First published: 31st March 2009
Allan Dyer
This month, legislators in Hong Kong call internet access a "basic living need", necessary for children to learn, and a security company, F-Secure, publishes survey results showing only 7% of parents think their children are safe online. What are we doing? Are we mad, giving children something that might harm them, or are we frightened of our own shadows? How can the vast playground and time-waster that is the internet be classed with food, water and shelter?
As a parent, I am aware that my children are never totally, perfectly safe, regardless of whether they are holding my hand, crossing the road, or surfing the internet using content-filtering software. In each case, I have to do the best I can, and try to teach them to take care of their own safety. The internet, like roads, are a technological advance with great benefits that outweigh the dangers if reasonable precautions are employed.
It may seem ridiculous to classify internet access as a basic need when, in some parts of the world, students do not have electricity, or even clean water, but that is not a reason to put students at a disadvantage when compared to their local peers. Fast access to information is necessary for homework, and a skill that everyone in a technological society should develop.