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27/03/07 : Springtime and kids

After a false start a couple of weeks ago, spring seems to have arrived. I like the different seasons, but get fed up with winter once christmas is out of the way.

The warmer weather makes me feel sort of "free" - perhaps due to not having to keep windows shut or wear protective gear just to leave the house. So to celebrate this feeling of freedom I thought I'd climb a tree (this primate-based habit hasn't left me yet) and take some pictures of the kids!

I saw my dad for the first time in years recently and in our conversation he expressed concern about pictures of our kids being on the net, which wasn't something I had ever thought of as a problem. Then a few days ago there was a phone-in on Jeremy Vine's radio show about some woman who had tried to stop another parent taking photos at a school sports event in case pictures of her kids were on the photos and they "ended up on the internet".

I suppose the fear is that paedophiles are going to get hold of these photos and alter them for some perverted thrill. They're going to have their work cut out though - there are millions of people who have pictures of their kids on their blogs and things. And anyway, I'm sure that these warped people have better things to do (like find real kids to do stuff to, or at least proper kiddy porn sites to looks at). I think this is just a moral panic thing - where certain politicians and media groups play on fears that they themselves have created with the intention of promising to sort out exaggerated problems in the hope of getting support. The support in this case being to "police" the net.

Please people, don't let the internet die! There may be some dodgy content (I'm not just talking about child pornography here) but that's a small price to pay for the best media source ever invented (free speech and access to information on virtually anything from around the world). And anyway, surely it's better that this dodgy content is on display where people can at least keep an eye on it?