Do you have children?

mapotofu 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I do. I also grew up on 4chan because I didn’t have an involved parent, and I lived in the suburbs where finding friends to just “go outside and play” wasn’t an option. Consuming that content was genuinely hurtful and probably forever altered my psyche. I have the means and knowledge, in technical skill and life experience, to know how these things work, and protect my kids from that. Most people don’t.

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huflungdung 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Haven’t you considered that the fact you were exposed to these things made you who you are today am able to say that with conviction. If you had been shielded from the reality on human extremism you would not.

	▲	financltravsty 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Vouched, because this was going to be my counterpoint as someone who had the same circumstances as the grandparent. Despite the enormously heinous stuff I've seen on that site, it has made me a better writer, developed my critical thinking skills, and given me a perspective on the world and its people that wouldn't have existed without. It also introduced me to many different things and developed my taste beyond measure. The massive downside, that I suspect the grandparent still wrestles with, is integrating all of depravity of humankind into a coherent world view without falling into cognitive dissonance between the idealized and constructed world with an onslaught of information on the actual reality of it. It's sort of like looking into the Epstein files and having to decide one's reaction to them: - crushed by despair at the state of things leading to nihilism and depression - deciding to ignore it all, and continuing to go on about one's life without integrating it - acceptance, normalization, and corruption - a secret fourth option that reaffirms you, using that news as fuel for whatever ends in the hope you can improve the world even if just a little bit, despite how ugly it is And so on.

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gleenn 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Raising children is hard but assuming everyone has to sacrifice their rights so your job is easier means everyone means everyone loses long term.

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oarsinsync 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Or this should be done at point of sale, like we do with all controlled substances.

We don't sell bottles containing alcohol and then expect to filter the alcohol out if the child wants to drink from it. We have two different bottles: alcoholic bottles and non-alcoholic bottles. If you are a child, you cannot purchase the former.

Stop selling unrestricted computing devices to children. Require a person to be 18+ to purchase an unrestricted internet device. Make it clear that unrestricted internet access, like alcohol and nicotine (and the list goes on) is harmful to children. That resolves 90% of the problem.

And lets be fair, the problem isn't the children. Children want what all their peers have. The problem isn't their peers. The problem is the parents. Give the spineless parents a simpler way to say no to their children, and the overall problem goes away.