Most of our children have access to Internet-accessible

Hear the solemn words of Lisa Madigan, who spoke as both a guardian of justice and a voice of warning: “Most of our children have access to Internet-accessible technology, yet most of us are actually not paying much attention to what they’re doing online.” In this saying lies both truth and peril. For the Internet, that vast and limitless sea of knowledge, wonder, and power, is also a place of shadows, deceit, and snares. And though parents place glowing devices in the hands of their children, many do so without vigilance, leaving them to wander unguarded in a world filled with both treasure and poison.

The origin of this wisdom is found in the dawning of the digital age, when the world was first knit together by invisible threads of information. As technology spread into every household, children became its most eager voyagers. With a screen, they could explore galaxies of knowledge, connect with strangers across oceans, or entertain themselves with endless diversions. Yet Madigan, seeing both the promise and the danger, reminded us that a garden left unattended is overrun with weeds. When attention is withheld, curiosity may lead the young into paths of danger: cyberbullying, predation, exploitation, or addiction to hollow pleasures.

The ancients, though they knew not our machines, understood this truth in another guise. Consider the tale of Daedalus and Icarus. The father gave his son wings crafted with skill and genius. Yet without proper guidance, Icarus flew too close to the sun and perished. So it is with children and technology: the wings are wondrous, but without instruction and watchful eyes, they may carry the young to ruin instead of safety. Madigan’s words echo this ancient lesson—without guidance, gifts can become curses.

Real life bears witness to the same. In the early 2000s, stories emerged of young children deceived by strangers they met online, led into traps that their parents never imagined possible. Others lost themselves in endless hours of games or harmful content, their studies and spirits withering while parents assumed they were merely “occupied.” These tragedies did not occur because technology itself was evil, but because guardians looked away, believing their task ended once the device was given. Madigan’s warning shines like a beacon: to provide access without attention is to abandon the responsibility of stewardship.

The deeper meaning of this quote is that freedom without guidance is perilous. To hand a child the keys to the digital world without teaching them wisdom is like setting them adrift at sea without compass or map. The parent must not only provide, but also protect. They must learn what their children are learning, see what their children are seeing, and guide their hearts with love, patience, and vigilance. For in truth, the Internet is not a tool alone; it is a world—and no wise parent would let a child walk alone in a world filled with both light and darkness.

The lesson for future generations is clear: do not mistake attention for control, nor neglect for trust. True guardianship lies in presence, not absence. Children need not only access to technology but also the wisdom to use it well. This can only be gained if parents, teachers, and elders walk beside them, showing by example how to discern truth from falsehood, virtue from vice, good from harm.

Therefore, let your actions be thus: pay heed to the screens in your household. Learn the ways of the digital world as you once learned the ways of the physical. Set limits not to bind your children, but to protect them. Speak with them, guide them, and listen to them, so that their time online becomes a source of growth, not of harm. For as Madigan declared, though most children have access to technology, it is the sacred duty of the elder generation to pay attention—lest the wings of wonder become the chains of despair.