Archive for March 2nd, 2008
The Internet is Always to Blame
A story in USA Today reported on the increase in crimes among teenagers involving explosives. The writer claims that the Internet is responsible for this increase, yet neglects to prove this with substantial evidence. While the Internet does allow for more information to be easily accessible, there are most likely other reasons for an increase in these crimes.
The writer mentions that since 2005, 68 incidents in Delaware have been investigated because of the use of explosives. However, they fail to inform the reader as to how many explosive cases occurred before 2005, making this information almost useless.
The writer continues on to discuss the dangers of pipe bombs and the like, quoting various people who say the moderators of the Internet to do more to dissuade people from posting videos of bombs on YouTube, along with other sites. However, unless a staff is implemented to view every single video before it is posted, which is virtually impossible as the number of videos posted every day is enormous, this is hardly possible. Also saying that parents need to be more involved is fruitless as well. Most parents don’t have the time to watch their children every minute of every day. Perhaps if people stopped posting ways to create these bombs, the number of incidents would decrease.
