"Nonetheless the situation has negative aspects because children could forge relationships with people whose intentions aren’t good, such has sexual predators, pedophiles,"

.........................And PLDers!

Oh Plueezzzz. Typical ignorant internet, hysteria

The sky is falling the sky is falling said Henny Penny..

Don't know how they can come up with such large numbers. 1.4 million ? The demographics of the country's population of 10,000,000 indicates that children under age 18 as 3,800,000. So, what this article is reporting is 37% of children have access to the internet. My figures are somewhat distorted because you can expect there are not many children under age six who actively use the internet.

I would think is reasonable to suggest the published number, 1.4 million, is inflated, it is hard to reconcile the figure considering the poverty and limited access to internet stations.

It is the responsibility of the parents to educate the children and protect them from the perils of the Web. This is where the story should be focused. The codicil to this thought is for some parents this technology is new and they are intimidated out of their own ignorance to address the children of concerns about the web.

Hysteria at its worst ..of course children from the age of 5 use the internet everywhere ,,now days it is like talking to people person to person .. We tell our children be careful when talking to people you do not know ,,,it is the sane rule on the internet

@zooma. lmao. sooooo true! It's the same percentages and numbers world wide or even higher. The policing starts in the home. I am sure these children do not have the internet service contracts in their names. Ignorance, lack of education and irresponsibility on behalf of the adults in these homes can be of no surprise to anyone. Just look at the general breakdown in society here and you can see why these kids are trading anything for money and things. It happens at every level of Dominican society. This country and a large percent of the population will prostitute anything for money.

Perhaps Dominican children are at greater risk in the street than on the internet?

@Zooma,

I wouldn't be surprised that there are more then 1.4 million children in DR with access to internet.

Does anyone have a ballpark figure on how much per month the internet costs in DR? I chuckled at the comment someone made about children being safer on the internet than in the streets until I remembered being robbed by a soldier on the Malecon back in 1988.

Sadly, you (the commentor) might be right.

brucito,

Haven't been robbed for 25 years? You must have been away for a long time. Armed robberies in our little village are almost weekly, and murders almost yearly.

Casual rate for wireless internet (from a tower) from Orange is 130 Pesos for 24 hours up to 1 Gb download. Sometimes you get more than 24 hours (even weeks) but often it drops out altogether.