Among a myriad of other things, they also tell me that love is freely available on the internet.

And in a more practical or mundane sense, the internet is undoubtedly the 21st century's Encyclopaedia Britannica. Who knows, maybe even the Encyclopaedia Britannica has its own website;

Being that the internet is such a valuable hub of information how it could possibly be generally spoken of as a bad influence on children, simply escapes me. To look at one thing, or an entity, and class it as 'bad for children' or simply 'bad' is a luxury (or a presumption) that I was never too comfortable with.

Ever the (hopefully) rational individual, I like to look at all sides of the picture – the good, bad and the ugly. With the constraints of time, word content and a definitive topic for discussion though, this is not possible.

So, the good side. Its quite simple. The internet is not only accessible at any time and at any place, but it also has information on every aspect of any topic an individual searches for. Think of a student who decides to "google" either for an assignment or simply for added insight. He or she gets to get all the information needed, from many and varied sources – most often at little or no cost. This is just one example. To list down the instances in which people around the world surfing the net would be a pointless and redundant waste of paper as well as waste of time for the whoever it is who reads this.

Therefore, on to my next point in the case for the value of the internet: Social networking. Admittedly, it is slightly controversial and could be looked on as a flimsy or frivolous "benefit" of the internet. However, with more than one sixth of the world's population on facebook and other popular sites, it could be considered a tad archaic to ignore the potential of the social networking scene.

With the potential, where people are not only able to keep in touch across time and space, it has also proved to be a forum for the worlds internet closet writers, a discussion board for various issues and simply a space to share ideas. For a blogger – or a blogger who is also a journalist unable to write as she sees it, the internet – or the blogsphere ignores censoring of the media or suppression of one's voice. In this sense, where people can speak, express themselves about anything they want, at any given time without being in danger how could this be considered 'bad'?

It becomes 'bad' when people misuse it. When they have explicit or obscene content available to children; when children and youth have no comprehension of how to keep themselves safe online. This is the internet's problem. But the fault does not lie with the internet. Rather it lies with those who are unaware of basic safety tips, and those who are too prejudiced to accommodate a balanced view.

Where would the world be without the internet? If not for the internet I am quite sure the 21st century would see a breed of world citizens who pay exorbitant library fees and rush to the library before closing time, actually conduct money transactions within the four walls of a bank, spend all their cash on postage and phone bills and depend on shops and malls for shopping. In short, they – or rather we would be utterly miserable. Imagine if, for one week, all our internet connections failed; The result would – apart from being disastuous, be quite amusing. Most of us would be rendered helpless and unable to cope with the absence of online connectivity!

It could be argued though, that a species so dependent on the online scene is not a desirable thing to be. But if it makes us more knowledgeable, keeps us connected and saves our time, its got to be good. After all, knowledge is power and time is money. And for those reasons, all I can say is, Kudos to the wonderful human being who invented the internet.
