The older generation gives us so much guidance and wisdom that I don't know where we'd be without them.

They teach us the dangers of the world and give us insights that would take us decades to figure out on our own.

But the internet doesn't have an older generation.

We're still in the first generation of users. It's only been 30 years since AOL brought millions of people online for the first time,

and oh, how the internet has changed since.

And I fear that when there's no older generation to guide the younger generation on how to be safe online,

that there's a lot of kids who will learn the hard way.

I know when I was a teen, I screwed around so much on the internet that I swear I got a new virus on my family computer every week.

And there was no one around to show me why that happened or how to fix it.

My grandma and dad barely knew how to turn it on, much less handled these kind of problems.

And the schools weren't teaching computers yet, and when they finally did, they taught basic things like how to type or use some sort of application.

Nowhere in the curriculum was anything about the dangers of downloading software, shopping online, or going to chat rooms.

That kind of stuff is only taught by family, or in my case, by nobody.

In fact, the older generation often relies on the newer generation to teach them about computers.

So many times I've seen parents ask their kids to set up the new computer or show them how to use social media.

Kids teaching parents the dangers of social media is like kids teaching parents street smarts.

But that's the world we're in because it's so new.

Will the internet look like in 2060? There will be better educated users.

Users who grew up with parents who have seen the darker side of the internet and can warn them about it and show them the dangers.

But that time is not here yet. We're still in the age of the younger generation guiding our light.

And I sure hope they know where they're going.

These are true stories from the dark side of the internet.

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