myspace.com safety ads

[kddani]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/interne....ap/index.html

What do you think?

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

I think people should parent their damn kids.

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
I think people should parent their damn kids.

Agreed.

[enigma_AKA]

^^^^Second.

enigma_AKA

[AGDee]

Well, as a parent of a 12 year old girl, I can say that it is impossible to police all of her actions 24/7. Not only does she get home from school at 2 pm (and I get home from work at 5:30 pm), but she also goes to friends' houses and the library, where she has access to the internet.

I trained her really well though, not to include personal details in her MySpace. So well, that her page said she was 100 years old, living in Everywhereville, USA. Good you say, she was careful, there was no personal info about her anywhere on her page. I have her password to all of her email accounts and to her My Space account. I read her stuff from time to time, just to check. Seems I did a good job, doesn't it?

Til you read her friends' profiles. Her friends all say "I'm so and so and I'm 12 years old in 6th grade at Blah Blah Middle School". They all say they're 18 or 19 in the main part, so their profiles are open to everybody.

So, I wrote down everything I could find out about all her friends and showed it to her. I asked her if she thought I could figure out her real age and where she went to school from that info. She got very upset and immediately emailed all her friends. I had her change her age to 14 so her profile could be friends only. I do know all the kids who are on her friends list.

Most of her friends with My Space pages are also in her Girl Scout troop. I did a meeting on internet safety with them and showed them all the info I could get about them, including some of their pictures. I noted that I could easily sit in a car at their middle school when school got out and note which bus they got on, or follow the bus when it left the school. I pointed out how the bus schedule is posted online. I showed them Google Earth.

Bottom line is, my daughter still isn't 100% safe, despite doing everything I can do as a parent, short of staying in her presence 24/7. It's scary to a parent, even one who IS parenting their children. It's a whole new world, this internet stuff, and it leaves them more vulnerable than ever before. I'm all for any way that makes them more aware. Sadly, most of them have the typical pre-teen/teen attitude of "It won't happen to me", but the reality is, it will happen to some of them.

[valkyrie]

The thing is, you're actually parenting. You didn't need a stupid ad on myspace to make you aware of the realities facing children on the internet.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Wow, Dee, I never thought of all of that. One really needs to be a detective to be a parent nowadays. You're doing a thorough job as a parent, and your children and their friends are safer because of it.

[DolphinChicaDDD]

AGDee, I applaud you.

As a teacher, most of my kids were completely oblivious about how much stuff they actually put out there. Until a police officer, who specializes in child issues(abuse, pornography, molestation, etc), came in. We had an assembly for the 5-8th graders. He started off with a borring powerpoint about first amendment rights, computers, etc. Then he flashed up a screen shot of someone's myspace page and said, "Is Jane here?" The girl started to freak, and everyone started laughing...until he flashed up some more pictures of their pages. He showed the kids some of their pages (with some parts actually blacked out because it was so inappropriate) and asked them how they felt that a 37 year old man was looking at their pages. It scared some enough that they changed the pages...but not all of them.

We've had about 3 high profile cases of child abduction/murder in the area, but we still have kids who think they are immune to it all.

Bottom line, more parents need to be like AGDee. However, most of them won't. Which is why I think having the ads are at least a start.

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
I think people should parent their damn kids.

Good point, but what about parents who know absolutely nothing about the computer and well myspace? A lot of my younger cousins and nieces are on myspace.

I'm a lot closer (geographically and emotionally) to my cousins so I always look on their page and occasionally log on with their email and password. I leave funny comments like, I'm watching you or I can see that, and she knows what I'm talking about. I also gave her a list of "myspace rules" of all the things she can't do. There are like fifty rules. My aunt and uncle know nothing about computers so I try and do my part to protect her. As for my nieces, wow! That is all I'm going to say about that.

Good Job, AGDEE, I'm glad you have a very understanding daughter.

[BobbyTheDon]

Originally posted by AXiD670
Thank you for reiterating my decision to not have children.

Dude. You can have children, just don't have daughters

[AGDee]

Oh, I forgot the most important thing. Who listens to their parents when they are teenagers? Kids are more likely to listen to their peers first, then adults they respect or think are cool, then ads on TV/internet/radio and THEN they listen to their parents. I was a teen a lot longer ago than most of you, and I still remember that! Parents are just dumb

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by PoohsHoneyBee
Good point, but what about parents who know absolutely nothing about the computer and well myspace? A lot of my younger cousins and nieces are on myspace.

If parents don't live in a cave and know nothing about the computer or myspace, they're irresponsible.

[33girl]

Originally posted by PoohsHoneyBee
Good point, but what about parents who know absolutely nothing about the computer and well myspace? A lot of my younger cousins and nieces are on myspace.

There was just a big whomping report on Dateline about myspace on Sunday. It's no coincidence all these things are taking place this week.

I won't be surprised if it jumps the shark soon.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by Peaches-n-Cream
Wow, Dee, I never thought of all of that. One really needs to be a detective to be a parent nowadays. You're doing a thorough job as a parent, and your children and their friends are safer because of it.

Ditto. I was impressed.

[Optimist Prime]

Originally posted by valkyrie
If parents don't live in a cave and know nothing about the computer or myspace, they're irresponsible.

if they lived in a cave, would that be better?