Parental Rights to Monitor Internet Usage

Abstract

Technological advances do not occur in isolation of the society in which they are intended to be used. As the demand, evolution, and maturation of computing technologies continues to increase, the price of entry computer may now have several computing devices for each member of the family (Ketchum Global Research Network, 2005). Technologies, for the most part, are not developed to be bound by social or ethical norms (Hansson & Palm, in press). Just as a gun can do no harm unless it is used by an individual with malicious intent, so too is the case with computing technologies. A chat room that is frequented by children for the purposes of casual conversation and exchange of ideas can also be used by a pedophile to recruit children to exploit for purposes of cybersex, cyberporn, molestation, or other socially reprehensible and criminal purposes. In addition to inappropriate uses of technology, ethically questionable material, such as instructions on how to build a bomb, manufacture illegal drugs, and access child pornography, can be found on the Internet.