IS INTERNET BAD FOR CHILDREN ?

A few days back I was watching a debate on TV.The subject under discussion was 'Internet and Children'. Most of the parents had expressed similar views that Internet is bad for children. Some of them did agree that nowadays the use of internet is becoming inevitable if you want to keep pace with the rest of the world. However, they too were afraid that it was not advisable to allow children to have access to the internet. Their argument was that it was not possible for them to keep a constant vigil on children to ensure that they do not watch ADULT SITES on internet.

To a greater extent these parents are right because the most notorious aspect of the Internet is Porn-sites and even if the child has no idea of such sites, it is not guaranteed that he/she will not see such site. The main reason is that sometimes such sites open automatically as pop-ups and then the child starts viewing such sites out of curiosity. There are some tools available in market to restrict your child from access to such sites but some smarter kids and professionals (who want others to watch such stuff) find out the solution.

It is my observation that most of the Cyber Cafe visitors are teenagers and they watch such stuff and chat with people of opposite sex. They get thrill out of that and this habit in the long run becomes an addiction. There are money-hungry people who will never allow clean access to internet because that does not pour dimes in their bag. Recently a survey had revealed that the pornographic sites have maximum traffic and the top Adsense earner has a porn-site.

I feel that children should not be allowed to have free access to internet until the parents are sure that they have become mature enough to understand the difference between the'GOOD' and the 'BAD'.