But society needs to maintain a sense of proportionality that understands Internet defacement, denial of service attacks, and fraud to be three separate kinds of acts, each with varying goals and deserving of different sorts of sanctions depending upon the specific circumstances. This is certainly an area worthy of considerable discussion and study. Adults need to take more personal responsibility for both themselves and the children in their charge, both at home and at school. Plopping a kid down in front of a computer for hours at a stretch without guidance, or depending upon arbitrary, unreliable, and counterproductive filtering programs in a vain attempt to somehow automate the supervisory process, is the height of irresponsibility. It's little better than handing a young child a running chainsaw and then bemoaning the resulting damage and injuries.
Internet access can be a powerful tool for both good and ill.
To use it responsibly and ethically requires education. As adults, it's our job, and our responsibility, to see that this learning process takes place. Regardless of whether we're dealing with children or adults, we need to reestablish proportion and balance in how we deal with Internet hacking. The truly serious Internet-related crimes must be treated as such. It is morally wrong to put such children in the same felony categories, and in some cases the same chains and cells, as violent criminals and persons who have personally enriched themselves through serious crimes.