Yes, Virginia, There Really Is a Santa Claus...

For those of you younger than I am or from outside of the US, there was a famous letter to the editor written by an 8-year-old girl to the lead newspaper at the time (100+ years ago), The Sun. She wrote asking for the definitive answer to the question asked by millions before and after her - "is there really a Santa Claus." Her father told her that if anything appeared in the Sun, it was true. The newspaper's response is iconic in the US.

To her inquiry, the newspaper responded: "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence." The full editable text appears here.)

Now to my point. My 5-year-old grandson asked me if the Internet was "bad" and "does it lie?" His question was about more than his seeing his Grandma on Dr. Phil or Good Morning America talking about children hurting themselves and each other. It was more than he had learned by reading the Spider-Man comic Marvel had written featuring me in the fight against cyberbullying. He had overheard adults talking about how the Internet was evil and bad for all children. And he worried.

I will follow the lead of the century+ old article.

"No, CJ, the Internet is not "bad," it doesn't "lie" and it empowers so much good. You love my cupcakes, right? Well, as good as my cupcakes are, if you ate 20 of them all at once, you would be sick. That doesn't mean my cupcakes are bad. It means that too much, of even good things, can hurt us.

But there is more than just balance, CJ. The Internet is about magic. It's about the magic of so many people wanting to help themselves and others. It's about young children like you, and old people like me. It's about people who can't walk, talk or see being able to travel the world on their devices.

It's about people being judged by the quality of their character and valuable contributions online. It's about sharing, supporting and adding laughter to our lives. It's about being able to reach people far away, and remind them that we are all the same underneath the things that don't matter.

Children can share their poetry with Nobel Laureates. And someone, somewhere online, is always awake when you are lonely, scared or can't sleep. It's the biggest library in the world, the biggest museum in the world and more fun than Disneyland (my apologies to Disney, and note in advance that CJ won't buy this one example :-)) You can ask the Internet anything and get answers. Someone is always listening.

I have seen hate in this world, and horrible tragedies. I have seen sadness. But I have also seen people step up to set things right.

Every time I step into a classroom, young children just like you ask me how they can help other children be safer. Facebook grew largely on the back of causes (and Farmville/Zynga). The Internet empowers far more good than bad.

CJ, it is not the technology that is the problem. It is the people who misuse it. It is the rush we have to reply, share and post that makes us careless. Some people have no one else to listen to them. Some people are angry or hurt. But, we can't and shouldn't blame the Internet for that.

We can use what's right now already on anyone's cellphone to help stop and heal the pain caused by cyberbullying and bullying. The Internet brings us music, pictures of our loved ones and funny cat videos. It connects you and me by Facetime and let's me hear you sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to help me when I am traveling to India and tired. It let us order toys from Amazon and watch Netflix. And it allows you to reach the lights you otherwise can't reach by asking for Alexa's help.

Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Internet! It would be as dreary as if there were no CJs."

To my grandsons and all the grandchildren, children, millennials, families, adults and seniors in the world, I promise that I will always fight for the good online and against any bad. It's worth it. It is your future.