The internet is a place of wonder and a place of danger. There is also a lot of stuff in between those two positions, much of it frivolous, ephemeral or insignificant. Like this blog. It need not exist but it does by virtue of google and my will. The internet is encyclopaedic in its breadth but somewhat tabloid in its delivery.

So what do I do as a father of an 8 year old who is curious and demanding of finding out? Like his cohort, Tom loves games of all sorts and cartoons and videos and all of this leaves a wide margin for entering both grey zones and dangerous precincts.

Tom has a little android ipad knockoff that does a reasonable job though it really is just a game mule. I have the unit's google search filters set to a maximum safety level but this does not apparently block everything that it inappropriate for a young mind. A doctor I see sometimes argues a strong libertarian case for everything being okay. So long as it's contextualised and a discussion is had between parents and children, there is no problem. It is educative and builds character, he says.

I'm not so sure. Clinical work on the effects of pornography point to potentially permanent psychological harm (addiction, dysfunction etc) with repercussions for romantic and committed relationships and much else besides. But the genie is out of the bottle.

So I worry about Tom and the things he might see online. It is not mollycoddling or cotton-wooling, but rather, giving him the chance to be a kid and to live, for the time-being, in a world that doesn't seem too risky or dark.

Never mind the headlines.