Won't somebody think of the Children, the parents maybe?
http://www.news.com.au/technology/unrated-apps-exposing-children-to-suicide-and-sex/story-e6frfro0-1225864243188
“Children exposed to sex and violence yada yada”
This constantly comes up and constantly bugs me.
The latest is a story in today’s Telegraph talking about iPhone apps and how they are getting around Australia’s arcane and increasingly useless ratings systems.
(Why we have not got a R18+ rating for games is beyond me. Anyway that’s not what this is about.)
This is about parents complaining about the things their children are exposed to. First it was television, then the internet and now smart phone apps and after that it will be back to television again. Round and round we go. This bugs me because I don’t think it should be the responsibility of the government to censor things (like the internet. Looking at you Mr. Conroy).
Here is an idea. If you don’t think something is suitable for a child then don’t let your children watch it, play it etc. It is called parental responsibility! Why not try it instead of jumping up and down like a spoilt little brat. A parent should know what their kid watches, plays etc etc. Now doing that means you might have to do some actual parenting. You know like taking an interest in what the young one is doing, like you know actually checking what they are doing on the net and on their phones. Things like I don’t know checking what they watch on TV, what games they are buying. If you are content to let them come home and lock themselves in the room and use the TV etc as a baby sitter then don’t complain when something they see do or play offends you because if you had been doing your job they would not have been doing it in the first place. Actually they probably would still do it they would just not do it at home but rather at their mates place.
Now since I am a father and also a realist I understand that teenagers are going to watch things that I might find offensive and all the best parenting in the world is not going to stop that. I know that soon my teenage daughter will experiment with alcohol and maybe even drugs and sex and I am in fantasy world if I think otherwise. So since I know I can’t really stop her doing this stuff I can only make sure she does not hurt herself and that involves education. Tough conversations that is the parents’ responsibility. So many people want to leave this stuff to the schools but that’s a topic for another day.
The bottom line is that it is not up to the government, or censorship boards to protect children but the job of their parents. Start doing it!
“Children exposed to sex and violence yada yada”
This constantly comes up and constantly bugs me.
The latest is a story in today’s Telegraph talking about iPhone apps and how they are getting around Australia’s arcane and increasingly useless ratings systems.
(Why we have not got a R18+ rating for games is beyond me. Anyway that’s not what this is about.)
This is about parents complaining about the things their children are exposed to. First it was television, then the internet and now smart phone apps and after that it will be back to television again. Round and round we go. This bugs me because I don’t think it should be the responsibility of the government to censor things (like the internet. Looking at you Mr. Conroy).
Here is an idea. If you don’t think something is suitable for a child then don’t let your children watch it, play it etc. It is called parental responsibility! Why not try it instead of jumping up and down like a spoilt little brat. A parent should know what their kid watches, plays etc etc. Now doing that means you might have to do some actual parenting. You know like taking an interest in what the young one is doing, like you know actually checking what they are doing on the net and on their phones. Things like I don’t know checking what they watch on TV, what games they are buying. If you are content to let them come home and lock themselves in the room and use the TV etc as a baby sitter then don’t complain when something they see do or play offends you because if you had been doing your job they would not have been doing it in the first place. Actually they probably would still do it they would just not do it at home but rather at their mates place.
Now since I am a father and also a realist I understand that teenagers are going to watch things that I might find offensive and all the best parenting in the world is not going to stop that. I know that soon my teenage daughter will experiment with alcohol and maybe even drugs and sex and I am in fantasy world if I think otherwise. So since I know I can’t really stop her doing this stuff I can only make sure she does not hurt herself and that involves education. Tough conversations that is the parents’ responsibility. So many people want to leave this stuff to the schools but that’s a topic for another day.
The bottom line is that it is not up to the government, or censorship boards to protect children but the job of their parents. Start doing it!
posted by Darren at 10:47 PM
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