Making the Web Safe for Kids

The following discussion is intended for an adult audience. Skip this and go to Kids Sites if you are under 18.

Content

• Introduction
• The Problem Is Not Unknown
• Frequently Visited Sites
• Ease of Access to Pornography
• The Current Web Audience
• What to Do?

Introduction

Today, the World Wide Web is rapidly changing our world. To truly grasp the essence of this change you have to explore the Web, where links instantly transport you from one web site to another in an endless chain. The result is often surprising, thrilling and even breathtaking. You discover places you could not have imagined existed. You can go from the Smithsonian to the Whitehouse, from the Hands on Children's Museum to the Louvre, from the Library of Congress to Lawrence Hall at UC Berkeley, from Intel to Microsoft, from Disney World to NASA, from Sea World to the CIA….instantly! The greatness of the World Wide Web is that it provides a platform for unlimited information and communication resources, and rich and varied multimedia presentations on virtually any subject that may interest you—all at virtually no charge.

The World Wide Web prides itself on being a forum for free expression. No one controls or monitors the Web. It relies on the good intentions of countless creative and ingenious developers and self-appointed protectors. As you might imagine, along with all the best of our culture, there are also offerings that appeal to the worst. The Web is not free of hate groups, pedophiles, drug pushers, and pornographers. For these individuals the Web has become a platform from which they can pursue their interests, shielded by First Amendment guarantees of free speech. Of course, the price of living in a society that allows free expression is that material that many find offensive, degrading, and even harmful can still be disseminated. And so it happens that, just as many fine and useful products and ideas are found on the Web, so also is found much that is not.

It is because the Web is open and free, with a reach that extends beyond national boundaries, that it presents a unique challenge to the cultural values and beliefs of families. Literally anyone with a computer and modem can post information that can be accessed by anyone else—of any age. The obvious example is the open availability of sexually explicit pictures, animation, and video clips—in a word: pornography.

Not only pornography, but other more dangerous material is also present—material preaching racial, ethnic, and religious hatred, material on bomb-making, on government sedition, on terrorism—material that would be illegal if distributed through the U.S. Postal System—all of it readily available to anyone who knows how to search for it. Further, Web sites in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world permit material that is utterly beyond acceptance by most Americans—material involving children, bestiality, sado-maso-chism, and other forms of pornography. It is no exaggeration to say that there are literally tens of thousands of web sites offering such material.

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The Problem Is Not Unknown

The availability and popularity of pornography on the Web has been known by principals involved in the industry for a long time. Nine of the top ten newsgroup sites on the Web have to do with pornography (Hahn, 1996, p. 268).

Source: Hahn, 1996.

Those who count visits to Web sites report that pornographic sites are, by far, the most popular. Many such providers gauge the success of their enterprise by the number of customers they serve. The Persian Kitty, for example, is one of the most popular adult sites, offering links to numerous other adult related sites. As can be seen from the "counter" on its page, the site has been accessed more than 13 million times:

The Web-Counter, which tracks daily traffic on the Web, provides a list of the most frequently visited sites. Following is their list for May 11, 1996 (by way of comparison, the Smithsonian receives about 1,500 Web visitors a day):

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Frequently Visited Sites

Because of the powerful multimedia format the Web provides, pornography distributors have flocked to it. The Web philosophy of "no censorship" has allowed them to operate on the Web with relative impunity.

Source: Web-Counter Top 10 Usage List, May 11, 1996. (www.digits.com/top/all_10.html)

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Ease of Access to Pornography

What is particularly disturbing about pornography on the Web is that it is so easily accessed by anyone.

Using the popular search engine Yahoo, for example, one can simply type the word "adult," hit Enter, and links to hundreds of adult sites will display:

Children and young people using the Web can easily access this material, from where they can begin a descent into an almost unending world of pornography. It is no exaggeration that some of the pornographic material available on the Web goes beyond the believable (see Biggar & Myers, 1996). In their competition to attract viewers, pornographers provide material that would constitute a felony if distributed by mail. Clearly, such material is not only inappropriate for children, but potentially harmful.

In its early beginnings the Web was essentially free of pornography. However, during the last two years literally tens of thousands of web sites dedicated to distributing adult oriented material have sprung up. This was not viewed as a serious problem as long as the Web was not considered a place that children might and could explore. However, recently a vast and rich offering of subjects of interest to children has arisen on the Web—Bill Nye the Science Guy, Disney, Discovery and more. In accessing this material children are exposed to, or certainly in danger of being exposed to, the Web’s vast offering of pornographic material.

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The Current Web Audience

Children, in fact, constitute a small part of current Web users—less than 5 percent. Women are also a small part of the Web audience. Today, the typical user of the World Wide Web is a 29 year-old single male with greater than average interest and expertise in computers. Current designers of Web browsers have designed their product to meet the needs of this core audience. Browser design has focused on power, speed, high tech, and "hip." There has been virtually no attempt to provide security against unwanted material of concern to the family, which is regarded as prudish and "uncool."

In a sense, software providers have simply not understood how serious the problem of pornography on the Web is to the average family. If the problem remains unanswered, it will eventually restrict access and opportunity to many who might otherwise benefit from what the Web has to offer.

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What to Do?

While most mature adults are not adversely effected by such material, some users—children and youth—are not so immune. There is a considerable body of research that shows that young children are often seriously impacted by such material (although, for obvious reasons, there is limited experimental data—children cannot be experimented on as though they were laboratory animals). The clinical research demonstrates that children exposed to pornography will have it show up in dreams and nightmares. This type of material is very confusing and highly emotionally charged for children and can have serious long term consequences on emotional and ego development. That’s why exposing minors—intentionally or unintentionally—is considered child sexual abuse.

Nevertheless, there is a cavalier attitude toward the issue of pornography on the Web by many in the Internet community. One writer, Daniel Barrett (1996, p. 145), even suggests that it is a myth that "Children are being exposed to sex-related material on the Internet against their will." (emphasis added). In our society, children are not asked to judge this issue. Rather, pornographic material is kept out of their reach or sight. It is the responsibility of parents and schools not to leave such material out in plain view or where it can be easily found.

The question is, how to protect young people from exposure to such material? For it is the children—in a strange turnabout of knowledge and abilities—who have become in many homes the most expert users of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Today, children in their fascination with this technology have come to know more about how and where to find forbidden material than most adults!

Considering this, what should concerned parents do? Forbid their children from using the Internet entirely, and thereby exclude them from the wealth of knowledge and information it offers? Or should they support laws that attempt to regulate the Internet simply because a child may be eavesdropping on what is said? Most informed adults consider attempts to censor the Internet not only ridiculous and futile, but also a violation of First Amendment rights. Further, how can U.S. laws regulate what is posted on the Internet from Denmark, Thailand, Brazil, China or Japan?

Most Internet pornographers recognize that their material is not appropriate for children, and often (but not always) warn users who land on their sites that they are about to see pornographic material.

Most require the user to click a link which affirms that they are 18 or older. The problem is that there is no way of determining how old the person really is who clicks yes to this question. Further, most such sites provide provocative and enticing language designed to draw the viewer in, not keep them out.

For children such warnings obviously do not prevent entry. In fact, they often arouse curiosity to explore the forbidden. While they may provide legal protection to the vendor, such warnings provide minimal protection to children or assurance for parents.

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