Well I was on the internet as a child too and I dont think children should be on the internet at all. They should be outside. Bringing back free range childhood is the only way. Parents need to talk to each other and create new norms. Legislation needs to be passed to make sure there are robust community spaces for kids to hang out in every community as an alternative to letting them online. Any internet access should be on sites equivalent to webkinz and club penguin and should be done for limited time periods on a desktop in a family room where the parents can know what's going on. Anything more than that before like 16 should get the parent shamed, it should not be socially acceptable.
True, and this responsibility falls squarely on parent's shoulders. If children are seeing inappropriate material on the internet, if they're interacting with strangers in dangerous or unsecure ways, if they're oversharing sensitive information on public forums and webpages, the blame lies entirely with the parents. There is no amount of social or legal change that will actually result in the real protection of children, unfortunately. Not even at the cost a lot of governments are about to make their citizens pay.
As a parent, responsibility for your children's safety begins and ends with you, 100%.
