The Internet can indeed be a wonderful thing.

The opportunity to transfer information instantaneously and be able to search millions of websites by just typing in a few keystrokes is absolutely mind-boggling to me. Just 10 short years ago, we hadn’t even heard of YouTube, Ebay, My Space or Google. Now, they are household words that need no explanation.

You can “win” on Ebay, create a personal chat room on My Space and search for just about anything you can think of with Google. Amazing!

Yet, as with all things, you have to take the good with the bad. The great thing that provides the opportunity to “stay connected” also gives some the avenue to be downright malicious. Just over this past weekend it was reported that two young girls were the victims of an Internet predator. Pornography, hate mail and sexual predators are rampant on the Internet.

Not happening here, you think – well, think again. We were made aware of a hateful website directed at a junior high school student just this week. The site has since been removed but I personally viewed some of the posted messages and I was totally appalled at the language and inferences used. I know that junior high school students can be mean but this takes it to a whole new level of cruelty and explicit obscenity. I cannot fathom where these kids come up with some of this stuff; it was appalling. There isn’t any way that I could begin to print any of the comments posted – they were that bad! I don’t know how such young people can hold so much hate and disregard for another human being – it is a sad state of affairs and one that we must deal with or it will continue to get even worse.

It’s virtually impossible to monitor your children every minute of the day but it is important to maintain restrictions to Internet usage. The best examples are set by parents. Involvement in your child’s activities can go a long way to keeping you "in the know" about what your children are doing in their free time and at school. Parents - please talk to your kids about this type of Internet activity – it just isn’t healthy for anyone involved.

Speaking of being involved in your children’s lives and some of the good aspects of the Internet – Robert Bentley of Gustine has established a wonderful website www.BentleyEducationalServices.com) that offers information to parents, guardians and others such as “How to be a better father,”  "How to be a better mother,” “How to handle the bully at school” and about 25 other useful topics. Mr. Bentley is retired from the educational system after serving for more than 30 years. In his career he was an educator and also served as a headmaster at a charter school that he developed with a focus in the performing arts. He currently has been volunteering his time to work with local thespians at the West Side Theatre, in particular, the young adults.

The site also offers a free newsletter and specific consultation services at a very reasonable rate for those needing more specific advice on a given subject dealing with education and communication skills. This is an example of a website that provides useful information and provides a service to Internet users.