How COPPA Teaches Children to Lie, article.
Children are getting online at ever-younger ages these days, sometimes with sites like Facebook, and sometimes for school requirements. But did you know that many major online services, including those from Google, Apple, and Facebook, don’t allow children under 13 to join at all, thanks to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act? The end result is that parents are being forced to teach their children to lie online.
It's typical. We always go overboard, especially with "protecting the children".
Same with child labor laws. Because there once was a problem with exploitive child labor, now it's forbidden in most of the western world for children to work at all, which cripples children's sense of self-worth, and their chance of earning their own money for the things they want.
Another quote:
...in response to the question, “Who should have the final say about whether or not your child should be able to use Web sites and online services?” 93 percent of respondents said the parent should. 3 percent felt the company providing the service should have the final say. And amusingly, only 2 percent said that the government should have the final say, which matched exactly with the 2 percent of parents who said that the child should have the final say. (Snarky logic would thus conclude that parents trust the government and their children equally in this regard. Speaking as the parent of a 12-year-old who can’t be relied on to tie his shoes, that’s not a ringing endorsement of governmental regulation.)
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Speaking as the parent of a 12-year-old who can’t be relied on to tie his shoes
ReplyDeleteThe next Doogie Howser?
COPPA was a serious pain in my backside when it was first introduced over 10 years ago now. We were running an internet forum, specifically targeted towards young adolescents. The site offered (and to this day, offers, though without my involvement) information on a whole range of topics that youngsters are faced with (puberty, sexuality, relationships, fitting in, and so much more). From one day to the next, without any prior notice or debate that I know of, COPA and COPPA were introduced, and all of a sudden we were no longer allowed members under the age of 13.
ReplyDeleteApparently, 12 year olds adolescents are not allowed to discuss, well, anything on the internet. Sigh.
Sure, anyone can get around it by lying about their age, but that's not the point. The point is that some dickwad in an office in some fucked up conservative part of the world unilaterally decided to fuck every webmaster and young teen in the bum.