My high school friend group lived on 4chan, and this was in the era of shock sites and the like. You grow out of it pretty quickly.

Zero parenting experience here, but making something the "forbidden fruit" is probably how kids learn to change the DNS on their device.

As far as I can remember, the only real-world consequence was someone applying Bengay where it should not be applied.

Point of clarification, was this before or after stormfront explicitly started using the site as a recruitment and training ground for neo-nazis? Because I also spent a fair bit of my middle and high-school time on 4chan, and can attest to the fact that the 4chan of 2007-2012 and the chansites of the present day are very different beasts.

That's true, I shouldn't speak to what it's like today as if it's the same when I don't actually know.

Where are you getting this from? Of course discussion on 4chan wasn't as politicized back then because politics was a much smaller part of the internet a decade ago in general, but people back then are still what you'd call "nazis" or whatever even today. If anything the /n/ (the first iteration of /pol/) board had existed since close to the start of the site and only in 2008 was it removed and replaced with the Transportation board.