Making Good Use of the Internet and How to Combat its Evils

Posted on September 10, 2007
Filed Under Blogging and the Internet, Information, Promoting Filipino Image | Viewed 951 times

Here’s an interesting read on making good the use of Internet—for our children, for our friends, for all of us, for our leaders. I suggest that you read the article in full.

Son, J Angelo on the J Spot gives us some tips on how to combat the evils (but of course there are many good things that the Internet brings) brought about by the new medium—Internet, like exploitation of women, children, and individuals in general.

The Internet is a powerful tool and medium that espouses and personifies freedom of information—this means information is both free to get, and free for you to disseminate and distribute, as you please.

So with the Internet, the flow of information is largely unrestricted. People exchange ideas freely. People communicate faster. And it has its pluses and minuses. Make Internet ito good use, like to educate, to provide information, to share experiences and knowledge, and yes since it it also the Internet that made way to the bad image of the Filipina, let’s use make use of it in now cleaning the image of the Filipina.

Here’s what I propose

Educate your kids on the dangers of the Internet. Teach them not to share personal and private information online. Teach them not to haphazardly post photographs online. Teach them to only talk to trusted people online. Teach them to be responsible with what they read and watch online.

Educate parents (most important!). Teach them how to use the Internet themselves; I’m aware most kids today are more tech-savvy than their folks. Teach parents about the benefits and the dangers of the online world. Teach them how to cope with the dangers, without necessarily having to curtail their children’s freedoms.

Educate lawmakers, law enforcers and their staff. Teach them how to handle the Internet as an entity. It cannot be contained by space or geography. Unless data itself resides on servers within a country’s soil, it may be difficult to prosecute within one’s jurisdiction. Help them keep up to date with the trends and issues.

Teach lawmakers and law enforcers how to handle the Internet as a medium. Can ISPs be held liable for serving access to pirated content? What about pornographic content? Can social media apps be held liable for questionable content that its users upload? Can blogs be liable for comments made by readers? It’s just like blaming the telephone company when you receive undesirable messages like death threats.

Teach respect. Earn respect.

Actively promote productive use of the Internet as a medium.

I would think the best way to keep people from engaging in illicit activities (crime, immorality, etc.) is to effect changes from within. Society’s ills cannot be solved by imposing expectations without first ensuring that the people’s attitudes are in tune with what society thinks is right. This would be unrealistic.

.....

If you try to impose filters on your home computer or … But if you help them learn about the sacredness of sex and the beauty of the human body (of course, in an interesting and non-boring way), I don’t think they will resort to pornography.

Same goes with your daughters. Teach them to be confident with themselves and to be smart, and they will be less likely taken advantage of (by the teenaged boys whose parents impose filters and restrictions.

Read more of J Angelo’s article in The J Spot—Why Government Needs More People Like us.

Comments

12 Responses to “Making Good Use of the Internet and How to Combat its Evils”

sasha on September 10th, 2007 2:54 pm

Very interesting article. I will read the full version in JAngelo’s blog…

Happy Monday, tita!

SexyMom: thanks, Sasha, happy Monday, too.
Lorie Locara on September 10th, 2007 4:56 pm

Wow. Mrs. Racoma, you really hit the nail on the head. Self-esteem. But you know, paminsan, needs and materialism overcome self-esteem. I mean, I know people who know people who are middle class and seem ok on the outside, but they actually resort to being kept women, etc., simply because they like the stuff that comes along with being kept by a DOM. And one of these women come from an upscale Christian university in my city. The university I studied in.

Honestly, the thought skirted my mind, too. But what kept me from succumbing to the crazy thoughts were

1) my pride in my being a woman
2) the ethics of hard work and succeeding on your own as imparted by my parents
3) my love for God.

But the basic impetus was: I wanted a better cellphone at that time.

Thank God He gave me better opportunities and a way to earn online and with my talents! Because had I succumbed to crazy thoughts, I would be a worse basket case than I am now.

As for our women who succumb to that, it’s a matter of three things:

1) extreme poverty and desperation and seeing no better way out
2) the lure of the “big bucks” of porn
3) no moral backbone to keep them from sliding.

But the first two can actually be combatted if the woman has principles to live on and the assurance that she has other options.

You are right that as parents we have to educate. As a society we have to educate each other too. While Filipinos are prone to blaming the government, that tactic is passe. Today is the day that we as individuals should not rely on the government to do the bulk of the work.

The best we can do to alleviate the poverty of this nation is to pray and to give more of our resources and our selves for others. Because there is a universal law that the more you give the more you will receive, right?

So anyway, as usual, this is a blog-within-a-blog.. Just sharing my thoughts, Mrs. Racoma.

Hope our country wakes up.

Lorie

SexyMom: thanks for your thoughts, Lorie. i do appreciate—would you like to submit your blog-within-a-blog to our other blog “The Filipina Images”? It would be good material (http://filipinaimages.com).

oh, btw—credit the writing to my son, J Angelo. he was actually the one who wrote those things, which i really have wanted to write about. since he has written them beautifully, i felt i didn’t need to re-invent the wheel, so to say:)
liz on September 10th, 2007 8:54 pm

sex is sacred?

SexyMom: Yes, dear Liz http://www.newconnexion.net/article/05-00/Anapol.html, which says:
1. First, Sacred Sexuality, implies an awareness that sex is the inception of life, of all that is. Without the sexual act, none of us would exist – at least not as incarnate bodies. Sacred Sexuality acknowledges that our life force and our sexual energy originate from the same source. It’s an expression of awe wonder that transcends any particular culture.

2. Sex is sacred because of its role in bonding. Mutually satisfying sexual exchanges naturally intensify bonding, but sex can take place without bonding if we’re careful to keep our hearts closed. Sex opens the heart only if we bring the energy up. The Tantric attitudes of slowing down, awakening all of the senses, tuning in to subtle energy, letting go of judgment and blame, expressing gratitude for the gift of life, and savoring the present moment are wonderfully supportive tools for intimate relating.

To bond with someone is to form an enduring connection—to feel a strong sense of mutual caring, intimacy, and appreciation. Bonding satisfies our need to belong and can occur in the absence of sex whenever a powerful shared experience creates a feeling of kinship. Not only is bonding critical to survival for many species, it supports health and happiness. People live longer and have fewer problems when they have a family-social-community context. Sex helps bring people together and keep them together. What else could motivate us to overcome the difficulties we encounter in intimate relating? Love making is more fun and more readily available than natural disasters, war, and other life threatening situations.

3. Sex is sacred because of its role in accessing peak experiences of love, oneness, and healing. Humans have an innate need for peak experiences of bliss, merging, and ecstasy. We have a deep longing for the (re) union of sex and spirit, for union with the Divine. When we access expanded states of consciousness through sex we validate our intuitive sense that sex can be worship and that worship can be erotic. Tantra and other paths of Erotic Spirituality teach us to embrace and honor the body as a temple of Spirit, rather than trying to deny our natural sexual impulses.
Rach on September 10th, 2007 11:47 pm

Thanks Dine for sharing this very informative and timely post. I agree, the internet is a powerful tool and web users should be responsible for the information they share. Exploiting children and women in exchange of online rewards should be given due punishment.
benj on September 11th, 2007 12:18 am

The evils of the internet?! Lorraine Belmonte (from THAT Media In Focus episode) should be a good resource person. haha
jhay on September 11th, 2007 8:29 am

This is not to offend anyone who’s parent, especially you SexyMom, but I find teaching adults older than me, especially my parents, to use the internet safely and productively a very challenging task.

But it sure is a fun experience and a chance to get closer to them on a whole new level.
Kyels on September 11th, 2007 12:50 pm

I agree with those points above. Educating children about the pros and cons of the Internet will help to combat unwanted events. It’s challenging but worth the try.

[:
Major Tom on September 11th, 2007 3:09 pm

These are very veritable advises and Angelo should be lauded for posting about the importance of guidance on the proper use of the Internet, especially by very young persons. My children have already started to tinker with the net at home and I started to be anxious if they ever be able to use it properly.
haze on September 11th, 2007 4:57 pm

Very informative ! Thanks for sharing these Tita Dine, I am a young mother and these would help me to teach my children in the future ! Anyway, there are also parental guidance on the internet !

Oppps I never call sex sacred co’z you can do it with anyone! But making love is sacred ! Have a nice week ahead !

SexyMom: see comment no 3, dear Haze.
Rowena on September 11th, 2007 6:06 pm

Hi Dine, thanks for sharing this article and thanks to your son too. My kids (10 & 6 yrs. old) are so engrossed doing their friendster thing. I’ve been telling them to be cautious and not to talk or chat online with anybody. I make sure I’m in the room everytime they use the internet.
chateau on September 11th, 2007 11:03 pm

Those are exactly what i’ve been telling Patch – not to disclose personal info such as complete name, address, etc; not to talk to strangers or even accept friend requests if you don’t know the person. i tell her the internet is a great place for learning, but it i tell her too that, just like a real place/city, there are bad people. Of course I know all her passwords to her accounts, so I do regular checks!
julie on September 12th, 2007 9:09 am

Thanks for sharing this,Dine.Now that Trixie has started an interest in blogging, I reinforced the precautionary measures I have told her before about disclosing personal info.