Figueroa 1

Maria Figueroa
Prof. Derohanessian
English 113B
18 February, 2015
Internet is not beneficial for children
Individuals utilize the Internet not only to find important information about their needs, but
also as an entertainment for children. Parents allow their children to have unlimited access to the
Internet without encountering that is not productive for children to spend many hours on it. Even
though the Internet can provide significant information, it is very dangerous at the same time and
there are occasions when the Internet ends up affecting children in several ways. In the article
Computers and young children: social benefit or social problem Belkis Suazo-Garcia states
that only 20% of the children use the Internet as a source for educational materials and other
children use the Internet for everything else except for academics. Although, the Internet
provides kids the benefit to succeed academically, the Internet is not safe for kids because it
exposes them to pornography and puts them on risk to be contacted by sexual predators. In
addition, it affects their social development and makes them antisocial.
The Internet is not a secured place for children to spend several hours on. All children turn
on the computer without being aware that they can be surprised by Pornography. The Internet
mostly provides free access to the majority of websites and some of them might include
pornography. As a result, children who spend most of their time on the Internet are more exposed
to see porno popping out of nowhere in the screen. For example, it has been found that
approximately 75% of children have been caught by their parents seeing pornography (Parik1).

Figueroa 2
It is dangerous for kids to be in the Internet for an unlimited amount of time. There are millions
of perverts who upload inappropriate photos and videos that can affect kids (Parikh 1). In
addition, more than 266 new pornography sites are created every day (La Rue 2). The Internet
gives free access to pornography to all viewers regardless of their age. However, it can be really
traumatic for little kids to see improper images in the Internet because their mind is not open
enough to be part of those porno incidents. The Internet is not safe and mostly if children are left
alone. For instance, I remember one day seeing my niece looking for some information for her
assignment, and some big and dark letters popped up in the screen simultaneously. I wonder
what it was, so I went to see and my surprise was that those letters said, To explore porno, click
here. I panicked and asked her to leave the computer alone. I notified my sister immediately
about the incident. We decided to block some websites, so my niece would not have access to see
inappropriate images. Moreover, it is important to regulate the websites privacy, so kids can
have the freedom to enjoy the Internet safely. The Internet management should try not to allow
pornography because in todays society kids are the ones who utilize Internet the most. Parents
should also get involve in the situation and should check their kids frequently while they are
online.
Kids who are in the Internet have the risk to be targeted by sexual predators. For example,
kids from the age of 11 years and above are already part of a social media website, Facebook
for instance (Parikh1). Sometimes, children open accounts on Facebook, twitter, or any social
media and lie about their real age and the Internet gives them easy access, even though they are
still minors. Social media introduce strangers to kids and give them the option to add them to
their friend list without knowing what people really want from them. In effect, there are times
that not all people are good individuals. Indeed, Attewell mentions that there are occasions when

Figueroa 3
a message from a stranger appears in their room chat and they tend to be sexual predators. In
addition, the article The Dangers for Teens Online Are Exaggerated Rahul Parikh argues that
almost 10 percent of teens are sexually solicited online every day. This is a horrible situation
because kids are not safe anymore. Additionally, Parikh mentions an incident of a teen girl who
starts a conversation with an individual who had a profile photo of a teenager on his Facebook
account. She talks to him, but when she agrees to meet him in person, she discovers he is an
adult man approaching middle age who wants to kidnap her (1). It is very scary to see how teens
are exposed to this situation because of the unsecure Internet. It is terrifying to see messages
from weird people on the chat room because I had experienced it before. I remember one day
when I logged on Facebook and found two messages from two male individuals, but I could not
identify them because they did not have a profile picture of themselves. I got curious just to see
what the message was about, so I opened it. As soon as I read it, I got shock because one of them
was inviting me to go out and get a drink. I got scared and immediately blocked that individual
because he was acting like he knew who I was. The Internet is definitely a concern, and it cannot
be trust.
Kids who spend most of their time in the Internet do not socialize with people in person
anymore because online activities tend to capture their entire time. They tend to be more
interested on chatting to their friends on-line than going out with friends and enjoy life
(Libresco2). For example, when it comes to family time, they refuse to participate in family
activities because they find more entertainment in the Internet. Kids enjoy being more in the
Internet than learning new and productive activities. Specifically, about 4 kids out of 6 would
prefer to stay indoors warming out the chairs than going out and have a good time with
friends(Leahn1). Furthermore, Lean states that most of the children who have access to the

Figueroa 4
Internet have a social media account where they have hundreds of friends (2). This situation
makes children to be online most of their time because they like to post stuff and follow what
their friends post as well. Since kids prefer to be updated in the Internet, they stay isolated from
what is occurring on the outside of their house. Internet gets all their attention that they do not
interact constantly with other people instead, they prefer to learn things online (Libresco2).
Kids do not feel interested on knowing what else is out there to explore and learn from. They just
want to be navigating in the Internet, even though this method would not be productive for them
at all.
The majority of parents consider the Internet as one of the best techniques to help kids to
succeed and to learn new things faster. They believe that the Internet provides just learning and
informative sources that benefit children to succeed in their academics. Although, the usage of
the Internet can be helpful, it can be dangerous as well. The article The Internet Can Be
Dangerous for Children by Stanley Janet presents evidence of the disadvantages of the Internet
for kids. For example, Stanley states that children may be exposed to inappropriate material on
the Internet, such as sexual and violent material (1). As a result, the Internet does not provide
positive effects on childrens life, instead affects them. A survey was conducted and it was found
that 84 per cent of surveyed boys and 60 per cent of girls had unwanted exposure to sexual
material (Stanley1). This emphasizes how the Internet contributes to cause negative effects on
children.
Overall, the Internet is not beneficial for kids because it can be dangerous at times. The
Internet can provide unnecessary information to kids that eventually would end up affecting
them. To sum it up, children should not be allowed to have unlimited access to the Internet
because many individuals are constantly there trying to take advantage of their innocence. To

Figueroa 5
conclude, parents should regularly supervise the children while they are in the Internet to avoid
sexual predators to reach their kids. Internet directors should also imply rules on where the
Internet should only be used for productive activities and should not permit individuals to upload
inappropriate stuff that instead of helping kids are affecting them.

Figueroa 6
Work cited
Attewell, Paul, Juan Battle, and Belkis Suazo-Garcia. "Computers and young children: social
benefit or social problem? *." Social Forces 82.1 (2003): 277+. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.
La Rue, Jan. "Online Pornography Is Harmful." Online Pornography. Ed. Emma Carlson Berne.
Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Road to
Perversion Is Paved with Pornography." Concerned Women for America, 2006. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 Feb. 2015
Libresco, Leah. "Can Google search for friendship? The internet's easy answers are a recipe for
loneliness." The American Conservative 13.3 (2014): 10. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Parikh, Rahul. "The Dangers for Teens Online Are Exaggerated." Policing the Internet. Ed.
Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Our Overblown
Paranoia about the Internet and Teens." Salon. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 13 Feb. 2015.
Stanley, Janet. "The Internet Can Be Dangerous for Children." Does the Internet Benefit Society?
Ed. Cindy Mur. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. At Issue. Rpt. from "'Downtime' for
Children on the Internet." Family Matters (Winter 2003): 22. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.