While the Internet has brought together productive people and communities worldwide it has also allowed destructive communities to grow in great numbers.
Some examples of these are pornography rings and terrorist organizations. The Internet has made communication and organization easier for groups of this nature.
Other groups that are perhaps more dangerous for children and teens are those that may directly influence them.
Sites of major concern are the vast array of hate web sites. These range from hate groups that are anti gay and lesbian, anti Semitic, anti black, Asian, Muslim. The list could go on and on and the fact is that children are able to tap into these sites.
Propaganda is a powerful tool used by distributors of hate material. The Internet provides the perfect tool for distributing these materials to a worldwide audience of impressionable youths.
Many teenagers are searching for a feeling of belonging, a group with which they can fit in and feel part of. They may already be influenced by certain ways of thinking that are prevalent in society.
A hate web site will not only further distort their views it will take it to another level that can be extremely dangerous. This is not something any parent wants for their child.
There are a number of steps you can take to ensure your children are not visiting hate sites.
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Keep your computer in a family room so that Internet is public domain. This will discourage your teen from visiting various dangerous sites not just hate sites.
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Monitor Internet use either physically or through parental control or filtering software.
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Consider getting a parental control filter that you can customize to filter specified material.
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Talk to your children about tolerance and acceptance of all people in society.
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Monitor instant messaging and chat room conversations.
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Set an example, do not discriminate or make derogatory comments about other races, sexuality’s or minority groups.
It is important to stop this sort of behavior before it begins. It has serious consequences not only for your child but also for wider society.
Hate and discrimination is not a healthy expression of emotion for any person. Don’t allow your child to be influenced by persuasive hate material online.
If you feel like your child may lean towards discriminatory tendencies you may want to consider parental control software as a precaution. Once a person has been indoctrinated in the beliefs of a hate group it is extremely hard to untangle them.
If you are using parental controls, then you can prevent this from happening to your child.
It is always a tough decision to make when it comes to the privacy versus protection argument.
Teenagers are particularly difficult to predict and are often protective of their privacy even when they have nothing to hide. The simple fact is that hate web sites are just one of the dangers facing your children on the Internet.