PCs dangerous for kids: Bill Gates
p2pnet.net news:- Microsoft’s Bil(lionaire) Gates says non-controlled use of a PC can be dangerous. For children.
So Bill and his wife Melinda have ruled Jennifer [their daughter, 10] can spend 45 minutes a day of total screen time for games and an hour a day on weekends, “plus what time she needs for homework,” says Reuters.
The revelation came when Gates was in Canada investing in Aids.
“Of course the entire pronouncement had a second purpose too: to introduce the new Microsoft’s new Vista software, that ‘enables parents to control the Web sites their kids go to and also includes an audit log that records sites they have visited and whom they’ve been Instant Messaging’,” observes Salem-News.com.
Also See:
Reuters – Gates sets limits on kids’ online time, February 22, 2007
investing in Aids – Bill Gates’ AIDs investment, February 21, 2007
Salem-News.com – Bill Gates Restricts his Child from Using Internet, February 22, 2007
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February 23rd, 2007 at 11:42 am
It’s a real shame that we as a people feel the need to not only censor the content our children see, but also monitor it too. Yes, I know that there are things on this great big Internet of ours that should never see the light of day, let alone the eyes of a child, but that doesn’t mean that we should constantly be violating our children’s privacy and free speech rights with censorware.
Censorware alone was bad enough, but logs cross the line from parental concern into Big Brother-style snooping. Trying to block sites is one thing. Logging what sites are actually accessed at any given time by someone else is quite another. If you are a parent and you are tempted to use logging software on your kids, ask yourself, “Am I really that much better than the Chinese government in doing this?”
Censorware and logs aren’t the answer to keeping kids safe online. No-nonsense education and trust are. Just like with other parental controls, children will one day come across a device with said controls disabled or non-existent. In this increasingly electronic world of ours, that day may come sooner that you think, and reliance on the controls alone without giving proper guidance will only encourage kids to find non-restrictive access to what they want.
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:54 am
___Censorware and logs aren’t the answer to keeping kids safe online. No-nonsense education and trust are. ___
As a home-schooling parent, I couldn’t agree more.
Cheers!
February 24th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Gates was saying same thing at launch of Vista few weeks ago in UK on the BBC.
February 26th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
“violating our children’s privacy and free speech rights with censorware.”
Children have privacy and free speech? In what context? To what extent? Do parents have any amount of responsibility that weighs heavier than a child’s “rights”? How do you feel about government having power that superscedes the rights of an individual?
The truth is, you’d have us running around with nobody in charge, which would mean having those with the greatest brute force or numbers in charges. Anarchy is just that–anarchy.
Give your pseudo-philosophizing a rest. Probably just a teenager who doesn’t want to be told what to do, aren’t you?
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Friend
Don’t feed the trolls