"I Guess We'll Find Out"
The other day, my co-workers and I attended a forum about the protection of children on the Internet called the Child Online Protection Roundtable. There were eight speakers covering the development, challenges, and opportunities to aid such protection. I was disheartened by some of the shocking statistics the speakers mentioned—that there has been an 87% increase of online child abuse online; that one groomer is now able to work on 100 children simultaneously; that generative AI is creating pictures of children in sexual intercourse then disseminated on the Internet, etc.
It was interesting to attend a foreign roundtable, as there were several elements missing or present that would never be in the United States. First, tone and delivery were unimportant to speakers here: they care more about which words are spoken, not how they are spoken. Second, there was a huge—and very reiterated, by all speakers but one mentioned below—focus on education: educating the children about the dangers online; educating parents about such threats; and educating grandparents, who are often the present parental figures for minors, on the importance of keeping a watchful eye on their Internet-prone grandchildren. Third, there was a focus on strengthening the country to grant a better, brighter future.
I approached the one speaker I did not need a translator earpiece for: Rachel Harvey, the regional advisor for UNICEF. She and her coworker, another European woman, voiced their frustration at the region’s lack of willingness to explore options other than “education.” When I asked what alternative solutions were available, Ms. Harvey explained most sexual offenders online began such behavior as minors themselves, and so intervention is the most effective solution in beginning to slow the astounding increase of predatory men online. She also mentioned China has very few social workers and that they ignore the possibility that outwardly functional children could be experiencing abuse. This causes the state to not seek out children in households who are being currently abused online by family members or other persons known to them (which account for 60% of child abuse online) or those already beginning to mistreat others online. Ms. Harvey sighed upon saying that whenever an agency manages to get a hold on one type of abuse, in swoops the Internet and the once-controlled behavior uncontrollably explodes. She also vehemently believes that if a website is unable to remove reported child pornography, they should not be allowed to operate at all—that it is literally the bare minimum that the website may offer in terms of protection. I cannot disagree with this.
As always, a stark shift to what I’ve done outside work: Sarah and I went to a Thai food restaurant that may have had the best food I’ve enjoyed here. I swear, those spring rolls almost made me cry. They also presented the food in very creative ways—smoke pouring out of the tiny flower-filled vase next to our chicken; Thai iced tea with tea ice cubes and a lion-shaped tea ice cube peering over the rim of the glass; a frozen cranberry lion bathing in a bathtub of shaved ice, cubed fruits, and flavored tapioca balls with coconut milk to pour into it. After this lifechanging experience, we met our other American co-worker and watched the newest The Quiet Place movie in a theater. This coworker sat immobile other than when snickering at my reactions, which shall remain unwritten.
Another night, I walked along Qianhai, a marble-railed lake full of blossoming lotuses and illuminated, floating lanterns, bordered on one side by a glowing 100-yard-long dragon whose scales were in fact multi-colored traditional Chinese clouds. A little boy and his mother sat next to me on a bench as I looked out at this sight beautified even further by the rising moon, and he was happy to enthusiastically smile back at me despite our lack of a common language. It is simply wonderful to be in a city that has so many charming sites to happen upon wherever you walk.
Sarah and I also attended a foreigner movie club who served excellent drinks and showed a Japanese movie called Cure in a courtyard side room filled with Mao pictures, statues, figurines, and other types of Mao memorabilia. Though we neither loved the film nor the surroundings, it was fun to be in the presence of so many English-speakers!
After a lively conversation with a young British tourist who joined us at our table in a night market food court on South Luogu Lane, Sarah ordered an iced tea as we waited for our Didi (the Chinese version of Uber). I asked what she ordered, and after we scrunched up our faces trying to decipher the photograph of her order, she shrugged: “I guess we’ll find out.” We died of laughter upon realizing that has been, and will continue to be, our motto all summer long! And how much we have found out!!