[Technology] Any NSC parents who think their youngsters are on line too much. Please watch

[Questions]

If I get a kiddo it wont touch a computer until it is at least 12, not a phone until 15 and not a smartphone until it moves out of my shed/mansion/castle.

Just hours into first using Internet back in 1999 I was dead certain we would all be addicted to screens and feared when the day would come when we could get online connection to laptops (or smartphones, as it rather turned out) anywhere. First thing I would do if I became a world dictator would be to turn off the Internet and destroy all infrastructure that supports it.

You’re a crazy Luddite…

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've just discovered TikTok. Admittedly I am far too old for its target audience, but it is a completely weird experience.

 

[Swansman]

Interesting one - I would say I was online very young. We had a pretty tech savvy family so probably mid-90s we were on 28k dialup and I was probably about 10. Definitely had many benefits in my career and overall learning, but the world is very different now. I imagine if social media was around as it is today, back then my experience could have been very different.

I got my Internet in 99 (broadband immediatly) when I was 10 so I came late to the party but it was definitely very different from now. Snowden in his book got some very interesting thoughts on why the Internet was quite good back then compared to the monstrosity it is now.

You’re a crazy Luddite…

Naw thank you, you are making me blush

 

[beorhthelm]

I got my Internet in 99 (broadband immediatly) when I was 10 so I came late to the party but it was definitely very different from now. Snowden in his book got some very interesting thoughts on why the Internet was quite good back then compared to the monstrosity it is now.

it (or the www) is not a monstrosity. people are. the social media platforms and wider www forums simply allow people to express their views and thoughts without censorship. beyond the big bad wolf of facebook and twitter, there are hundreds of thousands of forums where people can indulge in group think that can become negative and toxic.

meanwhile there is a wealth of information and resources for learning, children will soak up knowledge like a sponge given open access to this. need to seperate being online from indulging in toxic cesspits, they are not the same thing.

 

[Swansman]

it (or the www) is not a monstrosity. people are. the social media platforms and wider www forums simply allow people to express their views and thoughts without censorship. beyond the big bad wolf of facebook and twitter, there are hundreds of thousands of forums where people can indulge in group think that can become negative and toxic.

meanwhile there is a wealth of information and resources for learning, children will soak up knowledge like a sponge given open access to this. need to seperate being online from indulging in toxic cesspits, they are not the same thing.

It is a monstrosity, it brings out the worst in people. The only way to separate being online from indulging in toxic cesspits is the same way as owning a gun and murdering people are separated: ban the shit.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I understand that which is why I need to properly brainwash Mr or Ms Kiddo into a raging hatred of modern society before the temptations makes Kiddo too difficult to stop.

This scenario would almost certainly need to involve a Mrs or Mr Swansman. Given your views on this subject and others, getting them to come around to your way of thinking might be a bit of an issue...

 

[beorhthelm]

It is a monstrosity, it brings out the worst in people. The only way to separate being online from indulging in toxic cesspits is the same way as owning a gun and murdering people are separated: ban the shit.

really, ban the internet and www, because theres some nasty people and nasty views? that would meaning baning this forum, so you could start with a self-ban if you are serious.

 

[BN41Albion]

If I get a kiddo it wont touch a computer until it is at least 12, not a phone until 15 and not a smartphone until it moves out of my shed/mansion/castle.

Haha, good luck with that. Love it when people without kids say 'if/when I have kids, they'll never/I'll never let them...' etc

 

[Insel affe]

It is a monstrosity, it brings out the worst in people. The only way to separate being online from indulging in toxic cesspits is the same way as owning a gun and murdering people are separated: ban the shit.

Utterly ridiculous comparison, the internet or guns are not the problem…

Humans are, for a variety of reasons.

The internet can be and is an amazing thing, it helped my daughter during lockdown with schooling, there are amazing facts and things to learn all at a touch or swipe.

Let’s face it where else would I be able to read the ramblings of a Swedish narcissist, who doesn’t even support our team (just the manager) offering pearls of wisdom on an English football team’s message board, on how we should support, and react to our players and manager according to Earl Swansman…..

 

[Swansman]

really, ban the internet and www, because theres some nasty people and nasty views? that would meaning baning this forum, so you could start with a self-ban if you are serious.

The nasty people and the nasty views are just a very small part of the problem. Instagram, the leading platform for youngsters I believe (dont really use it myself as it is fairly useless without a smartphone) makes people constantly compare themselves with others, which is not healthy. All the advertising making people feel like what they have is never good enough. Addiction to computer games or TV series is very common. The dehumanising and objectifying meat market of Tinder. The list goes on.

 

[Swansman]

Utterly ridiculous comparison, the internet or guns are not the problem…

Humans are, for a variety of reasons.

The internet can be and is an amazing thing, it helped my daughter during lockdown with schooling, there are amazing facts and things to learn all at a touch or swipe.

Let’s face it where else would I be able to read the ramblings of a Swedish narcissist, who doesn’t even support our team (just the manager) offering pearls of wisdom on an English football team’s message board, on how we should support, and react to our players and manager according to Earl Swansman…..

Internet, guns, heroin and so forth might not be the problem but if the choice is to get rid of these things or to get rid of humanity, the choice has usually been to get rid of the things rather than the humans and the same thing should be done about the Internet. Never going to happen obviously.

 

[Bold Seagull]

If I get a kiddo it wont touch a computer until it is at least 12, not a phone until 15 and not a smartphone until it moves out of my shed/mansion/castle.

Just hours into first using Internet back in 1999 I was dead certain we would all be addicted to screens and feared when the day would come when we could get online connection to laptops (or smartphones, as it rather turned out) anywhere. First thing I would do if I became a world dictator would be to turn off the Internet and destroy all infrastructure that supports it.

And then there was the kid that committed suicide because all his mates took the piss out of him because he didn’t have a phone, couldn’t play on Xbox or PlayStation or discuss all the latest stuff they were all watching. Why 12? Why 15? What’s the magic age? Unfortunately I’m not sure a prohibition of technology is going to work, it’s what you’re doing on it that matters.

 

[Brighton & Love]

No need to worry. Facebook have found a solution to making life safer for everyone:

 

[hart's shirt]

The answer to misuse is not disuse.

It's right use.

 

[Swansman]

The answer to misuse is not disuse.

It's right use.

And how do you get billions of people to use it the "right way" rather than the way the tech giants wants it to be used? They deliberately make people addicted to destructive behaviours, for most its not easy to just "opt out".

 

[sydney]

If I get a kiddo it wont touch a computer until it is at least 12, not a phone until 15 and not a smartphone until it moves out of my shed/mansion/castle.

Just hours into first using Internet back in 1999 I was dead certain we would all be addicted to screens and feared when the day would come when we could get online connection to laptops (or smartphones, as it rather turned out) anywhere. First thing I would do if I became a world dictator would be to turn off the Internet and destroy all infrastructure that supports it.

are you on a severe skunk downer ...?

 

[Brighton & Love]

The answer to misuse is not disuse.

It's right use.

Disagree.

The answer is Nick Clegg.

 

[Hiney]

If I get a kiddo it wont touch a computer until it is at least 12, not a phone until 15 and not a smartphone until it moves out of my shed/mansion/castle.

Just hours into first using Internet back in 1999 I was dead certain we would all be addicted to screens and feared when the day would come when we could get online connection to laptops (or smartphones, as it rather turned out) anywhere. First thing I would do if I became a world dictator would be to turn off the Internet and destroy all infrastructure that supports it.

Based on your 11k+ posts, I'd say the idea of you becoming a parent is an absolutely horrific prospect.

 

[Cotton Socks]

If I get a kiddo it wont touch a computer until it is at least 12, not a phone until 15 and not a smartphone until it moves out of my shed/mansion/castle.

Just hours into first using Internet back in 1999 I was dead certain we would all be addicted to screens and feared when the day would come when we could get online connection to laptops (or smartphones, as it rather turned out) anywhere. First thing I would do if I became a world dictator would be to turn off the Internet and destroy all infrastructure that supports it.

I get the sentiment, but you can't turn back time! Regarding kids..... I don't know about Sweden, but here in England we've been forced into handing over our PC's or other internet capable devices so they can do school work.
My youngest junior was starting to get the mickey taken out of him in year 8 (age approx 12) as he didn't have a smartphone. His was calls and texts only. I have been rather annoyed on the occasions that teachers have told them to take pictures of the whiteboard for homework, and even more annoyed that they have actually got them to do maths quizzes on their phones in school time (especially as he didn't have a smartphone!).
I consider myself quite tech savvy & when my eldest junior got a virus on his laptop that threatened him with the police if he didn't pay up, I removed it, after it took him a month to tell me. I also made it very clear that I can see everything he's been looking at no matter how much he deletes his cache (he hadn't been looking at anything shady). Youngest junior knows this as well but the most important thing I've always taught them both is not to believe everything they see on the net. Whether that be Wikipedia or social networks. Instagram has told youngest junior a lot about BHA that is simply crap, I tell him I'll look here!
Education is the most important thing to stop kids getting caught up in the toxic side of social media. I had some **** on Xbox doing a DOS attack on my broadband as youngest junior rightly called him out as being a hacker, he will now just leave the game. You can't shut the door after the horse has bolted, so education is the only way forward.
Besides kids won't be able to do their homework properly without Google!

 

[BadFish]

The nasty people and the nasty views are just a very small part of the problem. Instagram, the leading platform for youngsters I believe (dont really use it myself as it is fairly useless without a smartphone) makes people constantly compare themselves with others, which is not healthy. All the advertising making people feel like what they have is never good enough. Addiction to computer games or TV series is very common. The dehumanising and objectifying meat market of Tinder. The list goes on.

And your list will go on, if that is what you are choosing to focus on.

Banning the internet will also take away the good stuff that it does, the stuff that you seem to be ignoring in your analysis.

I am not sure a blanket ban is the way forward here. My experiences with living with three teenagers suggests that the 'internet/smart phone bad!' and 'smartphone is the cause of all the problems in the world' narrative has also lost any credibility with the youth.

My feeling is that the answer to the problems faced by our youth is far more nuanced and needs some smart thinking and smart talking between the power brokers in the situation. Big tech companies need to take some responsibility, parents need to be open to talk to their kids and users need to learn to not behave like such dicks online.

We don't just ban the dangerous car, we teach people how to drive them safely. (no I am not suggesting you need a license to go online).