But think of when the first time you saw any kind of pornographic or erotic material was. Did your parents know? Were the next n years of your life composed of, in part, hiding that fact from your parents? I found a porn mag in the park once when I was maybe 9 and the next several years of my life were filled with confusion and stifled curiosity.
Being that I'm Indian my parents did not want to even think that I would ever want to know anything about women until age 30, when they would marry me to one of their friends' daughters just after we both finished our residencies. They thought that through denial and obstinance they could force the world to be a nice, pleasant reality. The only thing they communicated to me is that they were unable to help me with any of my "real" problems so I would have to seek answers elsewhere.
So to me, not having a frank discussion about what exactly the Internet has in store for naively inquisitive minds, including a journey through the perverted forest of cocks that is chatroulette, seems like a decision that serves you more than it serves your kids. I would implore you to investigate whether its your own discomfort that you're trying to avoid, rather than upsetting children who will invariably see penises before you want them to.
To me it seems likely that something will happen that will disturb them and leave an impression -- this could be an accidental glance at something they weren't meant to see, a discarded piece of porn, driving past an adult bookstore when the door is open, or it could be something more intentional and malicious.
Wouldn't it be great if they were prepared for those moments, instead of being caught clueless and unaware?
Don't add anything useful like, say, why you think it's terrible. Just go ahead and post a passive-aggressive, oblique insult at my life experience and what I've learned from it.
Bonus points for framing it in a way that asserts your right to exercise an option I clearly articulated and invited you to in my first sentence.
I don't know why OP is concerned about keeping his kids away from chat roulette. Seems to me that HN is the home of the dicks.
I don't believe any of those affected me in a negative way. It would be weirder to be shielded from all that, and then suddenly be exposed to what the real world is like when you leave for college.
This runs the risk of being pedantic, but that comment was neither oblique nor passive-aggressive. It was just plain aggressive.
I don't think making a PG edit of this video would be any different than the radio edits they make to songs or tv edits they make to movies so the FCC doesn't kill them. Anyone who enjoys the edited version but would still like to check out the original is free to. I would never tell an adult what they can and cannot listen to or watch. Have at it. But I do like to keep a certain level of appropriateness for my kids. If you want to show this to your kids.. have at it. You're free to do as you feel is best for your kids.
There will come a day when the sex talk happens. It will probably come sooner than I would like but I'm not blind to the reality that kids find out about stuff from friends before their parents. But I don't think the sex talk needs to be wrapped into a more general talk about the dangers of the internet and digital communication. There are more things to worry about on the web than cocks. I'd like to address those things with my kids without cocks. There will be plenty of time for us to talk about and look at cocks when it is important to the subject at hand. IMO, it is not that important for this topic.
The creep factor of Chatroulette could still be portrayed without actually showing the cocks. The creator chose to show them. Fine. That was his/her choice to make. That just limits the audience a bit.
I don't think of it so much as "sheltering" but more like waiting for the appropriate time and way to talk about certain subjects.
As mad as everyone got at me for having an opinion (one that I am certain is not unique)... I can only imagine how angry you'd get if I treated your opinions the same way. I feel like some of you want to come to my house and force me to show the video to my kids.
I think people perceive that as being a facet of modern suburban parenting with a historically lopsided set of priorities. You may disagree with them, and that's fine, but to accuse them of wanting to come to your home and force you to show the video is a truly bizarre overreaction.
Your kids will see dicks, period. They can either see them with you and you can talk to them about that, explain possible dangers, emotionally support them and create the atmosphere of trust and openness to make sure that your kids come to you when there is something confusing or even dangerous... or you can leave your kids to see them on their own while you live in some kind of illusion that you have protected them from the things you did not want them to see. That is the only real choice you have.
Honestly, if small kids see this, they won't understand. It is up to you to show them another way.
I'd posit that that the harder you try to shelter a child from something, the more shocking it is when they inevitably get exposed to it. You hope that maturity will help with the exposure, but that may not always be the case.