Refutation

Gina has brought up a good argument. There is a major problem with children and online predators. The facts are there and proven.  Parents most definitely need to be more a part of their children's lives to protect them. Parents have to tip toe the line between protecting their children and pushing them over the edge. Pushy parenting can very easily lead a child in the wrong direction. Not providing enough protection can lead the child into carelessness. The suggestions that were given in the argument was to create passwords for your children or put security measures on things such as your child's phone and computer. These can easily make a child feel like they are being pushed over the edge which can cause them to do exactly what the parent was trying to prevent. This problem alone is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many greater problems that the youth face today that need to be addressed.

I believe that if more parents adopted the idea of teaching correct principles to their children it would not only help solve the problem children face with online predators, it would help solve drug and alcohol abuse in adolescence, it would decrease the number of children being abducted by strangers and decrease the victims of bullying along with many other problems out there in today's world.

The FBI website cites the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children stating every year about 58,000 children are abducted by non relatives with primarily sexual motives.  The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports in the year of 2013 7% of 8th graders, 18% of 10th graders and 22.7% of 12th graders used marijuana in the past month. This is an increase from the year of 2008 in which the same test was conducted. Another website titled Stopbullying states 28% of 6-12th graders experienced bullying, apporximately 30% admit to bullying, 70% say they have seen bullying in their schools. It also states when bystanders intervene, bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time.

So the question is, how do we get more people like the bystanders who stop bullying? How do we resolve the problem of drug or alcohol abuse or child abduction? The answer is simple. Teach your children correct principles in their youth and they will be able to govern for themselves. The Heritage Foundation website discussed 22 studies done on abstinence education. The studies were done on 12-18 year olds taught about sexual abstinence. Of these 22 studies, 17 reported statistically significant positive results while the other 5 did not report any significant results. Understanding these studies were done only on sexual abstinence, the same principle is applied to drugs, alcohol, stranger danger and bullying along with many more topics.

Have you ever had a friend whose parents were always involved in their life, always wanting reports and breathing down his or her neck? Maybe that was the kind of parenting style your own parents chose. This can have very serious negative effects. For example, try telling a teenager he or she cannot do a certain activity or hang out with a certain group of friends. What do you think they will do? They will do the exact opposite. They will engage in whatever activity the parent said not to or they will hang out with the group of friends the parent told them not to hang out with. When correct principles are taught to children and youth it has a different outcome. Instead of telling a child or youth they cannot do this or that, if they are taught correctly they will chose for themselves what is better. The example of teaching youth about sexual abstinence is a clear indicator of this.

The concern is much bigger than the things children do online or the websites or Apps they use. There are more issues out there that need to be looked at. The solution is simple. Teach children and youth correct principles and they will be able to govern for themselves. This is not only a solution to the first problem with online behavior, it is a solution to drugs and alcohol abuse in adolescence, bullying within the youth and stranger danger problems. These are all serious problems that need to be looked at and can be solved with one action.