The bad effects of chatting?
A children’s magazine I read, has started a column on the internet. It’s article on the month April was about “Safe Surfing”. Here is a bit of it about the bad effects of chatting :-
“”
Simi was at home studying for exams. Her parents were at a wedding. Her brother had gone to play cricket.”I need a break,” she decided.Without a second thought, she switched on the computer, and connected to the internet.
Tring! A chat window opened.
Sweetie_Cutie invited her for a chat. ‘Hey! I wanna chat with you’
“”
Excuse me, what is this marvelous internet connection that Simi is got that automatically brings in a so called “chat invitation” from someone she didn’t know? She didn’t go to any public chat rooms. She didn’t launch a single browser window or a single program.But wait, there is more of it…Sweetie_Cutie and Simi have started chatting.
“”
Sweetie_Cutie : Mumbai…yaar… and you? Simi, iz it your real name?
Simi: me too! Yeah that is my real name!
“”
Oh wow..Simi’s internet connection is so wonderful that it automatically recognised Simi was at the computer.This set me thinking…are the so called “Safe surfing” articles we have got(at least here on India) blown out of proportion? Do they really tell the truth about the bad effects of the internet?
Yeah magazine articles can sometimes be like that. They condense the action and use a dash of artistic license to make the story more interesting and run more smoothly.
Its not really blowing stuff out of proportion, just painting the scene for the reader with fewer, well chosen strokes of the brush using a more vivid palette (much like this self-absorbed comment - LOL).
Thanks for that insightful comment, kandyx. Yes, I guess saying that it was blown out of proportion was a bit far, but making it seem like online predators are waiting to jump out on you as soon as you connect to the internet…
We should chat but at that time when we understand difference between right and wrong.