I don’t agree. I started using the web as a curious 8 years old. I was pretending to be an adult in order to sign up to forums, chat with people, etc. Yes, I was exposed to porn, gore (remember goatse?) but that didn’t make me dumb or a molester. But nothing beats what I learned thanks to the internet. Endless days spent on programming forums, reading articles on a newborn Wikipedia, etc. Even just talking with older people than me made me learn how to deal with things and life. I don’t think that the internet for a kid is bad per se. I wouldn’t like a blanket ban for kids like the UK. If it was like that when I was a kid, I would probably be a more stupid person. I think that the real bad thing is the stupid phones and apps that give you dopamine rushes.

I hate to say this, but the Internet is not the same as it was back when I was growing up. You always had the possibility of stumbling across a bad actor. Now the billionaire tech broligoply who own most social media are the bad actors. How many websites did you visit where the person running the website has been caught repeatedly trying to psychologically manipulate and control the masses via disinformation? Back in the day, nobody would be doing whatever the fuck it is these people are doing with kids and their pedo adjacent targeted ads and chat bots bc they would be afraid of being sent to jail for cp