> I don't think kids today are as "hacky" as before, or rather, systems of today are just more polished and there's less reason to understand underlying details vs. abstractions.
I think you're partially right but kids don't need to understand the underlying reasoning, they just need to be told what to do. When I was in school, everyone used PHP-based proxy sites to access restricted material on the school network. Nobody had a clue what a "proxy" was or how it worked, they just knew that's what they had to Google to get at whatever they wanted to get at.
Kids these days are the same. They don't need to know what "DNS" is or how a VPN works, they just need to know that a friend told them to look for a VPN app on the app store.
> Are sites about condom usage, abortion, STD's, premarital sex, and homosexuality an adult topic? Are race relations an adult topic?
The question isn't so much "are these adult topics" as "are these topics parents will want small children to encounter on the internet" and I'd say that's a definite "no".
That isn't to say small children shouldn't learn about them, they'll definitely need to be taught, however I don't think that many parents would be comfortable with their children being taught by whatever resources their child happens to stumble upon.
And to be clear, I'm not saying that homosexuality or interracial relations are morally any different to regular relationships, I'm saying that internet material isn't likely to be suitable for educating small children. It'll be very easy for them to stumble across material that's overly sexual in nature, racist or homophobic.
FWIW I come from a country where sex education is covered fairly well by both primary and secondary school curricula, which may colour my response here.
> Are shootings an adult topic?
That one's difficult and depends on the specific cultural norms you live under I think.
> Is this going to be the kind of filter you lift at precisely the age of 12?
I think you're partially right but kids don't need to understand the underlying reasoning, they just need to be told what to do. When I was in school, everyone used PHP-based proxy sites to access restricted material on the school network. Nobody had a clue what a "proxy" was or how it worked, they just knew that's what they had to Google to get at whatever they wanted to get at.
Kids these days are the same. They don't need to know what "DNS" is or how a VPN works, they just need to know that a friend told them to look for a VPN app on the app store.
> Are sites about condom usage, abortion, STD's, premarital sex, and homosexuality an adult topic? Are race relations an adult topic?
The question isn't so much "are these adult topics" as "are these topics parents will want small children to encounter on the internet" and I'd say that's a definite "no".
That isn't to say small children shouldn't learn about them, they'll definitely need to be taught, however I don't think that many parents would be comfortable with their children being taught by whatever resources their child happens to stumble upon.
And to be clear, I'm not saying that homosexuality or interracial relations are morally any different to regular relationships, I'm saying that internet material isn't likely to be suitable for educating small children. It'll be very easy for them to stumble across material that's overly sexual in nature, racist or homophobic.
FWIW I come from a country where sex education is covered fairly well by both primary and secondary school curricula, which may colour my response here.
> Are shootings an adult topic?
That one's difficult and depends on the specific cultural norms you live under I think.
> Is this going to be the kind of filter you lift at precisely the age of 12?
That's a decision for the parents.