It’s called the ‘net for a reason
•April 8, 2026•
Op Ed by DM Williamee
With the advent of dial-up in the everyday household, youth and adults alike were quickly obsessed with what this new ‘magic box’ was capable of. The cosmic excitement before this was when the graphics, player options, and newer stylized game controllers for video games like Halo and Grand Theft Auto became more pixelated. I, however, was the mean mom. Having used the internet in the workplace, I quickly became aware that now you could literally strike a few keys and click a mouse and have the world at your feet, whether via instant messaging (with people you had to trust were who they said they were), Ask Jeeves, or email. And that was the problem.
My economics professor told my class that if something was either 100% free or too easy to obtain, we were likely either the bait or the end product. How true, so many years later in this AI age, that his words of advice have proven to be true. As the mean mom, I had a 30-30-30 rule in my home. 30 minutes reading, 30 minutes gameplay or television (pick one), and 30 minutes on the computer, placed in the dining room so I could keep an eye on who was doing what, and when. Reading was not optional. No reading, no magic box time. My teen and ‘tween daughters let me know how cruel and unfair I was frequently, loudly, and even argued that I was stunting their tech growth and education. I reminded them that an hour of interfacing with something non-human each day was my hard line. Take it or leave it, my house, my rules. They, of course, took it.