Growing Up Online

In today's day and age, it is very rare to find someone that does not have a computer at home and access to the Internet. Computers and the Internet are very helpful to kids growing up. They can find all kinds of information online, and many times their homework is expected to be typed up on the computer and printed out. But as it turns out there are many dangers lurking on the Internet. According to PBS.org, a public website which has an article "Frontier: Growing Up Online", young people are especially vulnerable to the dangers of the Internet. Young people spend a lot of time online, and many of their parents have no clue how to use a computer, so they cannot be monitored. Young children can fall pray to an online predator, who makes them believe that he is someone their own age and just wants to "hang out". But more often children find information on the Internet that they should not have access to. Young adults can find information using the Internet on how to commit suicide, or how to starve themselves. These issues are much bigger and more common than online predators but they are not as publicized. Kids sometimes spend whole nights on the Internet talking to their cyberfriends, often people they have never met in real life. One way to solve this problem is for parents o set boundaries on their children's' Internet use, and to monitor what they do online.