Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet 

網(wǎng)絡(luò)的好處與壞處
Ten years ago, the Internet was practically unheard of by most people. Today, the Internet is one of the most powerful tools throughout the world. The Internet is a collection of various services and resources. According to Russ Brock, a director and consultant at the Center for Innovation and Inquiry, the Internet’s main components are E-mail and the World Wide Web. “There’s a lot more to the Internet than E-mail, search engines, celerity web sites, up-to-the-second sports scores, and chat rooms full of risqué discussions. The Net also ranks as one of today’s best business tools - if it’s used adroitly”. Almost all households contain the Internet; however, before people connect to the Internet, they need to be aware of its disadvantages and advantages.

十年前，對(duì)于大部分人來說網(wǎng)絡(luò)都是幾乎沒聽說過的。今天，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)在整個(gè)世界中是最強(qiáng)大的工具之一。互聯(lián)網(wǎng)收集各種各樣的服務(wù)和資源。拉斯布魯克，創(chuàng)新中心的主任兼顧問說互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的主要組成是電子郵件和萬維網(wǎng)。對(duì)于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)來說還有更多的如。電子郵件，搜索引擎，快速網(wǎng)站，即時(shí)體育成績，和充滿淫穢討論的聊天室。網(wǎng)絡(luò)也被列為當(dāng)今最好的商業(yè)工具——如果是熟練地運(yùn)用”。幾乎所有的家庭都擁有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)；然而,在人們接觸到互聯(lián)網(wǎng)之前，他們需要知道它的缺點(diǎn)和優(yōu)點(diǎn)。

Many fear the Internet because of its disadvantages. They claim to not use the Internet because they are afraid of the possible consequences or are simply not interested. People who have yet connected to the Internet claim they are not missing anything. Today’s technological society must realize, it is up to them to protect themselves on the Internet “Half of U.S. adults, or 94 million Americans, aren’t online”.

許多人都擔(dān)心互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的缺點(diǎn)。他們提出不使用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，因?yàn)樗麄兒ε驴赡墚a(chǎn)生的后果或著是不感興趣。那些還沒有接觸過互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的人聲稱他們沒有遺漏任何事情。如今的科技社會(huì)他們必須要意識(shí)到在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上保護(hù)自己“一半的美國成人，或著9400萬美國人是不在線的”。

Children using the Internet has become a big concern. Most parents do not realize the dangers involved when their children log onto the Internet. When children are online, they can easily be lured into something dangerous. When children talk to others online, they do not realize they could actually be talking to a harmful person. As a result, there have been many cases where children have been convinced to meet people they have talked with online. In fact, “stories seem to come out every week: a child or teenager lured into something foolish, dangerous, or even deadly on line” . Cathy Cleaver of the Family Research Council claims that it is against the law for a molester to even attempt to find children online . In addition, children may also receive pornography online by mistake; therefore, causing concern among parents everywhere. Whether surfing the Web, reading newsgroups, or using email, children can be exposed to extremely inappropriate material. Pornographic sites tend to make sure they are the first sites to be listed in any search area; thus, children come across such sites easily. A man from Pearl, Mississippi was arrested in 1996 for downloading pornographic images of children from the Internet. He was charged with 290 counts of child pornography . Some critics say that parents are responsible for their own children on the Internet because there are available services to protect children. To keep children safe, parents and teachers must be aware of the dangers. They must actively guide and guard their children online. Parents should talk to their children about what is online and what might happen online, claims Howard Rheingold, writer of The Virtual Community . There are a number of tools available today that may help keep the Internet environment safer for children. Some companies, such as America Online, try to monitor everything that is said and done on their online service; however, because thousands of chat rooms are available, it is simply impossible for everything to be monitored, claims Tricia Primrose, worker for America Online . In other words, children want to explore things; however, there are people on the Internet that are just too persuasive.

孩子們使用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)已經(jīng)成為一個(gè)大問題。大部分的父母都沒意識(shí)到讓他們的孩子接觸互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的危險(xiǎn)。當(dāng)孩子在網(wǎng)上時(shí)，他們會(huì)很容易地吸引到一些危險(xiǎn)。當(dāng)他們跟別人在網(wǎng)上聊天時(shí)，他們不知道他們可能正在跟一個(gè)有害的人聊天。因此，有很多情況是孩子被說服去見他們?cè)诰W(wǎng)上聊過天的人。事實(shí)上，“這樣的事情似乎每周都有：有孩子或少年在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上被一些愚蠢的，危險(xiǎn)的,甚至是致命的東西誘惑”。凱西在家庭研究理事會(huì)上說性騷擾者甚至試圖尋找在線的孩子是違反法律的。此外，孩子們也可能在網(wǎng)上無意的接觸到色情信息；因此，導(dǎo)致世界各地的父母都擔(dān)憂。不管是上網(wǎng)，閱讀新聞組，或使用電子郵件，孩子們都可以接觸到不合適的材料。色情網(wǎng)站力傾保整他們是第一個(gè)網(wǎng)站列入任何搜索區(qū)域的網(wǎng)站；所以孩子們是很容易遇到這樣的網(wǎng)站。一個(gè)來自密西西比州珍珠港的男人在1996年被逮捕，因?yàn)樗麖木W(wǎng)上下載孩子的色情圖片。他被指控290項(xiàng)兒童色情。一些批評(píng)家說，父母該對(duì)他們自己的孩子上網(wǎng)負(fù)責(zé)，因?yàn)橛杏行У姆��?wù)來保護(hù)孩子。為了保護(hù)孩子們的安全，父母和教師必須知道其中的危險(xiǎn)。他們必須積極引導(dǎo)和保護(hù)他們的孩子上網(wǎng)。“家長應(yīng)該告訴他們的孩子網(wǎng)上有什么，網(wǎng)上可能發(fā)生什么事情，”《虛擬社區(qū)》的作家霍華德?萊茵戈德說道。今天有很多可用的工具可能有助于為兒童保持安全的網(wǎng)絡(luò)環(huán)境。有些公司，如美國在線，試圖監(jiān)控所有在他們網(wǎng)上服務(wù)器上的言語和行為，然而，由于有成千上萬的聊天室，要監(jiān)控所有的東西是根本不可能的，特瑞西亞·普林羅絲，美國在線的員工說道。換句話說，孩子們想要探索事情，但是，有些人在網(wǎng)上太有說服力了。