Flirting with danger
With a United Nations conference discussing the future of the Internet currently in the headlines, it’s old news that the World Wide Web can be a dangerous place for anyone, especially teenagers and young children.
It used to be hard to connect with corrupting influences. Now it’s only a click away, and the temptation can be overwhelming for many a good person. Despite our best attempts to keep kids safe from the negative aspects of the Internet, children are finding the Web to be a playground of forbidden delights, and we as a society are paying and will pay the price of their corruption.
Myspace.com is one such place in the labyrinth of cyberspace where kids can lose themselves. If you have a computer, check it out. Simply type in a local high school and hundreds of “profiles” will pop up. You can learn quite a bit about the next generation from what they choose to post. Some are fun and innocent. Some are sexually explicit. Some even offer phone numbers to get a hold of illegal drugs.
We all know kids are not angels. The Internet is just a new form for them to display their rebellious nature. This will never change. However, the most disturbing aspect of the Web culture is schoolchildren posting their vital information on the Web for all the world to see – child abusers and perverts alike.
While it may seem harmless enough to post personal information on the Web, parents, school officials and police are wising up to the dangers sites like myspace.com can have for our young people. See our page one story discussing these local, regional and national efforts.
We all need to watch out for our kids’ safety. While we post signs on the roadside begging drivers to slow down and watch out for children, we need to do something similar for these same children exploring the Internet. While sites where personal information will probably never lose popularity, ultimately parents need to sternly warn their kids to watch out for strangers on the Web. Schools, local police and organizations like Perverted Justice can only do so much, and normally it’s too late by the time they find out. Parents, who guard their children’s physical and mental well-being, need to be proactive in defending their children online from similar threats to physical, emotional and spiritual safety.
Reduce their Internet time. Tell them to go play with real friends, not just virtual ones. Convince them to read a book. Kids will play with the forbidden domain of the Internet as long and as carefree as their parents let them.
Time for a new bridge
It was exciting to hear this week that plans for a new bridge over the Naples causeway are in the works and that the public seems to support the idea. Sure, traffic will be disturbed during the months of construction, as many lamented during the meeting, but as Naples Rep. Rich Cebra says, this project is for future generations, not only our own.
A temporary bridge, as proposed, should offer much-needed rerouting capabilities while the bridge is being rebuilt. In South Windham, the temporary bridge has been critical in diverting traffic from the main bridge. This allows for three things: First, it gets travelers off the main bridge providing a safer work zone for constantly imperiled construction workers. Second, it allows work to be continuous, meaning completion will come quicker. Third, it’s cheaper because the construction company, and therefore the state, doesn’t have to pay flagmen. That’s a win-win-win that should prevent long lines of traffic during construction.
Despite the short-term misery construction will bring, this project is crucial to traffic flow through Naples. Arguments abound for economic development. And anyone who’s sat in Naples summer traffic halted by a vessel’s seemingly interminable journey underneath the bridge should applaud these plans. For Naples, this is definitely a bridge to the 21st century.
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