[SoftwareMaven]

I don't even know how to respond. It is not a fabricated concern because it happened to my kids' babysitter in my house.

Having experience with what happens when a kid goes down a pornography rabbit hole, the worst that can happen is a screwed up life. Will seeing porn guarantee a screwed up kid? Of course not. Does porn have the ability to screw a kid up? Yes.

I'll take a few steps to keep my kids and those who come to my house safe so I have the opportunity to provide a foundation so when they come across it, they aren't screwed up by it.

[CamperBob]

If information can damage your children, you made some terrible mistakes as a parent.

[SoftwareMaven]

Kids are not miniature adults with the same ability to reason about and process data as adults. Scary movies ae "just information", yet can leave scars on some kids that don't fade for a long time.

I realize the HN crowd is strongly libertarian and wants to believe in individuals having full control of themselves and their environments. I'm drawn to that because I have similar beliefs. But that is something kids grow into. My oldest is almost there, my youngest is not even close.

My generation was the latch key generation. Parents didn't want to be bothered with kids. That gave rise to the overprotected generation (which, believe it or not, my wife and I have spent a lot of effort keeping our kids out of). Maybe we are cycling back to an under-protected philosophy, but I will have no part in that.

You can make whatever assumptions you want about my parenting and even vote accordingly (even though I've tried to keep within the bounds of HN commenting, when it comes to kids, I get passionate and may have stepped out of the lines). I'm comfortable with my four well-adjusted, successful, experimental kids. That is all I care about, though having come from a shitty childhood, I will try to give others information I've gleaned through research and experience to prevent their kids from experiencing the same. I have no problem with them telling me to go to hell.

Oh, and, really, you think you can tell me I've made terrible mistakes as a parent when you know nothing about me but a few sentences you've read on the Internet? You feel good about that?

[CamperBob]

Kids are not miniature adults with the same ability to reason about and process data as adults.

Correct, which is why you walk them through the process the first few times. Your approach is to hide the information and hope for the best.

But that is something kids grow into

No, it is not. Reasoning is a skill, and an understanding of human psychological impulses and drives is something that should be part of a child's upbringing. This can and should start as soon as the child's old enough to read or watch TV.

Oh, and, really, you think you can tell me I've made terrible mistakes as a parent when you know nothing about me but a few sentences you've read on the Internet? You feel good about that?

Sure. Your kids are eventually going to be voting on what information adults can and cannot have access to, and it sounds like you're not preparing them to make decisions I'd agree with. So I'm objecting as strongly as I can without crossing any lines.