I have been on the Internet since I was in the 5th grade. I am 31 now so
it was pretty new back then. I started out on Prodigy when it was just
message boards. Looking back now I realized that I was a possible victim
of solicitation of a minor. I remember when I was on Prodigy, a guy
asked me what my bra size was. I had no clue I was a naive kid. I said
50. No letter just 50. When I got AOL in the 7th grade I started going
in to chat rooms. These were just town square rooms. I was 13. I would
talk to these guys who I thought liked me. I felt special because they
were like 17. I remember one in particular who was 17 or 18 could have
been older. He told me that he had a sister my age and I chatted with
her. I never questioned if she was real or him on a screen name. I just
thought it was so cool that this guy was talking to me. I am sure that
is a common feeling for girls that age. He lived in Lakeland Florida and
I lived in the suburbs in a nice community in Indiana.
There
were other guys that would talk to me, some not so appropriately. They
weren't totally vulgar but more sneakily vulgar. There was definitely
grooming going on too. That's basically where they get you to trust them
and are really nice to you. The good thing is that they were all over
the country and I wasn't stupid enough to send pictures of my body. Even
good girls can be fooled. It is so important to monitor your children
online. I hate to say it but trust is not enough. You can trust your
child but you can't trust the other person. It doesn't matter what the
kid says it could be all a lie. Pictures don't mean anything. Anyone can
pretend to look like someone online. Teach your children when it comes
to people online to trust no one. I don't care if they are nice. It
doesn't matter if they are cute. You don't talk to strangers when they
offer you candy. You don't have private convos with strangers online.
Even if they say they are a nun.
It really concerns me because
even though we know more about online predators and pedophiles, with
social media and everyone feeling the need to share every location and
thing they are doing, it's really harmful. I see that kids have Facebook
and Twitter who shouldn't. People are posting their private business
with the masses. I think that Facebook and Twitter should tighten up
their age requirement. Facebook and Twitter should require an actual way
to verify age. Parents need to install monitoring software. This is not
a trust issue. It is not a oh my kid is a good kid and wouldn't do that
issue. It's a safety measure. If your perfect little angel becomes a
victim of an Internet crime including bullying. You need a record. You
need to be able to know who these people are in case there is something
that needs your attention. If your child decides to meet someone online
you need to know who this person is just in case. Some kind of contact
number or an ip. Just having your computer in an open space isn't enough
you can't watch them like a hawk all the time.
Your child
probably will be mad if you monitor them with software. They may
question if you trust them. You might have an argument over it. It's not
a trust issue it's for their safety and when they are a parent they
will understand and probably thank you. They will look back and think
wow I really was fearless and did a lot of stupid things. Just as I did.
I was totally fearless. I was a good polite kid and I did a lot of
stupid stuff that people probably thought I wouldn't do. I thought I was
invincible and nothing could hurt me.
No comments:
Post a Comment