Opinion: ChatRoulette Is A Disaster In The Making

I'm reading the comments on here and the overwhelming consensus is that the parents must supervise their children... and to a certain extent I think that is a given... but to what extent does that supervision go. Do you honestly feel that a parent must hover over a child every waking minute? Honestly, it only takes a second for a child to accidentally pull up an inappropriate site, or for an inappropriate show to come on the TV. My grandparents provided very little supervision for their children (my parents) because it wasn't warranted... society did not condone the type of crud that is so prevalent today and because of the mostly "G" rated life that existed back then children went outside and were out there for the entire day with little to no supervision and grew up to be responsible adults with a sense of right and wrong that no longer exists in today's adults. As a child I lived the same sort of life, I had very little "supervision" because it wasn't necessary and I am an independent, self-supporting woman who has sucessfully raised a well adjusted, intelligent young man. How will children learn to be self reliant and independent if their parents are constently hovering near by, which is what is necessary in today's society if we want to protect them from material that is inappropriately sexual and violent for most ages... material that didn't exist years ago. It IS the responsibility of society to reject and prohibit material that is detrimental to our children including teens and the more we exercise our "freedom" in allowing overly explicit, sexualized and violent material in homes through the internet, cable and by way of violent video games the more violence our families are going to endure in real life, including the rape and murder of our children. We need to supervise our "freedom" and engage in self regulation as a society much more than we do at the moment. I am not a fan of government regulation, but if we do not implement common sense regulations as a society then the government has to step in and in doing that, we allow the government to make our decisions for us. Wouldn't it be better to make those decisions for ourself and provide a society full of clean and appropriate entertainment for all that allows our children to be able to develope independence and does not require parents to hover over their children every waking moment in order to protect them from what should not be there in the first place?

saw a few friends talking about it on fb as well...and I have to agree with you. Good Luck.

What the hell is your point... except to be controversial. People like you should better label yourselves as "Contrary to any point", "suffering from Anti-Social Personality Disorder", " will avoid clarity at any cost", and prone to argue any opposing thought. Just go to bed.

Any good parent or person would have their antenae raised by the content of this article. They wouldn't want their loved ones being victimized or ruined by the likes of people at this site.

If you have seen "Caprica", a series on TV, you would know we are not far from their virtual world on their version of the internet, in which anybody can do anything, without consequences. It is a virtual world of sex, drugs and violence. Parents lose their children to its fascination.

No one can protect children (or adults) from our own internet, either, except from banning it from your computers, and yes, policing your home computers and knowing what sites your children are visiting. If you have budding experts, all the more reason to have the computer in the family room. Some of them may break your protection codes, yes. So you need to actually talk to your children, teach them the values that will keep them safe.

You can't just abandon them to the net, the way kids used to be abandoned to the TV. And yes, you should protect your younger ones from today's televised sex and violence, too.

It isn't Howdy Doo Time out there anymore.

I wish there was a "like" button on this site. I'd click it for your comment. People today are waayyyy too sensitive and over protective. The world isn't this happy utopia they want it to be. They call this site ParentDish, but it is they who need to grow up.

Yeah

Thank you. It also says clearly on the site that you MUST be 16 to use this service. Parents who let their children use this shouldn't bitch because they are breaking one of the sites rules.

To Anon & all all think like him, the big difference between bleach, the man in the white van etc, is that they are containable dangers! bleach can be put out of reach & the man in the white van is not inside your own home; THIS is the big difference between the internet & other dangers to children! I've brought up 2 boys & their friends tell them somethin g is "naughty" interesting or whatever & the minute your back is turned, to go to the bathroom, to answer the phone, they can log into look, there in their own home & it won't take a moment to switch sites! It's time this danger was acknowledged & controls imposed because obviously as long as people like you shout "loss of freedom" then no controls will be imposed to protect youngsters or other more vunerable people from such trash!

The whole problem is that parents, increasingly, don't want to do what it takes to be parents to their children. Everyone wants their kids to like them. Trust me, my mom and I have as many problems/challenges/issues because she wanted to be buddies more than mom. Set ground rules early, or your child will be out of control before you know it. And you're legally responsible. If you can't keep your kid off a certain website or tv channel, what chance do you have of keeping them off drugs.

YOU NEED SPELL CHECK!!!

It is an "Opinion" piece (kind of gives that away in the title don't ya think..."Opinion: ChatRoulette Is A Disaster In The Making"), just like what you would read in the Op/Ed section of a newspaper. It's intention is to present a person's opinion, not to be "objective reporting" genius.