Bread for the Journey
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Every day more and more families are discovering how useful the Internet can be. Computer users can access real-time sports results, the latest news, extensive travel information, today's stock prices, world-class museums, and countless games and entertainment trivia. For just about any topic, whatever information you want is probably somewhere on the Internet. And as government assistance enables more and more schools to get connected, the Internet is becoming an invaluable educational tool. Schools, libraries, and community groups, as well as business and industry, are making widespread use of it.
Unfortunately, this technology comes at a different kind of price. Some people online believe that the rule of law can't or shouldn't apply in Cyberspace. Some feel that the apparent anonymity of the Internet relieves them of responsibility for their actions. Some suggest that the strength of the Internet is its vast diversity, and they do not want any regulation to cut down on that diversity. Meanwhile, some of the highest traffic on the Web is to pornography sites, while other sites purvey hatred of particular groups and still others are simply new opportunities for old-time confidence artists.
The Internet - A Shared Responsibility Some argue that the Internet is too big and complex ever to be controlled. There are loopholes in every suggested solution, including turning over to parents the problem of protecting their children—as if it were possible (or even desirable) for parents to be with their children twenty-four hours a day. The complexity of the Internet, however, does not require giving up on it. It means that there is shared responsibility not only to protect children but also to ensure that the Internet contributes to society's civility, harmony, and the maintenance of moral standards. Otherwise it can easily become primarily a vehicle for the propagators of hate, violence, and obscenity.
It is neither just nor realistic for parents to shoulder the entire burden—how can parents always be there at the school or library, or when disks are swapped on the school bus? However, parents do have a very important role, beginning with the Christian atmosphere they provide in the home and continuing with their interest and involvement in their children's internet use. Just as some parents restrict TV watching in their homes to an hour or less each day, or even maintain TV-free homes, so, too, parents have the option to restrict internet use in the home to a relatively brief period of time each day.
Source: USCCB
