Websurfing without parental guidance
Automated disclaimer: This post was written more than 15 years ago and I may not have looked at it since.
Older posts may not align with who I am today and how I would think or write, and may have been written in reaction to a cultural context that no longer applies. Some of my high school or college posts are just embarrassing. However, I have left them public because I believe in keeping old web pages alive—and it's interesting to see how I've changed.
Kids spend a lot of time on the way.)
These kids were completely vulnerable to any and every banner, text, pop-up, pop-under, and slide-over ad. They clicked on every special offer, game, survey, and punch-the-monkey they encountered. Last I saw, they were going for 100 free frequent-flier miles. They had no sense of being gimmicked and lied to, and divulged absolutely any information that was requested of them — the perfect little informants.
Might adblocking software help to some degree? I use the Doubtful. (This ties into the larger question of whether and how much people need to be protected from themselves.) Obviously, education at a young age is the best strategy. Perhaps you could teach it to kids as if it were a game. “Let’s go surfing! Can you spot the traps? Good! Oops, you missed one, those tricky advertisers.” Train ’em right from the beginning on how to spot ulterior motives. It’ll do them (and you) good.
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