Shawanda Lamb
Professor Morgan
REL 330 Christian Morality
21 October 2010
On-line Privacy: Intrusion Between Children and Parents In today’s society the technology is impeccably innovating and eye catching, especially when it comes to cell phones and computers. It seems like no-one does nothing but text, e-mail, and stay in chat rooms on MySpace, Twitter and Facebook cites. It is hardly imaginable to allow children on the computer without filters, monitors, and supervision. But when does it become a privacy issue between children and their parents? Teens are often exposed to potential privacy risks online due to marketing platforms like some of the names mentioned above. Another issue to deal with is on-line sexual predators and pedophiles that are on the loose, targeting children on the computer had and still is an issue in today’s modern society. When does it stop? Will it ever? Where are the moral values? Will parents take a stand for what is right for the children even if a teenager believes that they are being protected because they used false information in their profile? When we define the word intrusion it means: an illegal act of entering, seizing, or taking possession of another's property. I’m sorry, but as a parent I believe my children don’t own anything they don’t have the right to say I can take you to court mom for taking my computer, regardless if you earned it with allowance given by your parents. Some children seem to believe that their privacy is invaded when parents block certain websites from them or if their computer gets taken away from them even if they are on punishment. According to an on-line survey on business weeks website says: Three of four parents don't believe social networks are doing a good enough job of protecting the privacy of their children who use those networks, according to a new survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that focuses on how media and technology affect families. The study also found that 92 percent of parents are concerned their children share too much information about themselves online. A related survey of teenagers, meanwhile, found that 79 percent feel their friends share too much information about themselves, and 85 percent believe search engines and social networks should have to get their permission before they use personal information about them to market products to them via advertising. Now looking at these survey numbers they are very high but why do we blame the social networks. They can only do so much even with the children’s on-line privacy protection act in place. This is truly where parents must take responsibility for their children. I enjoyed reading a comment from a reader in response to this article that said: That is correct they don't PARENTS keep their kids safe. It's like allowing your child go to the mall to hangput with their friends and then expect the mall to take care of your child. Mall security will stop something if they see it happening other then that, it is up to the parent to police their own. People think that because these social gatherings occur online it's different then them going out, it's not. Parents need to be parents regardless the outlet in which their kids meet other kids (businessweek.com). This is where we as humanity must focus on being responsible for our own, because children will do what they want to do if rules are not enforced by their parents. Some children are nieve, gullible and feel that it is ok to give out information about them because they think that predators don’t know where they live or cannot tap into their computer to stalk them. There are so many cases alone that don’t always end up with a happy ending. As we all know the internet is a haven for sexual predators all they have to do is log on to a chat site and pretend to be a so called teenager. According to the Online Victimization Research carried out by NCMEC (2000), “one in five children who use chat rooms have been approached over the internet by pedophiles” (Ingram, Parents Say Social Networks Don’t Protect Children’s Privacy” ). Social networks are another target to get teens involved with . I personally do not have any of these social networks like MySpace; I only have an e-mail account. Now my spouse has just recently signed up and I was astonished to see how quickly how a network of people responded to his account, the snowball effect was outrageous so I can imagine the same with teenagers. When we look at these issues morally what we take in account is that we as humanity have a responsibility and we must be accountable for issues that may arise culturally. What seemed so unfamiliar decades ago is now just a click away, because then, we did not have the technology that we have today to occupy the fancy of children’s play or quite time. An article on-line from techliberations.com stated that: Concerns about the harmful effects of popular culture on children and young people have a very long history, dating back well before electronic technology. These concerns reflect much more general anxieties about the future direction of society; but, as several studies have shown, they can also be inflamed and manipulated by those with much broader political, moral or religious motivations. These concerns occasionally reach the level of a ‘moral panic’, in which particular social groups and practices are publicly demonised – often on the basis of what are ultimately found to be quite spurious accusations. Perhaps paradoxically, such stories also play well in the media themselves, often receiving extensive and highly sensational coverage. (p. 25).
If we were to understand ethics and morals on a spiritual level, I think that we would come to terms that these issues in today’s cultural society lack much responsibility when it comes to families. Is society responsible for what children do even if it is wrong or right? I believe society has influence on our children but not to the point where we totally blame them. When God created man he allowed a woman to bear children, so who has to protect and teach them values and morals of this unforgiving world we live in? With that said, in the passages of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium Et Spes 49-60 speaks about the proper development in culture and in section 1 it talks about the circumstances of culture in the world today. What I found interesting was how it said in passage 55 that: ” we are witnesses of the birth of a new humanism, one in which man is defined first of all by this responsibility to his brothers and to history” (John XXIII, 1963). If we are to be responsible for our brother or neighbor than when it comes to our children there should never be an exception. Another passage asks: How is the dynamism and expansion of a new culture to be fostered without losing a living fidelity to the heritage of tradition. This question is of particular urgency when a culture which arises from the enormous progress of science and technology must be harmonized with a culture nourished by classical studies according to various traditions (John XXIII, 1963).
Now days people try to step away from the traditional way or methods in how we live accordingly to society and culturally but how can we be nourished by classical studies with the rise of innovating technology companies that is ever evolving for their own purpose? In conclusion of all this we, as humanity must understand that when it comes to responsibility and safety for our children no-matter what social issues we may encounter, we must take a stand in protecting them even if our children hate us for a day because the computer got taken away. As a parent I take this topic seriously due to the fact that I may have to deal with this in just a matter of time. But a solution to this is to not just limit internet access as a recess or play time session all the time but to get more involved physically with the children and find other ways to stimulate their mind. Because you will find kids communicating more on a social network than communicating with the one protector and that is… the parent.

References
Dictionary.com. 2010. 10 Oct. 2010. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intrusion
Ingram, Mathew. “Parents Say Social Networks Don’t Protect Children’s Privacy.” Business Week. 10 Oct. 2010. 12 Oct. 2010. Parents Say Social Networks Don't Protect Children's Privacy - BusinessWeek
John XXIII, Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) April 1963. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html
Thierer, Adam . “Kids, Media, Commercialism & Moral Panic.” Technology Liberation. 7 June 2010. 10 Oct. 2010. http://techliberation.com/2010/06/07/kids-media-commercialism-moral-panic/.
Youn, Seounmi. “Parental Influence and Teens’ Attitude Toward Online Privacy Protection.” Technology News Red Orbit. 2 Oct. 2008. 10 Oct. 2010. Parental Influence and Teens' Attitude Toward Online Privacy Protection -Technology News - redOrbit