The internet and I get along just fine. Its been a great thing for me to sit at my computer and keep in touch with the world. For some however, its an absolute nightmare. The internet is now passing out of its infancy and it still has a ways to go before it can truly be something worthwhile for everyone. It has enormous potential and like anything with that much potential, it can also cause great pain and be used for things that it wasn't intended.
I've heard some parents recently say how dangerous the internet is, and that they don't want their children using it. While this is certainly true, it highlights a problem on the parents side....namely that they don't want to supervise their children on its proper use. Besides, it most schools now, the use of a computer is part of the curriculum. I say most, but certainly not all. Inner-city children suffer from lack of internet access the most. When I was in school my textbook were 15 years out of date and this problem is prevalent today and growing. It presents a further problem when a student from the inner city applies for college and doesn't have the skills necessary to even surf the internet for information. Those schools don't have the budget and backing of those with the money or parents that simply can't afford to provide a computer. While we all would love a level playing field in education, rich districts have the advantage. This is a special pet peeve of mine and every year I donate 10 or 15 computers to inner city schools. I'm not rich but I hate complaining without making some effort to alleviate the problem. (No, I'm not applying for sainthood!)
Other parents use the internet as a veritable electronic tit. They stick a child in front of the screen and hope that its an instant baby-sitter and then are surprised when a child finds sites that are unhealthy or are the targets of those predators that seem to be everywhere waiting for the unsuspecting underage user. They then blame the interenet and thereby absolve themselves of the responsibility of bad parenting. In my mothers housed when the family is together, there is no TV, internet and no video games...we (gasp) talk.
No doubt there are many problems associated with using the internet. The press is full of stories about scams, viruses, misleading sites, things gross and tragic. Rarely does one hear anything good about it. But there are good things about the internet that one doesn't hear often in the press.
I've been using it quite a few years now and for someone thats posted to the far reaches of the globe, it been a boon. Keeping in touch with family and friends, finding hard to get information, shopping for items not readily available and making new friends, have made my life in these out of the way place quite bearable. I'm a firm believer in the good of the internet and I'm also aware of its misuses and avoid that part of it.
One of the great benefits for me is the number of friends and interesting people I've meet over the years and still continue to meet and have contact with. They have added a richness to my life that I've learned to appreciate. A few examples (and with the permission of those mentioned).
My first internet friend (back when I used AOL) is an artist and she was the first person that began to show me the power of this medium. I've never met her in person but to this day we still exchange mail and photos and the occasional telephone call. She has been a shoulder to cry on and someone to argue art with and to laugh with. The only reason we have not met in person is my unholy schedule.
Another is a gentleman in South Carolina who found my website and asked for advice on taking pictures. He's a farmer with a lovely family. Several years ago and after keeping in touch with each other over the years, he invited me to visit his farm. I accepted and was greeted like an old friend. This dignified gentleman is Vietnam Vet and we had a chance to talk face to face in such an open way I'm still amazed by him and his closeness to the land he farms. What made this amazing for me was that I, a black man from the inner city was greeted by a Southern white man so warmly. He told me during that meeting that his father had been a member of the Klan and that before Vietnam he was headed down that hateful road. During his Vietnam service. his life was saved but a young black soldier whose name he never knew and thereby changing his life and outlook forever. Without the internet I would have never had the chance to know and admire someone like this.
Other internet friends include the "Jersey Girls" (as I call them). I'd met Allison online through an AOL chat-room many years ago. She is one half of a set of the most amazing twins. Both Allison and her sister Aimee are creatively endowed, funny and thoughtful people. Two years ago I finally had the chance to meet Allison and it was if we had met before...no awkwardness or tentativeness... a bunch of real big hugs and we laughed our way through a big meal! We talk about everything, serious or funny, thought-provoking or just plain silly and tease each other crazy! We offer advice to each other, console each other and just show our concern when needed. (She is a killer Flash artist. Art directors take note!) Being younger then I (and who isn't), its been a joy to me to watch them grow. Over the past couple of year or so I've gotten to know her twin Aimee and although they are are twins they are really quite different. Aimee also shows that wonderful creative character that has charmed me so much. Both of these ladies are the kind of people that make the internet so rich in spirit. Check out their sites if you have the time. (Sorry fellas, they're taken!)
There are so many others whose lives have touched mine... however briefly. From my wonderful (and drop-dead smart and beautiful) new acquaintance that just finished high school and is now in her first year of college who keeps me laughing with her experiences of what its like to be young and still amazed at life, to the young photographer whose site I criticized (wrongly I might add) and who had the presence of mind to (nicely and with great diplomacy) set me straight. I was so impressed I became his mentor! There is the gracious lady who kindly helped me with advice and information on starting this weblog....the list goes on. They come from all over the world and from every walk of life, bringing with them their own brand of insight and ideas.
Many of the people I've met online I've also had the privilege to meet in person. And that in itself was a joy. So while there are those doomsayers that crow about how dangerous the interenet is (and I will agree that it can be) I say for every bad thing there is always a ray of sunshine. Luckily for me the rainy days of the internet have been few and I've been bathed in more of those sunny rays then most. I'm grateful.
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