Online Safety for Kids | Child safety online

Posts Tagged ‘parents’

I know this is the job for the police but we know they can’t do it all and there’s too many child predators or pedophiles on the Internet and too many children being abducted. We also know there are some parents who fail to talk to their children about Internet safety and fail to put in softwares that help record Internet activities and so forth…. we also know that children will lie to their parents about what they’re doing online.

Child predators really need to be dealt with because of those reasons. I’ve read that one can get into trouble if you go in a chat room and pretend to be a young child when you’re not. I don’t see why. There must be something else that can be done.

If I do enter a chat room and pretend to be a young child and I want to be anonymous when reporting this pedophile, is that possible? Is it possible to be anonymous and not involved at all once the report is in?

She’s very curious and loves talk about anything and everything. After a bad experience on Facebook, her parents decided she should create an account somewhere that isn’t connected to her in real life where she can talk about whatever she wants without damage from friends & family. Of course, her parents would monitor the account for her safety. She and her parents already have a great open and honest conversation where she gets most of her questions answered but there are age related issues they can’t answer. For example, her parents have already answered her questions about masturbation but she wants to know if and how much she can talk about with friends her age without feeling outcast. (Btw, I know some people will object to a kid talking about mature topics at her age, but she’s going to do it anyway, so her parents want her supervised and to trust her parents.)

But Yahoo Answers and girlsaskguys.com have age limits and she’s too young. What’s a place that’s professional and legit but without an age limit?
Strangely, I can’t find a single pre-teen forum from Google. Maybe 11-12 year olds never use forums? Just old farts like me.

I’ve been chatting with this guy on MySpace for several months. He’s never revealed his real name or posted any pictures of himself, which he said was because of Internet safety concerns, which I can understand, so I was cool with that. He’s sort of odd and geeky, but he’s nice and I like him. I just kind of assumed that he was some bored kid who was online without his parents’ permission looking for someone nice to talk to.

Well, just lately I found out that he’s somebody I actually knew in real life. I didn’t know him very well – we were passing acquaintances, and I didn’t even know his full name. I haven’t seen him in person for about a year. I’m pretty sure that he had a crush on me, but he always acted really shy and awkward so I didn’t ask him about it. Anyways, he knew who I was and he found me online.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this. His behavior seems kind of stalkerish, but then again he’s never acted like a stalker at all – he doesn’t send me messages all the time or ask me for personal information. As far as I know, everything he’s told me about himself is true – he just never told me his name. He’s never said anything inappropriate to me, and it seems like he was only looking for a friend the whole time. But I don’t understand why he felt the need to keep his identity a secret from me.

Any insights? :/

A prominent "REPUBLICAN" has prepared legislation that would "REQUIRE" that your service provider keep logs of all Americans online activities.
The companys,like Yahoo,Windows and Google that didn’t comply would be fined for one year.
Wisconsin rep. F. James Sensenbrener,thought this brilliant one up,so police would have it easier conducting investigations etc.
This means they will get every little bit of information about you,your parents,who you contact,what sites you visit,your "age" where you live,what you say,"there goes answers".
His legislation is very vague on the "Explotation of todays youth Act"
or "Internet Safety Act" Here are some comments from people.
quote: The internet Safety Act"follows along line of bad laws in the name of children"
CONGRESS surrenders-Freedom eliminated=Terrorist "WIN"
Tell me again,why young kids are dying in Iraq?
I personaly wonder what the F, stands for,and I hope Wisconsin people get rid of this threat to all of us.

Excerpted from Time online article about safety of vaccines (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080522/hl_time/howsafearevaccines)
"Despite the rules requiring students to be vaccinated, doctors can issue waivers to kids whose compromised immune system might make vaccines risky. Additionally, all but two states allow waivers for children whose parents object to vaccines on religious grounds; 20 allow parents to opt out on philosophical grounds."

So, that means that in 48 of 50 states I can object to vaccines on religious grounds, but in only 20 of 50 states can I object on philosophical grounds.

I was following a blue minivan the other day that had one of those vinyl stickers on the rear window that had the name of a local kids’ soccer organization, a soccer ball, and the name "MADDIE #6" under it.

Basically, this parent was advertising that they have a school-aged daughter who plays on the soccer team and wears number 6, and gave out her name. This is the exact kind of information that parents tell their kids not to share with strangers on the internet, but here they are telling the whole local area.

This same organization posts its game information online. Anyone can find out where they play. Someone could approach little #6 and say, "Hi Maddie! Don’t you remember me? I’m a friend of your mom’s. I drive a blue minivan just like hers. She said you might want to meet my dog, she’s in the car, come on."

If I had kids their names would never go on my car, nor would any other identifiers like sports teams or jersey numbers. Is this too much risk?

I have a 13 year old son and a 9 year old daughter. My son made a Facebook account 2 months ago. As a rule, I will know ALL the passwords to my kids’ accounts online (myspace, facebook, hotmail etc) until they turn 18 years old. Its not that I won’t trust them, but it is about other people online I don’t trust. My daughter does not have any accounts online, but when she does she knows that I will have the passwords. The computer is also in the living room where it will be always monitored where I can see everything that goes on. I allow my 13 y.o 30 minutes a day on weekdays and 1 hour a day on weekends on the computer.

Would you consider this too strict and overprotective? I don’t really think so, I believe there should not be any "privacy" over the internet until they are no longer minors. This is only to ensure their safety.

And also, for any other parents; What are you experienced for passwords online, what are your rules and regulations regarding this?

What is the best way to get a teenager offline?Especially,Whenever all of their friends are always online chatting,etc? I mean I have nothing against the internet itself. Please don’t get me wrong. But I don’t think it is good for kids to be sitting in front of computers,constantly!They need exercise!And I also do not think it is safe.I believe we have to monitor their activities as parents.I am having a hard time with my daughter because all of her friends are online constantly.And I do not believe that she should be.So,I try to talk her into doing other activities!And yes I spy on what she is doing(for her own safety!).And I can’t believe what some of her friends have messaged&sent her!How can you confront your child about this?Whenever all of their friends have no rules?And also without seeming to controlling? I am just trying to be a good mother,honestly. But this computer is making it hard! I do believe that they need computers for school!But some are using them for all the wrong
Reasons! And I don’t even think their parents even know what they are up too!Please,I’d like to hear from parents and adults about this!And perhaps even mature teens!Thanks~!
I’m sorry my oldest is only 12 (soon to be 13!) And my youngest is only 8! Sorry,I should have told you all that!They are not as old as some of you are!I can see if you are 17,18,19 etc..You are practically an adult!I’ve been on my own since 15!No parents!So I can understand if you are older!

I work with children between the ages of 6 to 18 years old and we recently banned myspace.com because too many of our kids were lying about their age and looking at inappropriate pictures. Do you think that it is too dangerous for teenageers or do you think that it is up to the parents to teach them internet safety?

i’m a 6th grade teacher and about 85% of my kids have a myspace page. i would really like to find a flyer or newsletter with facts and tips to internet safety, which specifically focuses on myspace. i will accept any news stories that you may find, as i could probably make up a flyer of my own. just wondering if there is one out there already.

thanks
*for parents OF kids with myspace. sorry, typing too fast for my own good.
let me add some more…i teach in an inner city and a lot of parents aren’t necessarily involved with all aspects of their children’s lives. at lot of my kids have admitted to lying about their age and brag about how many friends they have, which makes me believe they will allow anyone to be their friend. i’m just looking for something to go over with parents about their children’s safety. maybe some statistics to scare them to keep an eye out. or tips so parents can allow their kids to have a myspace page, but make sure they regulate.

thanks.