Online Safety for Kids | Child safety online

Posts Tagged ‘homework’

I got this story on internet safety in an email. I would like to know how many people have seen this, as I feel it is very interesting and makes you think twice about adding strangers on Myspace, Facebook, Tagged, etc.
PLEASE star so that others can see this and inform other people, even ones without children!!!! It could SAVE LIVES! Or, copy and paste onto an email and forward to all of your contacts!

MYSPACE: A Must Read for All

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ ALL OF THIS and HAVE CHILDREN READ IT TOO!

After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213 She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:

ByAngel213:
Hi. I’m glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!

GoTo123:
LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you?
Don’t you live in a safe neighborhood?

ByAngel213:
Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz’ I didn’t see anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123:
Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven’t done that have you?

ByAngel213:
Of course not. I’m not stupid you know.

GoTo123:
Did you have a softball game after school today?

ByAngel213:
Yes and we won!!

GoTo123:
That’s great! Who did you play?

ByAngel213:
We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL

GoTo123:
What is your team called?

ByAngel213:
We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really cool.

GoTo123:
Did you pitch?

ByAngel213:
No I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don’t want them mad at me. Bye!

GoTo123:
Catch you later. Bye

Meanwhile…….GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.

Her name: Shannon
Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985
Age: 13
State where she lived: North Carolina

Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School . She had told him all this in the conversations they had on- line. He had enough information to find her now.

Shannon didn’t tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ballpark that day. She didn’t want them to make a scene and stop her fr om walking home from the softball games. Parents were always over re-acting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn’t be so overprotective.

By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.

Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely.

He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn’t look scary and she quickly dismissed the sudden fear she had felt.

After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her.

Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her It was only a few blocks to Shannon’s home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.

Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon ‘s house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.

Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room.

‘Shannon, come here,’ her father called. He sounded upset and she couldn’t imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa.

‘Sit down,’ her father began, ‘this man has just told us a most interesting story about you.’

Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today!

‘Do you know who I am, Shannon ?’ the man asked.
‘ No,’ Shannon answered.

‘I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123.’

Shannon was stunned. ‘That’s impossible! GoTo is a kid my age! He’s 14. And he lives in Michigan !’

The man smiled. ‘I know I told you all that, but it wasn’t true. You see, Shannon , there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze.’

Shannon was stunned. ‘You mean you don’t live in Michigan ?’

He laughed. ‘No, I live in Raleigh . It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn’t it?’

She nodded.

‘I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn’t as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you’ve learned a lesson from this and won’t do it again. Tell others about this so they will be safe too?’

‘It’s a promise!’

That night Shannon and her Dad and Mom all knelt down together and thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic
situation.

*****NOW****

EVEN FORWARD THIS TO PEOPLE WITHOUT KIDS SO THEY CAN SEND IT TO FRIENDS THAT DO HAVE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN
I know it is kind of long, but please read the whole thing

thank you firstly for doing my survey, its a stupid I.T homework thing. the , means or

1. how old are you?
12, 13, 14, 15, 16

2. what gender are you?
male or female

3. do you use the internet at home?
yes, no

4. if yes, which room do you usually use it?
living room, bedroom, dining room, other (please tell me)

5. how often do you use social networking sites? (such as msn, facebook)
everyday, more than once a week, once a week, once a month, less than once a month, never

6. if yes – then what social networking sites do you use? (you can choose more than 1 option)
facebook, msn, bebo, myspace, e-buddy, other (please tell me)

7. – In your opinion, what are your child’s five favourite online activities? Please rate them from 1 to 5, 1 being your child’s favourite. e.g. 1- music 2 – blogging 3- gaming 4 – instant messenger 5 – web surfing – please choose from the options below.

Chat Rooms:
Blogging:
Music:
Instant Messenger:
Gaming:
File Sharing:
Social Networking:
Web Surfing:
Other (please tell me):

do you know if your at the legal age to be using social net working sites?
yes, no, im not sure

have you ever experience cyber bullying?
yes, no

thank myou firstly for soing my survey, its a stupid I.T homework thing. the , means or

1. how old are you?
12, 13, 14, 15, 16

2. what gender are you?
male or female

3. do you use the internet at home?
yes, no

4. if yes, which room do you usually use it?
living room, bedroom, dining room, other (please tell me)

5. how often do you use social networking sites? (such as msn, facebook)
everyday, more than once a week, once a week, once a month, less than once a month, never

6. if yes – then what social networking sites do you use? (you can choose more than 1 option)
facebook, msn, bebo, myspace, e-buddy, other (please tell me)

7. -In your opinion, what are your child’s five favourite online activities? Please rate them from 1 to 5, 1 being your child’s favourite. e.g. 1- music 2 – blogging 3- gaming 4 – instant messenger 5 – web surfing – please choose from the options below.

Chat Rooms:
Blogging:
Music:
Instant Messenger:
Gaming:
File Sharing:
Social Networking:
Web Surfing:
Other (please tell me):

do you know if your at the legal age to be using social net working sites?
yes, no, im not sure

have you ever experience cyber bullying?
yes, no

My answer, personally speaking, is NO. I don’t understand why anyone of Highschool age or younger should be allowed on there…mainly as a safety precaution. My bf’s sister is starting to get in trouble posting stuff online and talking to men who message her on myspace.
Why do parents even allow their kids to use the internet, is my question I guess…..you can’t really say it’s about their homework because you really only get reports that you research for every once in a while…and even then..what’s the library and the books for ya know?

Any theories on this?

Thanks in advance!
Actually I wasn’t on the computer when I was younger whatsoever. It was locked in our office and the internet had a password. My parents allowed us 30 minutes a week if we needed to finish homework and they also monitored us. …and I’m barely 23…so that was recently.
Ok I can’t believe like HALF of the people that answered this are teenagers. While some of you had good answers…the rest- come on..you’re kids! I’m asking PARENTS here. But perhaps a few are right…I’m now going to be using www.typeagent.com. I will know EVERY password of the teens using the internet on my comp.
I’m assuming those of you who are avidly YES on this are MOSTLY teenagers. Hooray for the ones who are "good". There is NOTHING wrong with a parent having their kid’s password. I will have mine-will not tell them- and will check on their emails, chat, profiles, EVERY single day SHOULD they be allowed on the internet. There is NO shame in that. It would be MY kid, MY internet,and MY rules. I promise you that my kid will not end up in some lame sh*t. THAT IS GOOD PARENTING.