Parents, Don't Let Your Children Grow Up To Be Hackers

from the talk-to-them dept

Newsweek is running a piece written by someone from the Department of Justice suggesting that parents need to play a larger role in teaching their kids what's wrong and right online. I agree. However, it's not as easy as she writes in her article - because not all the issues are black-and-white. She says, for instance, that children have "seriously hurt the music, gaming and software industries" online - which not everyone would agree with. Still, I do think it is important for parents to realize that teaching their children responsible actions in the real world isn't enough any more. They need to guide them online as well.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2003 @ 2:30am

    ARGH!

    Most of the time, "online" is also the real world!!
    And you can also be in a virtual world standalone.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Mike (profile), 8 Sep 2003 @ 3:08am

    Re: ARGH!

    You're arguing semantics. The point is that there are different issues that should be dealt with concerning responsible computer usage, which are usually not handled in any way.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    thecaptain, 8 Sep 2003 @ 7:20am

    No Subject Given

    If more parents bothered to teach kids right and wrong rather than just using computers, nintendos and tv as babysitters, we'd have a better world.

    And you wouldn't have to teach them about right and wrong on the net because they'd be smart and well raised enough to already KNOW.

    Not all parents do this, I applaud the "true" parents who are dedicated and make the effort. Its just that these parents are no longer in the majority.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Ed Halley, 8 Sep 2003 @ 8:06am

    No Subject Given

    I've noticed that CNN's website has had a large upswing in "scare journalism" slanted toward RIAA/MPAA stings, suits and amnesties. They rarely give even a ten-word rebuttal for balance, such as how sane lawyers think the amnesty problem is a crock, or that the kids sued for college savings were running plain search engines.

    Monoculture is a problem, and cartels in charge of the Fourth Estate just complete the trend toward blind polarization in government.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Munich, 8 Sep 2003 @ 8:52am

    Re: No Subject Given

    > Monoculture is a problem< br>
    No, only if CNN were the only outlet. Since there are 100s (if not 1000s) of news outlets, blogs, etc. catering to every taste, view and outlook on the planet (like this one?), your statement is moot. In fact, with the web, multiple cable and satellite channels, etc., I would argue that the culture is coming less monolithic, and certainly more diverse than the 1950s when three TV networks controlled 100% of the country.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    LittleW0lf, 8 Sep 2003 @ 1:50pm

    Children, don't let your parents grow up to be idi

    ...The government doesn't like competition!

    Seriously, I believe my parents brought me up to be a good person, and from comments others have made, I don't think my observation has been flawed. They taught me wrong from right, and were generally happy with the choices I've made (including becoming an information security person, or more aptly, a "hacker".) One thing my parents did well is plant the seed for gathering knowledge, and learning from my mistakes, and seeing the hypocracy in other's statements. This is what being a hacker is about, not stealing software or music, or using your knowledge to harm others.

    There is a lot of hypocracy in the world. After all, we have people both within and outside the government who would like to have us be mindless sheep, following the multitude of shepherds (RIAA, MPAA, Congress, etc.) with no thought of anything other than buy, buy, buy. My favorite hypocracy right now is none other than Cruz Bustamonte's election signs, which say "No on Recall, Yes on Cruz Bustamonte." So in other words, the folks most likely to vote for Cruz are the ones most likely to vote against the recall (though, after reading the election book, I find it interesting to note that folks who vote no on the recall are not to vote for a Governor...so would this be another hanging chad issue if Cruz finds that a number of folks voted no on the recall, and yet still voted for Cruz, which means they really wanted to vote yes on the recall and were confused?)

    One thing to point out, however, is that Martha is the head of the RIAA financed "Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section." So it is automatic that she is biased and her agenda is clearly to attempt to sway folks into conforming with the RIAA's agenda despite she works for the Department of Justice (which is a wholly owned subsidary of Microsoft, et. al..)

    But furthermore, I found her article to be very poorly referenced. I could not find any record of any teenager taking down the phones of an entire city, and would love to have the case and docket number for my own purposes. Lots of FUD...the next Iraqi Information Minister of the RIAA has been named, and she apparently is well tasked for the job.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.