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From: taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (Dave Taylor)
Newsgroups: mod.comp-soc
Subject: Re: Children & computers...
Message-ID: <864@hplabsc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 14-Nov-86 17:04:13 EST
Article-I.D.: hplabsc.864
Posted: Fri Nov 14 17:04:13 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Nov-86 23:59:53 EST
Reply-To: hplabs!tektronix!videovax.TEK.COM!stever@hplabs.HP.COM
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
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Approved: taylor@hplabs
Reference: <840@hplabsc.UUCP>


This article is from tektronix!videovax.TEK.COM!stever (Steven E. Rice, P.E.)
 and was received on  Thu Nov 13 17:18:05 1986
 

Recently Shawn posted a commentary on teenage hackers:

> This is an article that I found.  Read it and weep.  Is this what our
> technology has come to?
> 
>                             The Night of the Hackers
>                             ________________________

[ article about teenage hackers ]

Many years ago, teenagers did similar things.  Of course, technology
being much more limited, they had to stick to such things as moving
outhouses back a few feet (consider what might happen if you went to
the outhouse in the dark, only to find it was a few feet back of the
hole. . .), taking gates off, putting buggies on top of barns, and
so forth.  However, though teenagers did such things, they had no
societal approval for their actions.  If caught, they were in trouble
at home and in their community!

Today, our society has given tacit approval to destructive activities
in a number of ways.  The present attitude of contempt toward the 55 MPH
speed limit is one example.  Another example is the widespread apathy
about use of drugs.  Until recently, illegal drugs (marijuana, cocaine,
etc.) were generally viewed as "harmless."  While the recent anti-drug
campaign may be slowly changing this view, it is still widely held.

One of the most significant means of giving approval to destructive
activities is the willingness of parents to side with their children, no
matter what they have done.  With the aid of the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) and others, discipline in public schools has been gutted and
the juvenile justice system has been severely handicapped.

In sum, there has been no basic change in the nature of teenagers.  Nor
should our technology be blamed for the problems we are experiencing.
The citizens of this great Republic must reverse their present course
by demanding responsible actions and insisting on accountability for
irresponsible actions -- not just for teenagers, but for all!

					Steve Rice

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