Let me say from the start, that I am a computer and Internet-phile (whatever the  right term might be). I love being able to search for information or what I need to buy on the Internet. I write a lot and the ease of writing/correcting/altering is just a pleasure on the computer. Emails are a very quick way to send letters etc. Yes, the new technologies are for me.

But, and there is a big but.  

Firstly, I hate the fact that evil people use it to poison its wide spreading environment. I can remember the Internet beginning and it was haled as the ‘end to ignorance’ and it was predicted that is would be used for the ‘enlightenment of the world’ and ‘brilliant for educational purposes’ and such like terms.

‘Normal and decent’ individuals did not even know that pornography existed. I knew that abuse happened as, for over 35 years I worked as a psychiatrist and treated many patients who had been severely damaged as a result of such violation in childhood. However, only those who were involved in the creation or use of pornography actually knew of its extent. By now the whole world knows that these humans and their filth exist.

Even people who would never open such a site can accidently see what is there. I have written poetry books for children, and one book has the title ‘Poems for 3-7 years’. Why such a mundane, unimaginative title, you may ask? I was going to use a different title, also appropriate for the poems. For reasons anyone will understand when they read on, I won’t say what that title was. I decided to look on the Internet to see whether anyone else had used the title before me. I simply could not believe what the search engines found. I was horrified that I may have used my innocent title and that it could subsequently have led anyone accidently to these sites, as it did me. I saw enough just from the description, though I didn’t open any of the websites. Many in the world are indeed very ‘sick’.

Secondly, there are the unsolicited emails by the score.

As soon as I actually buy something on line, I am then bombarded with emails about the latest offers, even though I tick whatever I can to prevent this happening and later ‘unsubscribe’. This doesn’t matter when I am at home as I can soon delete without effort, but when I am away from home and ‘roaming’ then the expense builds up as my iphone or ipad downloads whatever comes its way. I sieve the emails for the ones I am expecting or want to read but still these extra, unwanted emails prove costly.

Unsolicited pigeon mail and brochures fill our bin each week, totally unwanted and usually unopened, but all because I once or maybe twice bought one of the advertised products on-line. I have enough pyjamas to last me as long as I survive and have no wish for more and how many outdoor hosepipes does one small garden need?

Then there are the scams. Emails arrive as if from banks, almost imitating the bank’s email address details, telling me that my account will be stopped if I don’t correct the information etc. I delete them and report them, but, in ignorance of their true nature, I am often left wondering if some of the emails I have deleted were actually important. I hate the thought of people trying to intrude, to steal or damage what I have worked hard for all my life.

Thirdly, the social media has taken over and dictates many people’s lives. I was advised it would be a good idea to join Facebook, so that I could advertise my books. Oh dear! What an intrusive, and dare I say it, pernicious site that is. People believe they have many friends and for many teenagers’, their apparent value amongst their peers is rated by how many of these ‘friends’ they have. People share so much of their lives with so many. I receive a notification when anyone who knows anyone I might know has written on the site, assuming that I am avidly waiting to hear. Maybe I can learn how to switch these off.

Should I wish to know what any personal friends are doing, or vice versa, then I would pick up a phone and chat, or write a letter or send an email, not broadcast it. I understand there are different privacy options, but the whole idea is alien to most of my generation. I understand that the time-line recently introduced keeps all the information in chronological form. Who wants that to happen, particularly as young people can make many mistakes in their progress to becoming adult? Do they want these all to be documented for posterity? Of course, they put the information on the site in the first place. When reality or maturity sets in, will they want these mistakes to be still available, e.g.to prospective employers?

When I was young I knew the opposite of life today. We listened to the radio for news and had little entertainment other that what we made for ourselves. Otherwise we chatted, read, knitted, sewed, walked, sang, played games or learned how to cook and such like in our spare time. My first personal use of technology of any kind, apart from using an old sewing machine of my mothers, was my radio, a present for my 21^st birthday and was treasured for many years. We had no unsolicited anything! All that happened was our choice, and no alcohol or drugs were available. Our parents knew where we were and who we spent time with outside school. We still had the same doubts and fears but at least we were safer and without intrusion online.

There is so much knowledge, more access to information, but also many widespread negative influences to which my own young generation was not subjected.  Having everything they seem to desire is not making happy people, quite the reverse. Who guides the teenagers these days, as, after a certain age, parents really cannot watch what their children see or use on the Internet, and many have not learned the basics of trust or honesty.

Though we grew up in cold homes without central heating and few possessions, I am glad that was the way. We were quite tough and fairly self reliant on our inner resources. My only regret is that we did not benefit from the medical progress of the present day.  There was no the medication for asthma nor were effective antibiotics available. I might be able to breathe better now had we been so fortunate.

But sadly, because of the darker side of human nature, aspects that can have subtle, but far-reaching, negative effects, particularly on our young people, inevitably accompany positive progress. How do we separate out the positive from the negative?

I have embraced the Internet technology and love it for its power, convenience and knowledge. I have created a website for children - from age about 5yrs -11 years,  at www.primaryschoolpoems.com 

It was originally to let children and their parents/carers and teachers know about my books, by putting several poems from the books on the site. However, it has grown with poems, songs from the poems, stories, spelling, interests, unusual pets eg photos and videos of tortoises and such like. I check and check that there are no links to anywhere from the children's pages. So, yes, it is a wonderful medium.

But I hate the contamination by evil, the unnecessary and unasked for intrusion into daily life and the false beliefs given to and absorbed by youngsters.

If only we could have the best of both worlds. 

Copyright ACoatesworth