There's a darkness in some folk

[Paul77]

As a school IT person, I get asked to block websites on a daily basis. Kids find holes all over the place on the net to find entertainment. Over the years, I've seen the nature of the sites change. It used to be silly things like flash games, mp3 download sites, video streaming and stuff like that.

Now it's 4Chan, LiveLeak, gore sites and all manner of things that have me feeling a tad disturbed.

I beg to ask the question. Have we had the internet unlocked for too long? There's content there because there's a demand for it. People just seem to be totally desensitized to all this now. I feel there's a serious darkness in folk that watch gore videos online. I fear what my 16 and 14 year old girls are being exposed to despite them telling me otherwise (They don't live with me)

The internet is full of greatness, and it's great to be able to talk with so many different folk too, but there's a seriously ugly side to it that I don't think many folk really know anything about.

I have parental controls set up on my router at home but mostly to help fight against the pain in the butt fixing of browser hijacks on my kids PC's. They could access any of this stuff from their phones too. When I was a young lad I felt protected against all things outwith my age limit. Sure it went on but it wasn't fired into my face like it is on the net. Kids sending each other messages thinking it's a picture of something from class and it's a hardcore p0rn GIF image. By the time it's closed it's in the grey matter.

Are kids just more open to this sort of stuff now? It's madness if you ask me. Who knows what psychologically damaged adults are being created as a result of watching this stuff.

(Before I get chinned for being a crap IT guy, our BLOXX system is category based and some of these sites spoof the category to make it look like it's a fun safe site)

 

[Dan2501]

Any of the kids worked out how to access the Dark Web yet?

 

[Paul77]

Any of the kids worked out how to access the Dark Web yet?

Yeah we have a couple of them saying they are on the TOR network. Nowt you can do about it seeing it's run off folks computers as servers. Like a peer2peer internet. We have a handful of really talanted hackers in the school too. One of them went on to work for Intel when he wrote an anti-virus bit of software than ran inside a CPU. Sometimes you're fighting a losing battle lol - You just need to basically log all their computer actions and set up alerts in case anything goes wrong.

 

[Dan2501]

Found TOR Browser on any of the the PC's at school? Or are they unable to download software onto the computers?

 

[Paul77]

Nah we use a thing called impero with a client on the PC's as soon as anything like that gets used or a memory stick with anything like that gets inserted it gets punted. A report is then sent to key members of staff and within a few mins the kids in an office somewhere.

It tends to be newer pupils that try it all. Existing pupils know the score.

 

[Dan2501]

Fair enough. There's definitely some dark stuff out there though. If you look up "Disturbing Dark Web Stories" on Youtube you'll hear some seriously crazy stuff. Not sure how much of it is 100% true, but some of it definitely will be and they're well worth a listen. I've explored the Dark Web a little to see what it's about. Not come across anything too crazy though, just a lot of drugs and weapons for sale, a few fake hitman sites and a guy offering his hacking services for all sorts of awful things for very low prices. Not great that it's so easy to access though, kids could be getting up to all sorts of stuff without understanding the consequences!

 

[Paul77]

I think this is the point I was trying to make. Sitting in their rooms with a door locked might keep them safe from dangers outside, but the way I see it, a kid might be safer outside these days than actually having free roam of the internet.

 

[Dan2501]

Yeah definitely. There's some disturbing stuff on the Dark Web, and if they don't really understand what they're doing they could very easily unearth something that they don't want to see, or that could get them into trouble. The Dark Web is so easy to access nowadays, I'm sure they'll be talking about it at school, and a simple Google search and within 5 mins they can have downloaded Tor and be browsing one of the various Dark Web Wikis. It's pretty scary and there'll be a lot of parents who are clueless and have no idea what's out there and how easy it is to access.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

As you say - once you've seen something you can't unsee it. And images live long if not forever in the memory.

And what is initially shocking becomes normal if seen regularly enough - and the new shocking is a step further. And being of the age I am I have to admit to not being able to actually even imagine some of the stuff out there that is shared and seen - by our young folks as well as adults. Very frightening when I do come to think of it (as in of now) and very easy for me to ignore if I don't know what it is and choose to remain in ignorance.

 

[Paul77]

As you say - once you've seen something you can't unsee it. And images live long if not forever in the memory.

And what is initially shocking becomes normal if seen regularly enough - and the new shocking is a step further. And being of the age I am I have to admit to not being able to actually even imagine some of the stuff out there that is shared and seen - by our young folks as well as adults. Very frightening when I do come to think of it (as in of now) and very easy for me to ignore if I don't know what it is and choose to remain in ignorance.

Well put. Regular exposure desesitizes you to this sort of thing. I remember when Rotten was the worst thing on the web. Everyone was on it. Now it's a laugh to go anywhere near it. It's content is still shocking though. The Gov's of the world go on about social depravation, poverty, lack of education and other stuff limiting our younger generations potential. I think it's exposure to this sort of stuff that could have a more profound affect on our youngsters than any poverty or anything else that Child Protection thinks is a problem.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Well put. Regular exposure desesitizes you to this sort of thing. I remember when Rotten was the worst thing on the web. Everyone was on it. Now it's a laugh to go anywhere near it. It's content is still shocking though. The Gov's of the world go on about social depravation, poverty, lack of education and other stuff limiting our younger generations potential. I think it's exposure to this sort of stuff that could have a more profound affect on our youngsters than any poverty or anything else that Child Protection thinks is a problem.

Your post proves my point (to myself) - I've not heard of Rotten (I initially thought Johnny Rotten? but that didn't make a lot of sense) - but I don't think I'll go look.

 

[Fyldewhite]

I agree, there is a dark side to society and people. It's always been there though and I don't necessarily think the internet makes things any worse. We like being scared, we like seeing gore (horror films etc) and always have done. The prevalence of "real life" horror is double edged..........it's long been used as a tool to shock (e.g. fag packet pictures), and a 17 year old seeing the real result of a serious car crash may not be a bad thing. However, shootings, suicides, beheadings are obviously very disturbing but I'm sure most will be curious, get bored and move on. It's when the interest becomes obsessive that kids start to have real problems.....like with many other things.

On an optimistic note, remember that pre-internet there were still examples......my parents generation lived through WW2 and my Grandad fought on the Somme and Passchendaele. They all saw first hand things as bad as any internet site but like millions of others survived intact.

 

[Rooter]

I've not heard of Rotten (I initially thought Johnny Rotten? but that didn't make a lot of sense) - but I don't think I'll go look.

Don't go there, its horrible. I was once shown it by a work colleague whom was fascinated by it. Not my cup of tea at all! I cant even watch Casualty on BBC1!

 

[Paul77]

Your post proves my point (to myself) - I've not heard of Rotten (I initially thought Johnny Rotten? but that didn't make a lot of sense) - but I don't think I'll go look.

I exposed myself to all this stuff years ago. I feel like a stable minded person and I don't get offended easily by visual content. I'm a massive horror movie fan. However, my good lady is a dentist and to be honest I could not do her job for all the money in the world. I'd be sick as a dog all day long. Strangely enough she can't watch any of thise content or watch too many horror films with gore in them. Weird.

There will be a large number of the teen population who have a look, then move on. It's those who sink deeper that are just never picked up on.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I agree, there is a dark side to society and people. It's always been there though and I don't necessarily think the internet makes things any worse. We like being scared, we like seeing gore (horror films etc) and always have done. The prevalence of "real life" horror is double edged..........it's long been used as a tool to shock (e.g. fag packet pictures), and a 17 year old seeing the real result of a serious car crash may not be a bad thing. However, shootings, suicides, beheadings are obviously very disturbing but I'm sure most will be curious, get bored and move on. It's when the interest becomes obsessive that kids start to have real problems.....like with many other things.

On an optimistic note, remember that pre-internet there were still examples......my parents generation lived through WW2 and my Grandad fought on the Somme and Passchendaele. They all saw first hand things as bad as any internet site but like millions of others survived intact.

Though they were very shocked with what they saw and, like my grandfather who survived the Somme and other battlefields, never spoke about it with my mother. My dad and him would occasionally share their own experiences (my dad was a merchant seaman in Mediterranean convoys in WWII and so saw not good stuff himself with sinkings)

 

[Hacker Khan]

To be honest I think there's darkness in just about everyone. It's just that the vest majority of people can suppress it well. Humans are capable of massive acts of compassion, kindness and generosity. But on the other hand we can also be complete and utter *******s, as a look at any news bulletin nowadays will probably prove.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

I'll be the first to admit that I "like" some weird stuff..... and if I hear of a gruesome news event I will actively search it out to watch it.

I've definitely become desensitised over the years, I can watch a leg break compilation without flinching.

 

[Paul77]

I'll be the first to admit that I "like" some weird stuff..... and if I hear of a gruesome news event I will actively search it out to watch it.

I've definitely become desensitised over the years, I can watch a leg break compilation without flinching.

I'd side with that one. I'm no really bothered by things I see anymore on screen. Often sent out to get news pictures and you never knew what you were turning up to. Most of the time it was riots or protests. You got the odd thing thrown at you, but no one died. If anything gorey happened I'd be right out of there though lol

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

To be honest I think there's darkness in just about everyone. It's just that the vest majority of people can suppress it well. Humans are capable of massive acts of compassion, kindness and generosity. But on the other hand we can also be complete and utter *******s, as a look at any news bulletin nowadays will probably prove.

What I think when I hear thoughts expressed about the death sentence and forgiveness - I believe that we are all intrinsically capable of dark acts and that it is in us all. It is fortunate that for most of us it is somehow suppressed - but there are the unfortunate ones with whom it is triggered (perhaps by what they see) and it surfaces and manifests as evil acts. My view is that in most cases compassion rather than hatred is an appropriate reaction, with forgiveness rather than revenge if possible.

 

[Dan2501]

I'll be the first to admit that I "like" some weird stuff..... and if I hear of a gruesome news event I will actively search it out to watch it.

I've definitely become desensitised over the years, I can watch a leg break compilation without flinching.

I would definitely agree with that. I guess I've grown up in a generation where stuff like that was shared around freely. Almost became a competition to see who could find the most gruesome stuff. So now, whenever I hear about anything like that I'll give it a watch. The ISIS videos some of the worst I've seen though, particularly the one where the dude was burnt alive, couldn't watch that one. Was awful.