Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet 

網絡的好處與壞處
Ten years ago, the Internet was practically unheard of by most people. Today, the Internet is one of the most powerful tools throughout the world. The Internet is a collection of various services and resources. According to Russ Brock, a director and consultant at the Center for Innovation and Inquiry, the Internet’s main components are E-mail and the World Wide Web. “There’s a lot more to the Internet than E-mail, search engines, celerity web sites, up-to-the-second sports scores, and chat rooms full of risqué discussions. The Net also ranks as one of today’s best business tools - if it’s used adroitly”. Almost all households contain the Internet; however, before people connect to the Internet, they need to be aware of its disadvantages and advantages.

十年前，對于大部分人來說網絡都是幾乎沒聽說過的。今天，互聯網在整個世界中是最強大的工具之一。互聯網收集各種各樣的服務和資源。拉斯布魯克，創新中心的主任兼顧問說互聯網的主要組成是電子郵件和萬維網。對于互聯網來說還有更多的如。電子郵件，搜索引擎，快速網站，即時體育成績，和充滿淫穢討論的聊天室。網絡也被列為當今最好的商業工具——如果是熟練地運用”。幾乎所有的家庭都擁有互聯網；然而,在人們接觸到互聯網之前，他們需要知道它的缺點和優點。

Many fear the Internet because of its disadvantages. They claim to not use the Internet because they are afraid of the possible consequences or are simply not interested. People who have yet connected to the Internet claim they are not missing anything. Today’s technological society must realize, it is up to them to protect themselves on the Internet “Half of U.S. adults, or 94 million Americans, aren’t online”.

許多人都擔心互聯網的缺點。他們提出不使用互聯網，因為他們害怕可能產生的后果或著是不感興趣。那些還沒有接觸過互聯網的人聲稱他們沒有遺漏任何事情。如今的科技社會他們必須要意識到在互聯網上保護自己“一半的美國成人，或著9400萬美國人是不在線的”。

Children using the Internet has become a big concern. Most parents do not realize the dangers involved when their children log onto the Internet. When children are online, they can easily be lured into something dangerous. When children talk to others online, they do not realize they could actually be talking to a harmful person. As a result, there have been many cases where children have been convinced to meet people they have talked with online. In fact, “stories seem to come out every week: a child or teenager lured into something foolish, dangerous, or even deadly on line” . Cathy Cleaver of the Family Research Council claims that it is against the law for a molester to even attempt to find children online . In addition, children may also receive pornography online by mistake; therefore, causing concern among parents everywhere. Whether surfing the Web, reading newsgroups, or using email, children can be exposed to extremely inappropriate material. Pornographic sites tend to make sure they are the first sites to be listed in any search area; thus, children come across such sites easily. A man from Pearl, Mississippi was arrested in 1996 for downloading pornographic images of children from the Internet. He was charged with 290 counts of child pornography . Some critics say that parents are responsible for their own children on the Internet because there are available services to protect children. To keep children safe, parents and teachers must be aware of the dangers. They must actively guide and guard their children online. Parents should talk to their children about what is online and what might happen online, claims Howard Rheingold, writer of The Virtual Community . There are a number of tools available today that may help keep the Internet environment safer for children. Some companies, such as America Online, try to monitor everything that is said and done on their online service; however, because thousands of chat rooms are available, it is simply impossible for everything to be monitored, claims Tricia Primrose, worker for America Online . In other words, children want to explore things; however, there are people on the Internet that are just too persuasive.

孩子們使用互聯網已經成為一個大問題。大部分的父母都沒意識到讓他們的孩子接觸互聯網的危險。當孩子在網上時，他們會很容易地吸引到一些危險。當他們跟別人在網上聊天時，他們不知道他們可能正在跟一個有害的人聊天。因此，有很多情況是孩子被說服去見他們在網上聊過天的人。事實上，“這樣的事情似乎每周都有：有孩子或少年在互聯網上被一些愚蠢的，危險的,甚至是致命的東西誘惑”。凱西在家庭研究理事會上說性騷擾者甚至試圖尋找在線的孩子是違反法律的。此外，孩子們也可能在網上無意的接觸到色情信息；因此，導致世界各地的父母都擔憂。不管是上網，閱讀新聞組，或使用電子郵件，孩子們都可以接觸到不合適的材料。色情網站力傾保整他們是第一個網站列入任何搜索區域的網站；所以孩子們是很容易遇到這樣的網站。一個來自密西西比州珍珠港的男人在1996年被逮捕，因為他從網上下載孩子的色情圖片。他被指控290項兒童色情。一些批評家說，父母該對他們自己的孩子上網負責，因為有有效的服務來保護孩子。為了保護孩子們的安全，父母和教師必須知道其中的危險。他們必須積極引導和保護他們的孩子上網。“家長應該告訴他們的孩子網上有什么，網上可能發生什么事情，”《虛擬社區》的作家霍華德?萊茵戈德說道。今天有很多可用的工具可能有助于為兒童保持安全的網絡環境。有些公司，如美國在線，試圖監控所有在他們網上服務器上的言語和行為，然而，由于有成千上萬的聊天室，要監控所有的東西是根本不可能的，特瑞西亞·普林羅絲，美國在線的員工說道。換句話說，孩子們想要探索事情，但是，有些人在網上太有說服力了。