Children Online: Safety Should Come First

What set me off is seeing all the articles lately on how Myspace is improving, how they are regulating information more and more. Well I call bull on that one. Just last week there were three men indited for sexually assaulting teenage girls they met on Myspace. There is the story of the young girl who was harassed so badly that she committed suicide. Then there is the story of the young boy who met an older man on Myspace, and the man paid him money to masturbate on cam. The young boy then turned around and met other men through this guy, and became a "cult" favorite. The child was only 14 at the time.

It's time for parents to stand up and pay attention to the sites their children are going to. The Internet is not a safe place for children to chat with friends without a parent checking constantly on what they are doing.

Right now if I went into the Myspace chat rooms, I would see women and men my age trying to "hook" up with any number of young boys and girls. They will tell you their ages, addresses, you name it, I can get it. I have gone in there only three times, and each time I could not stay, it literally made me sick to my stomach.
The worst part is watching these adults work the kids, using the information the kids are putting in the rooms to gain their trust.

My biggest problem with on line sites is this: Where are the parents of these children? Why aren't they being watched? Why do they have so much freedom on line? Are parents really so naive to think that it is safe for these kids? I know my daughter has been dying for a Myspace page for over a year now. Three of her best friends got one at age ten. Until I had a talk with their parents and showed them exactly what was being shown and said to these girls. Those accounts were deleted immediately after that talk. I have told my daughter repeatedly that if she wants one, wait until she is 18, but until then she gets one account, an email, and I have all passwords and id's. I check it regularly for any type of spam or adult related items.

I met a parent recently on line who argued with me about the safety of his 13 year old son using on line sites. He felt that it was a learning experience, and let his son have accounts at many major sites that I have. So I in turn took him on a tour of these sites, showing him all the adult things being shown and told. He still wasn't worried, claiming his son knows the difference between right or wrong. In my eyes, thats basically waving a piece of candy in front of a child's mouth, leaving the room, and expecting him not to eat it.

My children get to use my computer, I do let them play games. Of course, I check every on line game first, they have to register using my email, and they cannot download anything without parental permission. I go so far as to Google my children's names monthly to make sure they didn't sign up for anything at a friends house, library, or at school. Maybe thats a bit controlling of me, and some parents would say it shows no trust of my child. But I would rather err on the side of extreme caution, then have to blog about my child's death, or post missing child pictures on telephone booths.