The Internet links people together via computer terminals and telephone lines
(and in some cases wireless radio connections) in a web of networks and shared
software. This allows users to communicate with one another wherever they are in
the “net." This Internet link began as the United States military project
Agency Network Advanced Research (ARPANET) during the Vietnam War in 1969. It
was developed by the United States Department of Defense’s (DOD) research
people in conjunction with various contractors and universities to investigate
the probability of a communication network that could survive a nuclear attack.
For the first decade that the Internet was in existence, it was primarily used
to facilitate electronic mail, support on line discussion groups, allow access
to distant databases, and support the transfer of files between government
agencies, companies and universities. Today over 15 million people in the United
States and approximately 25 million people worldwide access the Internet
regularly, including children. Many parents believe that depriving their
children of the opportunity to learn computer skills and access the knowledge
available on the Internet would give them a distinct technological disadvantage
as they enter the twenty first century. Portelli and Mead state by the year
2002, the reported number of children who access the Internet from home is
projected to increase from the current 10 million to 20 million (6). In addition
to home access, Poretelli and Meads further stated that as of 1997 the
percentage of United States schools that offered Internet access as a part of
their regular curriculum was over sixty percent. There were over nine thousand
public libraries across America in 1997, sixty percent of these offered on-line
access to its users (7). In view of this information, one can concluded that the
on-line percentage for both schools and libraries has increased notably since
1997 and the number continues to grow as more of these facilities “plug in and
log on." Whether at home, at school, or at the public library, children are
accessing the Internet. The word “children” is somewhat ambiguous
considering the range of ages that it encompasses. For instance, eighteen is the
normally accepted age at which a child reaches legal adulthood; therefore,
“children” would refer to any age between birth and seventeen. Porterfield
stated that a study conducted in 1997 by Gateway 2000, a leading computer
manufacturer, concluded that most children Internet access and computer skills
typically commence with their school work. Although in some cases it may be
earlier and in some later, the typical age at which a child begins to learn
computer skills are kindergarten age, or age five. For example at the Children
Television Work Shop website, a young child can click on a query and in a few
days an E-mail arrives. For the purpose of this analysis, the broad word
“children” will be condensed to contain two age groups -- elementary level,
ages' 5-12, and secondary level, ages' 13-18. At either level, the World Wide
Web poses clear dangers to children. These children grow up enlightened with
technology, which they take for granted and know exactly how to use it. Most
parents are not conscious of what lies behind that innocuous screen. If you give
one's child carte blanche use of a computer attached to a modem, it is as
serious as handing a ten-year-old the car keys and telling them to have a good
time. These “cyberchildren” are vulnerable to potential dangers as a result
of Internet use. These perils include contact with dangerous individuals,
exposure to sexually suggestive materials, exposure to explicit conversations
and obscenity in chat rooms, and access to violent interactive games. One very
dangerous downside to Internet communication is its potential for the telling of
untruths. One can never be certain at any given time to whom one is talking or
if the conversation is sincere and truthful. Clothier state that a recent issue
of Yahoo! Internet Live reported that almost half of the Internet users they had
questioned lied occasionally while on-line and ten percent were untruthful fifty
percent of the time (2). Asch state that Gateway Global Research surveyed six
hundred families in the spring of 1998. This research revealed that seventeen
percent of elementary and middle school children lied about their age, or sex
while chatting on-line (E1). This fibbing among peers is not where the danger
lies. The real peril exists in those other, older individuals who purposefully
lie with the intent to harm. Parents can no longer assume their children are
safe because they are at home and the door is locked. Instead of hanging around
the playgrounds looking for victims, these cyber-preadators are simply logging
on their computers. Defined as “adults whose sexual fantasies and erotic
imagery focuses on children as sexual partners," pedophiles have discovered
a haven in cyberspace. These dangerous individuals often cruise the chat rooms
dominated by teens and younger children, posing as a child of similar age. Often
these individuals try to solicit the children’s location and identity, with
the intent to set-up an on-line meeting. Once the meeting place and time are
established, the children become easy prey for these twisted individuals.
Officials of law enforcement have pointed out an alarming fact concerning
on-line pedophiles. Durkin says that an upward trend in this practice indicates
the possibility that, due to the Internet, some of these individuals may now be
acting on fantasies they otherwise might have never carried out (16). Reports
have shown that these instances are becoming more numerous and warn that
children should report any suspicious on-line behavior to parents. The parents
are then urged to inform law enforcement officials. In view of the rules of
on-line privacy and anonymity, law enforcement officers have found these
criminals to be hard to detect and locate. There are millions of web pages
dealing with a wide variety of subject matter available on the World Wide Web
and more pages are being uploaded daily. Although only one percent of this
information could be called indecent, there is still the chance that a child
might run across information that contains sexually explicit material. Although
regulations have been placed on web sites that offer sexual content, most of
these sites can still be accessed without a credit card. For instance, Madden
says a visit on Netscape at the Yahoo search engine, one could only type in
“men” and approximately 3,440 sites matching would appear. One of these
sites was actually be labeled “sex”: lesbian, gay and bisexual. There would
even be pictures; Images of men.” This site could be easily access by
children. These children are subject to view butt shots of young boys. They
could even preview several other shots that are designed to lure them into
giving up a credit card number; however, there are various shots that could be
access without a credit card. Portelli and Mead say the Supreme court in 1982
ruled the use of pornography involving children to be “harmful to the
physiological, emotional, and mental health” of children and criminalized the
practice, instigating strong enforcement and severe punishment for offenders
(7). They further stated the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which strove to
end the flood of pornography available on the Internet, was ruled to be
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court due to violation of the First Amendment
(7). In other words, the issue of how to protect minor from Internet pornography
without violating the right of free speech is under debate. The tendency of
children to conjugate in on-line chat rooms is universal. It is hard to regulate
the nature of these chats as it is to censure live conversations among groups of
children. Groups sharing the same interests and the same age levels usually
create these chat rooms. Access to these rooms is usually not coded or barred,
so the presence of a pedophile or other type of sexually twisted individual is a
real and distinct possibility. The usual tendency of these individuals is an
attempt to direct the conversation to a sexual subject, often using explicit and
indecent language. If found, it is easy for a child to enter a sexually explicit
chat in progress. Since there is minimal monitoring of chat rooms, these are
sometimes labeled in a manner that reveals the nature of the conversation going
on within. For example pornography materials was just a click away from
“Governor’s kid page” (fun facts, coloring books, etc.). Grooves state
that once the children access this web site, all they had to do was to click on
“links." By their surprise, an adult chat room appeared with exchanges of
sexually explicit messages within. The dangers of the Internet continue with a
variety of interactive video games. These games are usually access through
dial-up networks and through on-line services. Many of these games can be
downloaded at no charge. These interactive games include arcade type games,
classic puzzle games, and role-playing adventure games. Cummins state a recent
survey of nine hundred students in the fourth through the eight grade revealed
that nearly half of the children stated that violence and fantasy was involved
in their favorite video games (1E). Considering this statement one can conclude
that it is these violent fantasy games, these role-playing adventure games, that
have recently been the focus attention. Following the recent tragedy at
Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, FBI agents have been taking a
closer look at the Internet and the consequences of its role-playing games.
Alderson says the gunmen involved at Columbine, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan
Klebold, 17, two Columbine seniors, were members of a dark on-line community
calling itself the Trenchcoat Mafia (31A). In other words, this Internet world
evolved from simple role-playing fantasy games to an on-line world filled with
deep hatred and violent schemes. Robert Denerstein, staff writer of the Denver
Rocky Mountain News, reported that the events at Columbine “Underscored
changes that have already occurred” and “point to the hidden life of many
youngsters” (31A). A pertinent fact that needs mentioning at this point is
that Harris and Klebold, Columbine gunmen mentioned above, obtained the
knowledge to build their pipe bombs from the Internet. This is not the first
time the negative effect of interactive games and the Internet have been the
center of tragedy and the subject of scrutiny. In 1997 Michael Carneal, age 14,
brought a gun to his Paducah, Kentucky high school with the intent to harm.
Michael began shooting at students involved in a prayer group. Parents of three
of the victims brought lawsuits against various media companies on grounds that
their products contributed to the violent episodes. Among the defendants were
game manufacturers Nintendo and Sony, who produced games the young gunman was
fond of playing -- violent games such as “Doom” and “Mortal Kombat."
An Internet pornography site was also among the defendants. The parents of the
gunman, as well as his teachers, school officials, and classmate, were also held
partly responsible for the shooting. Cummins state that David Grossman, a United
States Army retiree who now teaches psychology at Arkansas State University,
says that some of these violent video games “are no different than military
simulators...in some ways, worse” (1E). Considering this statement one can
conclude that what the children of today are getting from these video games is
military training, a process of continuous stimulus and response known as
“operant conditioning”. A process in which the main objective is to teach to
kill. The violence of these interactive games available through the Internet
needs to be scrutinized. The key to sheilding children from negative influences
on the World Wide Web lies in knowledge. Parents and other influential adults
such as teachers and librarians need to get to know the Internet, to learn the
World Wide Web and what it has offer. Douglas Ruhoff observed in a 1996 USA
Weekend article that the children are “native” to the high tech world of
today where the parents are ‘immigrants” (12).

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June 1999. 12