March 16, 2000

Ronald Reagan once said, "Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, 'What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power.' But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector." How right he was. And these words apply no less to "virtual reality" than they do to "real" life.

What am I talking about? A friend pointed me to a website run by the Department of Justice (DOJ) whose goal is to teach "kids"-- including high school and college students-- how to be responsible Internet citizens. Clicking this link will open the site in question in a new browser window.

Let's not harp on the unprofessional site design or the fact that someone had too much fun with backgrounds. Rather, here are three questions to ponder:

• Does the DOJ expect a nine year old to be able to comprehend the moral implications of stealing software enough to understand about this website?
• Would any pre-teen or middle schooler spend more than 30 seconds on that site before going to look at pictures of Britney Spears or their favorite boy band?
• Does the site appeal to high school students? Or is the "tone" of the website too babyish for those soon to enter either college or the workforce?

It's pretty clear that the DOJ is incapable of appealing to the elder "kids," especiallly considering this except from the "Are You a Good Netizen?" page:

"I got a copy of a really funny computer 'joke' from my friend. It asks you if you want Internet Access for FREE? When you say 'yes,' it changes some files on your computer so that each time you log on, your computer says ' Way to go, DODO'. I think I will send it to my friends as a joke."

If the DOJ had employees who were capable of building a website that both appealed to minors and was "wholesome," something would be wrong. Why wouldn't the employees leave the government job to start a dotcom business? Hey, there's money to be made there! The DOJ simply cannot compete with the private sector for skilled workers-- if they could, some entrepeneur would quickly see the wide-open window of opportunty. In fact, these entrepeneurs have done just that, creating websites catering to children and focusing on their unique curiosity.

Yahooligans! is a fine example of a kidcentric website-- professional looking, appealing, and functional-- unlike the DOJ's. And it's aware that high schoolers are not going to have the same interests as the pre-teen and elementary school crowds, so it doesn't even bother to throw them into the mess. The same thing goes for Ask Jeeves for Kids, where homework help and other questions ("Should I get a pet dog?" was one on the rotating text box late Wednesday night) that may pique a child's interest.

College and high school students, for the most part, are old enough to get into R rated movies, drive cars in many states, and can use the adult verions of Yahoo and other sites. And certainly, there are thousands of privately owned websites that can show studetns of that age group how to be responsible websurfers.

Actually, here's a challenge. Find a website that is (a) not government owned and (b) does what the DOJ site is trying to do. If you cannot find one, ask yourself if it's because only the government cares or because the students they are targetting would rather spend their online time other places. If you do find one, email me about it. I am certain it is either much better than the DOJ's or cost half the price.

Either way, ask yourself why the DOJ is wasting tax dollars making themselves look silly while not making a micron of difference.

Until next time,

Dan