TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: MySpace: Murdoch's Big Hope; Parents Nightmare

Re: MySpace: Murdoch's Big Hope; Parents Nightmare

William Warren (william_warren_nonoise@speakeasy.net)
Sat, 25 Feb 2006 10:44:03 -0500

masonboro_island@yahoo.com wrote:

> Thanks for the article. I hadn't read this one yet. It is scary to
> think that kids are so vulnerable ... and it's true that people
> reveal a surprising amount of information about themselves in online
> dating sites or social networking sites like My Space. I saw a news
> segment on tv recently about how some dating sites are conducting
> background checks when you sign up to weed out "predators." Did
> anyone else see that?

No, I didn't see that, but that's because I figured out a long time ago
that television has one basic rule: "If it bleeds, it leads".

It's scary to think that adults are so vulnerable: a carnival barker
doing nothing more exotic than selling soap can get them into a frenzy
by mouthing a few buzzwords about "predators".

> I saw one website where you can report any suspect activity targeting
> kids online -- its http://www.cybertipline.com That's the only
> resource I've found so far that offers a place to report things
> online. Good to know there are some resources out there. This is a
> difficult thing for parents to monitor as well.

You've been hyping this site on http://alt.tv.comedy-central.daily-show and
probably other newsgroups as well. Are you the owner, or do you just
work there?

Don't bother to reply: this post isn't really for your eyes, but for
Pat's other readers who don't have time to do a Google search.

With that in mind, I'll remind people that there are _other_ resources
out there: my favorite one is the power switch on the computer. When my
kids were at an impressionable age, I placed their computer in our
family room and and forced them to use it in full view of an adult. I
told them that it's impossible to be private on the internet, and that
anybody in between them and their friends could see what they were typing.

My kids were never approached by any predators, but then again, they
never had to worry about telling me important things or asking for
advice if someone sending them a message seemed creepy, and they
always knew that they should approach someone they could trust, such
as the minister at our church or their school guidance counselor, if
they wanted to get advice and didn't feel like talking to their mother
or to me.

As for you, I'll just say that it seems there's more than one way to
take advantage of childrens' innocence.

William Warren
(Filter noise from my address for direct replies)

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