This excerpt originally appeared in The Technology Liberation Front on June 14, 2012.

Think about it this way: Would it make sense to start a petition demanding that kids be kept out of town squares, public parks, or shopping malls? Most of us would find the suggestion ludicrous. Kids will be present in those environments not just because they want to be but because, more often than not, their parents or guardians want them to be there as well. That doesn’t me we just throw them into those environments and hope for the best. Instead, we assimilate children gradually into these public spaces and use mentoring strategies to make sure they understand how to cope with the challenges they will face.