[striking]

As someone who recently grew out of his teens, I would respectfully have to disagree with your comment.

I'm a product of the internet too. The internet helped me keep friends that would otherwise not stay in touch, helped me make new friends, helped me learn and grow and become my own person. I've had jobs and internships, and I owe the vast majority of the knowledge required in those to... the internet.

If you choose to waste your time mindlessly watching empty YouTube videos, if you choose to spend your time at social events finding the optimal selfie position rather than enjoying yourself... then that's on you. But there are many adolescents that choose to use the internet responsibly.

And that's what a responsible parent understands. That their child is not just an extension of them but an entirely new and different person. Good parents don't bubblewrap their kids when they play on the playground. They educate their kids on how to play responsibly, and deal with the fallout when their kids get hurt.

The internet is not an irresistible and all-corrupting force. It is a tool, and becomes only what you make of it.

[Sentialia]

There are various 'tools' which parents do not allow children to use unsupervised simply because they are cautious of the negative effects. For example, would you allow a child to operate vehicles, kitchen utilities, or weapons alone?

I agree with your point of educating kids to play responsibly, but this does not mean allowing them to do whatever they want in a dangerous territory.

[striking]

Dangerous tools like knives or vehicles can cause instantaneous wounding or death when used improperly. Comparing those to the internet is wrong. Especially since your argument started with

> The internet has evolved from being a source of knowledge into a cancerous entity that craves complete and utter assimilation of any decency humans might have.

Is this about decency, or about instant death? You can't move the goalposts like that.

Additionally, I believe we were talking about adolescents, which are entirely capable of operating vehicles or at the very least kitchen utilities. I would indeed allow a teenager to use a kitchen knife unsupervised, with the proper education.

I'm simply not convinced that the so-called "dangers" out there on the internet are so bad you must ignore all the good that the internet can bring. I'm sorry you find the internet indecent, but "the majority of teenagers" you speak for might not really need freeing. Rock and roll and weed and premarital sex still exist, and somehow kids still seem to grow up fine.