The internet can be extremely dangerous

They say it's the greatest invention of our modern times and maybe it is. What we fail to realise is that sometimes the internet is extremely dangerous. It is OK for a teenage girl to "talk" to her schoolmates on the internet; it is definitely the reverse if that same teenage girl thinks she's communicating with a young man, when in reality she's dealing with a middle-aged pervert.

It's pretty cool for a housewife to search the net for shops which are selling groceries and toiletries at a sale price but if that housewife decided her husband was a boring old grumpy man it's definitely not cool to find the man of her dreams on the net. The net is a definite ace for handing out some information regarding history but it's certainly a disaster for amusing oneself looking at all sorts of pornography.

Recently, I had an amazing experience that made me realise that, much as I liked surfing the net, I found out to my consternation that it could be a very dangerous "'tool" indeed. During the last week of May I had a fainting spell at home which led to my being hospitalised for a whole week.

Not content with the capable doctor's diagnosis that there was nothing seriously wrong with me I spent a whole week searching the net for all kinds of diseases that would explain my fainting "period". It was the worst week of my life. Speaking to the doctor again after my internet dilemma, she told me in no uncertain terms that I had acted like a real dummy because a little bit of knowledge is dangerous.

Since then I've taken up the role of a killjoy. When some patient in hospital says to me that s/he found a number of symptoms connected with their disease I tell them to stop surfing the net for negative things; they should go for the positive instead.

A little knowledge is dangerous. Seek professional advice. Hurry if you have a lump in your breast but disregard the clumsy information on the internet. After all, it is not the Bible.