Without doubt, the Internet has become so widespread in today’s world.
While we can appreciate it as one of the important developments in communication, we also know that the Internet can be an instrument for evil, although of course we realize that the dangers ascribed to the Internet are not exclusive to it—the harmful effects of the web are equally spread through other means of communication such as television and print.
The ethical problem of the Internet is the problem of how to use it correctly, or how to foster the virtues necessary to use it properly, both on the part of the one who puts the information on the web, and the one who makes use of it. Making good use of the Internet means that it should be used for something specific–looking for specific information, knowing where to find it (or employing a search engine that is well-known, such as Google), seeking to purchase a specific product, etc. There is no sense in going on the Internet simply because one has time to kill.
While it is a great thing that children these days are so technically savvy (I feel embarrassed at how far behind I am compared even to my grandchildren!), their use of the Internet (often for video games) must be guided in the sense that they must be taught to balance their free time—spending time with friends or siblings, going outdoors, visiting museums or the theater and acquiring the habit of reading. It has been found that children who spend all their time in front of the computer or smart phones lose their ability to socialize or relate with other people.
Moreover, children and adolescents have not yet matured and acquired stable moral virtues, thus making them more susceptible to negative influences.
We all know how the Internet has been used to ensnare young people to pornography, gambling and the peddling of other vicious information. This is why parents and adults responsible for young people must be very vigilant.
In many instances, parents are technically challenged, and this is why it is important that parents must “learn and practice the skills of discerning viewers and listeners and readers, acting as models of prudent use of media in the home,” as stated in the Vatican document, “Church and the Internet.”
Parental supervision should include making sure that filtering technology is used in computers available to children in order to protect them from the threat of virtual monsters who prey on the very young. Parents should encourage their children to report to them anything they find strange or uncomfortable.
How can parents ensure that their children are safe from these unwelcome intrusions into the minds of their children?
Of course, filters and the installation of secure systems may be offered, which may cost them something. A simple way of ensuring that children do not wander into dangerous territory is to locate computers (and television sets for that matter) in a part of the house that is more or less “public,” which has a lot of traffic.
It is not a good idea to have individual computers (and television sets) in the rooms of the children, especially if they are still very young. The same prudence applies to older children, such as teenagers, who are as much a target of internet predators.
It is however not a good idea to “forbid” the use of the internet, because information media is very much a part of our world today. Moreover, smart phones which are now very much in use, can circumvent that “public” presence. Thus parents must exercise prudence and vigilance in accordance with the ages of their children.
In the end, the ethical use of the internet must really depend on the moral virtues and the proper convictions of mature adults who are responsible for children and young people, as in the case of parents and teachers (who are surrogate parents outside of the home), as well as of their own selves. The technical means of protection are simply aids to the proper use of the internet, and while the prudent adult knows that he can rely on these to help him, he must always be convinced of his role as a child of God who loves his neighbor as himself.