The Internet is Evil (or is it?)

Many educators and parents dwell on the dark side of the Internet. They say Google, YouTube, Wikipedia are the Internet's Axis of Evil. They are a Trilogy of Terror, the same name of the classic 70s B movie with one hokey horror story after another.

Yes. To quote the Frankenstein monster, in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, "Fire is bad." But fire is also good. It can warm leftovers, regenerate forest life, provide a soothing ambiance around the bubble bath... so I'm told.

The Internet is no different. One can find images, videos, and ideas that are bad or false, that assault our moral sensibilities and skew our research. On the other hand, there's so much good that it does provide. And knowledgeable people, who are able to navigate the world wide web, who can locate, evaluate, and verify sources, and apply information that has been mined from the Internet, will become this century's leaders in our schools, our communities, and our workplaces, not just where we live, but around the globe.

Thanks to the Internet and its ability to connect us with people anywhere in the world, even in real time, we are no longer limited to "Think Globally, Act Locally." Now we can think and act globally AND locally at about the same time.

So what does this mean for parents and teachers? We need to be better prepared for this current world order. We need to provide children with guidance and supervision. Our instincts prompt us to steer children out of harm's way. But how will they respond if they do wind up in harm's way? How will we have prepared them for this inevitability?

It is imperative that ALL parents and educators have basic Internet skills because like it or not our children will acquire and develop them. And some day they will wind up in harm's way. And the question that will be asked is, "How did we prepare them for this inevitability?"

We prepare them by setting aside petrifying, Internet fears and cynicisms and acknowledge the possibilities of a WiFi, interconnected global community through our own personal web searching practice. We do this to create a common ground for conversation with our children, so that we can provide credible guidance and supervision during their web work (please read this NY Times article about the literacy debate regarding online reading) . We take them by the hand and show them how to find pieces of information on the Internet, synthesize them, and evaluate them for accuracy and usefulness to their research needs.

But most important, in this struggle between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants we need to constantly impress upon them our Old World values. Our children, the Digital Natives, will be prepared for whatever horrors lurk on the Internet if the content of their character includes honesty, fairness, safety, social and family responsibility, and a passion for solving problems.

There is so much knowledge we can impart to our children as they encounter unfamiliar experiences whether in person or on the Internet. And the more we talk to them and share with them our experiences and the values that we hold tightly, the more likely our children will be able to deal with the pangs and bangs they endure in life, online and off. This is as they say, good teaching, good parenting.

I'm reminded of an old tale. A man falls into a deep hole in the ground. His repeated calls for help are unheard. And just when he's about to give up, another man appears at the top of the hole. But instead of lowering a rope, the would-be rescuer jumps into the hole. The first man is stunned and asks, "Are you crazy? What are you doing?" The second man replies with reassurance, "It's ok. I've been down here before. I know the way out."