considering America’s wide access to information through technology, the attempt to restrict “inappropriate” information from children is an infeasible and somewhat malicious task. First of all, children are not “protected” when unable to read books that contain adult material. Kids need to be exposed to things like sex and violence because if they are unfamiliar with these “adult” topics, when they come upon them in the uncensored, real world, their reactions will be unpredictable. Censoring reading material about murder, for example, may seem like a good solution to preventing violence among the future adult generation. But if a child did not understand the concept of taking another per...
If the mother is unable to take care of an unplanned child either through mental impairment or where it is simply impossible to raise a child without family support and finance which is not available.
You just finished a day's work, have arrived home, unlocked the door, step inside, and just as you are about to yell, "anyone home," you hear hooting and hollering coming from the family room. As you enter the room you see your children and their friends glued to the computer screen, which is covered with explicit images not intended for the eyes of children. According to an article written by P.J.Huffstutter, "Yahoo, MSN Criticized for Offering Easy Access to Pornography," (C1) these two large Internet companies, have made it possible for everyone of all ages to access these adult communities. They require no proof of age, making it far too easy for under-age children to freely view the pornographic pictures and videos of their choice While adults may find leaving a site easy if they are uncomfortable, trying to restrict children from accessing these sites is a different issue. To watch your kids every moment is unrealistic and would not please anyone. According to Net Nanny, "Kids need to learn Internet safety practices and differentiate between right and wrong, because their parents won't always be there." There must be some sort of compromise. We, being responsible adults, need to take charge of what our children are doing when online, since little effort is required to gain entry to pornography sites. I used Microsoft's MSN search facility to look for "porn," and the only warning I received was that I had entered a search term that was likely to return adult content. While that may be more warning than in the past, it still isn't enough to keep children away. Then I was directed to a related link entitled NightSurf, and within two minutes I was presented with images of nudity...
“Children start using the internet at the average age of three and most to spend twice as much time online as their parents” (Ward, 2013). Through the information age, the internet has become an invaluable tool. We have information at our fingertips in record time, but not everything on the internet is appropriate for everyone to see. Pornography, hate speech, and writings meant to incite violence are making their way to children’s computer screens every day. Scary, but we can change this. Internet filters can change this. Personal computer filters exist today and will help prevent children from accessing inappropriate material, but children also use the internet away from home. Libraries, schools, and community centers all offer internet services to children, but are they safe using these resources? The federal government should require by law that all public or government-funded computers have filters to block the access to material deemed inappropriate or objectionable for children. This would help protect children from exposure to inappropriate materials outside of their home.
McCarthy, M. (2005). THE CONTINUING SAGA OF INTERNET CENSORSHIP: THE CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ACT. Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, (2), 83-101.
The internet is a wonderful learning tool. Of course, like any good thing, the Internet comes with its ups and downs. There are several things that aren’t suitable for any child on the internet, such as pornography, violent material, adult chat rooms, and racist or hateful sites, there are even websites about cheating in schools.
Minors are at risk in public places and online when with groups of people. Parents and other adults are responsible for keeping them safe from illegal and troublesome content on the internet. Their risks include harassment, bullying, sexual solicitation and exposure to illegal materials. Sexting, or sending sexual photos or messages puts the exposed minor at risk, as well as the person who receives the picture/message. They seem to be unaware of the personal and legal consequences involved in this behavior. Parents need to know who children are talking to and what they are posting online, limit internet usage, have clear expectations, and have a plan for safety.
Anyone under that age could only access a very strict, monitored, and knowledgeable substitute, this is what will be governed by our officials. It would be a great way to nationally monitor and update our education system to a higher global standard. China has a firewall that blocks many of the above problems involving adult content, but upset thousand as the feeling of privacy was ignored. The internet’s role in increasing freedom and of the ways in which its significance in terms of political freedoms has been increasingly hitched to corporate interest and the dominance of certain Internet platforms such as Facebook and Twitter (Joyce, 2015). I think this could be a great base for the creation of a network developed with our juvenile’s mental and physical health. When at the age of eighteen a digital key could let them access the full internet, good or
Internet is a powerful tool that allows users to collaborate and interact with others all over the world conveniently and relatively safely. It has allowed education and trade to be accessed easily and quickly, but all these benefits do not come without very taxing costs. This is especially true when dealing with the likes of the Internet. Countries in the European Union and Asia have realized this and have taken action against the threat of net neutrality to protect their citizens, even at the cost of online privacy. Internet censorship is required to protect us from our opinions and vices. Every country should adopt Internet censorship and regulation since it improves society by reducing pornography, racism/prejudice, and online identity theft.
The Internet has affected our lives in a considerable way. We use the internet in order to connect with society, look up information for work and educational purposes, shop, handle daily errands such as paying bills and so on. Children are not excluded from this, in fact they are capable of using internet more effectively than adults. The reason for this being that chıldren are able to learn to use new technology faster than theır adult counterparts. It is wıdely accepted that having internet connection can be very useful for children, teachers and children consider internet as a powerful tool to access to academic sources to research for theır classes and homework (Ofcome, 2007). Also having the internet is perceived as an good opportunity for children to meet new people and keep up with their friends. This is true if children use internet in a proper way. However, there is a possibility that they can encounter inappropriate materials even while searching for educational information or trying to relax with games. Violent scenes and uncensored sexual material cause serious damage for childhood development, as they can cause children to be aggressive and lonely adults. The first solution for protecting children from these harms is internet blocking and filtering programs. Although they come to forefront by means of their easy usage properties, most of the time filtering programs cannot provide an overall coverage from the internet’s harm. Therefore, parents should have involved in this process by monitoring and helping their children. Moreover media lessons which inform students about the internet’s harm can be very helpful for children.
It used to be almost impossible for children to get pornography. Comer stores would place adult magazines such as playboy on the top rack behind all the other magazines so that only the title was visible and it was out of reach of children. Movie stores would have separate rooms at the front of the store for their porn videos; this way they could monitor who went into the room. In today's technologically advanced society, pornographic magazines and videos are becoming extinct. Computer users can easily search for sex sites, with millions and millions or results. All it talks is the click of the mouse and children can visit any site they want. There is know way for Internet sites to monitor who is on there site, if you click the button that says your over 18 they let you in, so a 15 year old can easily get on to the site. Pornographic websites also place other moral and social problems not just on underage teenagers but on adults as well.