I struggle with the idea of filtering vs teaching. I believe we filter way to much and educate way too little. I’ll leave the rest of that thought for another post. I found this article to be very interesting. The article, quoted below, talks about how we are overdoing the “Internet is a dangerous place” talks.

“One of the biggest surprises in making this film was the discovery that the threat of online predators is misunderstood and overblown. The data shows that giving out personal information over the Internet makes absolutely no difference when it comes to a child’s vulnerability to predation.” (That one blew my mind, because every single Internet-safety Web site and pamphlet hammers repeatedly on this point: never, ever give out your personal information online.)

Read the entire NYTimes article

Any thoughts or reactions?

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2 Responses to “How should we protect our kids?”

  1.   Josh Says:

    While Pogue has a point and a great analogy with the plane crash, I don’t think that means that Internet Safety discussions should be any more limited in schools. I do think there needs to be honest dialogue with students and parents saying while there is a threat of this happening to their children, it cannot be deemed “common.”

  2.   billgx Says:

    This is the first time I have heard this point of view on this subject. Thanks for sharing! I will now be able to spend some time thinking on this subject from another perspective.

    Bill Gx

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