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Protecting children or child censorship?

"Harmful to children", where did this phrase come from?
Odds are it was originated by an adult (18 and over).
Child censorship is an issue we shouldn't ignore.
No child above 12 years old should have restrictions about what he or she might get to see or hear.

Let's say a child of 13 wants to play a mature video game containing gory violence, nudity, and sexually stimulating situations (although no real sex is involved).
Instead of taking away any chance the child might have of seeing it, sit down with your child in a "one on one" and calmly discuss it as if you were in a college debate.

Really consider these points instead of just disregarding them, and enforcing your own law.
Become a "cool" parent in your kid's eyes by treating him or her as an equal, and your bond can only get stronger.

I'd like to stress, I am not a parent, nor am I a professional in child psychiatry.
I just remember how I felt growing up, not that my parents didn't do a good job of raising me.
I just think the "old school" way of thinking, is really not good enough.

I'm sure it was written here before, but I think it bares repeating:
For more information, visit esrb.org (contents must not be copied and links within site must not be posted).

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Re:Protecting children or child censorship

**No child above 12 years old should have restrictions about what he or she might get to see or hear.**

Why twelve?

  • By Luci (not verified) at 2005/12/03 - 5:16pm
  • reply

The internet and 'censorship'

I know there is nothing I can do to make my children think I'm cool. I'm not.

I am the parent of a digital native, so I know that my children will be able to find whatever they want on the internet as soon as they are literate.

I don't think that censorship is something I want to do. If my child at, lets say 8 years old, thinks it's funny to look at ladies with abnormally enhanced breasts on the internet, then I don't mind. It is my responsibility to inform them what normal women in the street look like naked and that surgically, cosmetically, digitally altered images do not represent what most people look like or do. My current strategy to do this is a casual attitude to nudity at home.

I would want to talk about how a child feels about watching something that potentially might disturb hir. I avoid watching films with particular kinds of violence because I know they upset me. I should help my child work out what they will enjoy or will disturb them with the minimum of nightmares.

I'm not yet sure about how I feel about my children having access to hate websites (KKK and the like), but I don't think that censorship is the way forward.

What I think is more important than censorship is safety. I would like to prevent my children from posting their mobile numbers and home address on Facebook. I think the only way to do this would be consensually on the grounds that they will be able to hack their way out of a straight jacket before very long.

  • By Willow at 2008/08/29 - 6:33pm
  • reply

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