Would You Let Your Child Play in a Brothel?

Imagine the route between your home and your child's school went past a casino, an adult bookstore and a neo-Nazi clubhouse. You'd probably drive your kid to school. Or, at the very least, you'd have some detailed parental advice about the perils of the real world.

The virtual world has all these things and more. But parents often don't do any parenting when it comes to the Internet because they have less experience with the Internet than their children do. However, children are still inexperienced about people even if they know how to start a Facebook account or post a YouTube video.

This Los Angeles Times article, written by a family therapist, urges parents to continue parenting when their children go online.

The author discusses a popular YouTube video where a pre-pubescent girl asks the world whether she is pretty or ugly. To this adult she seems painfully vulnerable and waaay too young to put herself in front of the anonymous millions online, some of whom entertain themselves by making anonymous cruel comments.

Here are the discussion questions...

•Have you ever seen a child get involved with Internet content that he or she is too young for?
•Have you ever seen a friend, relative or classmate post a video that you knew was a bad idea?
•What advice should parents give their children about the Internet?
•What should schools teach children about the perils of the Internet? Should they add it to health class?