Yet another reason to keep your kids off myspace

And how do you propose to enforce that? According to the story, she put in her profile that she was 18.

 

When my family first got a computer it went in the living room. If I was going to look up porn on the 14.4 modem, I better be willing to do it in front everybody else there.

And giong to a friend's house should be no different. Except, well, most parents seem to be gullible or foolish because they allow the kids to have computers in their bedrooms.

Now, you say use a credit card to register. Well, the parent has already buckled under the pressure of needing "privacy" and allowed the kid to have a computer in their room. Why would the parent refuse to take part in step one of the registration process?

 

What ever happened to teenaged girls being interested in the guys they go to school with?

We had a pretty frank SportsJournalists.com thread on pedophiles awhile back.... We discussed if this was a growing problem-- or whether the internet is just bringing out what was already there.

I raised the idea that perhaps it's a growing problem-- a terrifying thought.  I was shot down (in a nice way.)

Since then, the US AG has called the problem an "epidemic."

I know my station did a sweeps story on local law enforcement's efforts to flush these creeps out-- who isn't doing this during sweeps?  The reporter sat with undercover officer as she went online pretending to be a 14-year-old girl.  The photog on the story told me that within 5 minutes of logging on, she had nasty e-mails from about 20 guys.  It's like shooting fish in a barrel.

I want to hope it's just that it's getting more media attention than ever... my instincts tell me differently.

 

I know in my parent's house they are using the "Oh, well she's probably lying" excuse to not do anything about it.
My sister's myspace profile features references to sex, drugs and alcohol. And not just one of each, but multiple.
Her boyfriend's background is a smurf smoking pot and has something like 25 references to it (I counted).
My parent's response: "We know what's going on with our daughter. Don't tell us how to parent."
But these are the same parents who were "shocked" to find her grades dropping, only to discover it was because she was on the cellphone each night until 3 a.m. with boyfriend. When I said, "Gee, maybe you should take her cell phone away from her before you go to bed," I was met with disdain.

Long story short, parents don't want to parent when it comes to these "new" things like the internet and cell phones.

 

Below is what the story says. I am not proposing anything, but if the company considers typing in a number higher than 13 as a "safeguard" I strongly disagree. If they said, "Hey, we ask that kids under 14 stay off the site but they lie and come on anyway. What are you gonna do?" I would at least have a smidgen of respect for them.

 

I'm sort of unclear what the DA in this case is going to charge this guy with. Hanging out with an underage girl? She said she was 18, the cop said she could probably pass for 18, and they were just driving in a car, not bumping uglies.

I still don't get the obsession with myspace. When did a whole generation of kids become convinced that the world was so fascinated by their boring-ass lives?

 

Yeah, I'm not sure this is a pedophile case. Though if I were trolling for chicks on MySpace, I would probably mentally add about four years to every girl who says she is 22 or under.

 

Our house has one internet-capable computer and it's in the master bedroom. The kids don't play online unless we are in the room with them and they are not, and will not be, allowed to have a chat room username. There are three convicted pedophiles (according to the national registry) living within a half mile of our house, one directly across the street of the shortest walking path to her school.

I know pedophiles existed back when I was a kid, but being a dad now scares the crap out of me sometimes. And I think the internet is giving some pedophile wannabes the 'safety net' they need that allows them to explore their feelings, repressed or otherwise. They possibly feel like they can play around and not hurt anyone. But, IMO, that playing around does, in fact, foster those feelings and desires and allows them to grow. For some, not all, it leads to dire consequences.

I'd love to see an internet pedophile of the day as a regular feature on television stations and in newspapers.

I think it's only a matter of time before the parents of a molested child successfully sue MySpace and it's shut down.

 

Forget the kids, what about the adults? At least the kids are too dumb to know better.  What possible reason does an adult have for decorating a page with every shred of personal info about him/herself--including the obligatory 'i am so hot' photos--and then getting creeped out when strangers comment on it??

 

It's great to have the safeguards you have put in place, but for God's sake don't be complacent. Stay vigilent. Kids can be good when it comes to not wanting you to find out stuff.

I have been in the Yahoo! game rooms playing online pool or chess and all you see in the chat lobby or whatever it is are guys and gals trolling for sex. It's freaky. I were a parent I wouldn't have thought twice about my little girl going on a site like that to play games before. Now, I can honestly say the thought of trying to raise a girl in today's world scares the ever-loving shit out of me. Bless those of you doing it - and don't underestimate the kids ingenuity.

 

An essay a few months ago in Time said it best.

Despite all the hand-wringing about domestic spying and whatnot, the basic truth is this:

Americans don't want privacy.

They crave to be looked at, to have their stories read, their thoughts analyzed, their stupid antics taped and shown on TV or the internet.

We think of Paris Hilton as the nutty exception to what we perceive as normal.

No, she's the norm. Just more wealthy.

 

Time to Americans: ATTENTION WHORES, ALL OF YA!