Kort Explores conundrums of the human condition

Since the Internet was designed from the ground up to dynamically overcome obstacles and get the requested data through regardless, it is very hard to apply effective restraints (censorship, child proofing, import/export restrictions, etc.) to the core operations. I've come to believe that much of the current demand for "child protection" is in reality a veiled attempt to destroy the freedom of speech properly enjoyed by the adult users of the Internet. In a form of twisted self serving circular logic, children have been provided unsupervised access to the Internet by negligent parents and various government and educational agencies - who then complain that children are being exposed to adult materials and must be protected.

While chat rooms and pornography have gotten the most attention in the largely hostile "news" media, the predominate use of the Internet is still for email. I have not encountered any chat rooms (pediphile or otherwise) or pornography in my adventures on the Internet. The stuff is no doubt easy to find for those looking for it, but it's not hard to avoid either.

The moralists are welcome to burn all the pediphiles and child molesters as far as I'm concerned. But as for the alleged pornography, as a man of the world I believe that there must be better local sources in most communities for better quality pornography than the computer graphics available on the Internet. Let's face it - throughout all of recorded human history, pornography has always been a profitable commodity with a high demand. Who is going to give away something for free on the Internet that could be sold for lots of money on the street? Reasonable parental supervision should more than adequately protect children from whatever stray prurient images may be found in the trash cans of the net.

Caring parents don't let their young children wander unsupervised in the heart of a major city, and they should look on the adult world of the Internet in the same light. Parts of the city are wonderful, but other parts can be dangerous - and the same is true of the Internet. The day you would trust your child to visit New York City alone, is the day you should trust them to access the Internet free of parental supervision and control. Parental supervision is the only effective way to reliably control access to the "not appropriate for children" areas of the net. Irresponsible parenting is not a valid justification for destroying a valuable free speech tool. The Internet is far too important to be turned into a child safe baby sitter for neglected children.