(no subject)

[icarus]

Even Better than fandom_scruples which has collapsed in on itself, turned off comments, and generally circled the wagons (bummer)... now you can turn yourself in to theblacklist! Three votes get you in.

Comments

[wanderingscribe.livejournal.com]

[giggle] Oh, the wankage. I have joined in glee. XD

I feel like I'm spamming you with all these comments on the fandom_scruples thing. Sorry. ;_; I guess I didn't know what to make of it; first I was pissed at the heartfelt tone and high-and-mighty attitude, but now I'm amused that it's given such a service to the slashers amongst us.

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

You could always turn yourself in to theblacklist

I know this is going to get me few friends...

[fourth-moon.livejournal.com]

... but what hey. I think there's a lot of stuff in slash stories which, say, 14 year olds don't have to read. At least not from their school computers, darn it.

Explicit sex doesn't worry me - as if hormones would wait for the 18th birthday to take over anybody's brain. But, let's see, torture, non-con/rape, incest, mutilation, the works... I neither whish to tell anybody what to write or read, nor think I could stop anyone. But keeping those topics from kids sounds like a good idea to me.

I admit I'm hazy on a lot of internet stuff. If I get it right, parents can safe-guard their net access so that no sites with a "don't enter if you're underage" can't be opened. But that needs the "don't enter" signs on the really scary stuff.

Go on, flame me. I'll be putting up an entry in my own journal if you prefer to flame me there... seriously, I'd be interested to hear opinions about this.

Re: I know this is going to get me few friends...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

First, keeping things from kids.

It sounds good in principle, but it doesn't take into account the nature of kids, who are not as innocent or stupid as we'd like to think. We aren't 'protecting the innocent' who might bumble into some porn. We are battling a skilled and determined assault.

These passwords are only there to give adults peace of mind. They don't work, and anyone who thinks they do has forgotten their fake IDs in high school. The strategy of changing the nature of the world around children was impossible when there were only titty magazines.

I always point to those 'child-proof' bottles as evidence as to just how successful that strategy is. Often only the kids can open them. Kids are pretty good at getting around our passwords, etc. When I was a kid there weren't even PCs, and we still got hold of porn magazines (some of them pretty, ugh). The whole concept of innocent children stumbling onto and corrupted by what they see is erroneous.

First, it's rare that a kid 'accidentally' stumbles on internet porn of any kind and keeps reading/looking. If it wasn't what they were looking for, kids - confused, appalled - hit the back button just as fast as everyone else. More often than not, kids actively seek what is 'forbidden' and then it's really hard to keep them out of the gears.

This 'poor little innocent children' theory assumes a couple things:

1 - that kids are blank slates, with no moral compass or intelligence of their own.
2 - that kids are more influenced by these images than they are by their 'real' environment.

I have very clear memories from when I was a kid, and I remember how bright I was. I had my own ideas about my parents' divorce, for example, that was not told to me by others.

It's my opinion that it's best to not let your kids watch any television/media influence until they're older. Let them grow up with less noise.

But that's very difficult to do, mostly because these things act as virtual babysitters. And that's the real problem. Parents don't have time to really keep an eye on and interact with their kids, because people need two incomes these days to survive. I've watched this with all my friends. So they click on the TV or the computer, and then expect these mechanical devices to do as good a job as themselves. That's impossible.

The internet, the library, the television... they're all neutral. They don't have a moral screen really, and you can't automate that.

What's a parent to do? Because kids can and will defeat these flimsy protections, you have to:

1 - do the best you can to supervise. Your kids need as much of your time as you can give them anyway.
2 - teach your kids what is appropriate and what is not. Tell them what your feelings are about that and why. Give them their own moral filter.

You'd be surprised at what kids will self-monitor.

In fact, chances are fandom_scruples is in the 18-22 year old range.

Icarus

Re: I know this is going to get me few friends...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

P.S. - You probably noticed that I'm not much for flaming (unless it's flamingly gay). :)

Icarus