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To Young For Facebook, To Tired To Fight It
No comments · Posted by admin in Identity Theft, Uncategorized
I had a recent scare with my kids, so I am on a protective kick. This and last weeks post reflex so. Anyways…
The World Wide Web (Do people even call it that anymore?) can be a dangerous place for your kids. Crazy To Catch a Predator stuff goes on everyday. We don’t know who is on the other end of the connection talking to our kids. It makes my skin crawl to even think about it. On the other hand, after a long day of work the last thing I want to do is fight with my children about how and what they get to access on the net.
I’m also not going to do a reverse email lookup and a sex offender search for every little friend my kid makes online (Although I have done it before and it was in fact a 35 year-old man with a charge for “Fail & Refuse to Furnish Proof of Age and ID” and “Sexual misconduct with a minor in the first degree”. So the threat is real people. You best believe that my kids facebook accounts and yahoo messenger accounts were cancelled after that.
I can’t wrap them in bubble wrap before I sent them to school or walk them to the bus until they are 18. So I sat them down and talked to them like the competent little minds they are. Not sharing last names, addresses, birth days, schools attended, parents credit card numbers, etc. After doing so I went in search of alternatives. I can’t just kick them off the computer. I found my answer in Togetherville.com.
It’s a safe online neighborhood for kids under 10. Here they can play games, create art and interact with friends and family under your supervision. It’s gotten some recognition from The Journal and The Times. Mashable.com even did an article about it.
I didn’t mean to put you off from performing one of those searches either. If you suspect your child (any age) is chatting with a serious creeper (Some younger girls [boys too i guess] find the attention of a much older male appealing. And won’t be telling you about it any time soon). Monitor their behavior and launch one of those searches after any signs arise.
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