Talking Out Loud with ASB

Misplaced Social Commentary

I'm trying to decide whether this title is more reflective of this post in particular, or the subject matter itself... 

Over the years, while participating in various technology forums, mailing lists and newsgroups, I have observed a frequent and disturbing phenomenon.  It generally occurs when someone makes a request for information similar to the following:

Good morning, I'd like to get some recommendations on the best products for monitoring Internet Access (or computer usage) for young children...

That's all it takes, and you'll invariably have one or three people who feel the need to point out their disdain for parents that resort to using technology instead of giving their children attention, or who believe that none of this would even be necessary if people would be better parents.

Huh?!?   What does one have to do with the other?  Since when is seeking a technology *aid* actually a secret request to abdicate all parental responsibilities?

Interestingly enough, to avoid the controversy all one needs to do is simply suggest that ones employer is looking for a similar solution for their office.  So, why it is perceived okay to implement restrictive technology in a workplace that is comprised primarily of adults, who should be able to regulate themselves appropriately, but it's considered parental negligence to want to implement technology of the same nature in a home?

The mere suggestion that true parenting means that you must stalk your children 24x7, is ludicrous.  I hope that those offering such stellar advice can manage to hire a sufficient number of stunt doubles necessary to pull of this amazing feat.   Personally, I have hard enough time keeping up with my 3 children when they're anywhere in the house -- forget adding technology into the mix.

One of the best responses I saw today was:

Parenting AND software are needed in this day and age.  Just look at the SPAM you get.  No amount of parenting is going to prevent that.  Also, mistyped URLs lead to unknown and often unexpected places.

Minimizing the problems caused by typos are definitely one of the major benefits of a  content filtering solution.  Good parenting doesn't stop fat-fingering.  (I could even argue that my wife has made more typos in this regard than my daughter, but that would be unsafe for me to do publicly...)

In my own household, I have thus far avoided the need to perform any content filtering, although other security measures are in place to mitigate any risks from viruses, phishing, etc.  Still, every now and then, I have taken the opportunity to remind my firstborn (who will soon head into teenager land) that it won't take me much effort to put these things into place, if needed.  She's been using the computer since she was 3 years old, and I've never had an issue with her.  And I probably won't...

However, her personality is less risky than that of her youngest sibling, and I'm almost positive that I'm going to need to put more technology to work with regards to my home network before he hits 10 years of age...  

Clearly, I must be slipping in my parental skills...

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