Do you think parents have an idea of what their children (under 17) post and discuss in such a public medium? And I'm not really trying to get into a safety/security discussion.
They should have an idea or a way to monitor them. Kids are crazy these days. You never know what child molestor is talking to your kids. And so many of the kids are whoring it up it's not even funny.
I couldn't tell you, as I am currently neither a parent nor a child. But, I do know it sucks for the mischievous minors of my generation and the generation coming up next that we missed out - only kids in the current era will end up getting this much internet amnesty. The further it goes, the easier it will be to lock up, and pretty soon most all parents will be internet-savvy anyway.
That's a good point, however there's always going to be something newer and better that older folks won't know about or how to use. I say watch what those wacky Emo kids get their hands on next, and that will be the future tool eventually mainstreamed. I don't even have a MySpace account; I just don't like it much, but I was looking at it through a friend's profile and damn...whoring it up is an understatement.
I would ban myspace from my home computers at a large backlash from my children. I would rather my son or daughter look at p*rn than that filth known as myspace.
What makes myspace different from any other online website like friendster, xanga, that college one (obviously I forgot the name), ratemypix.com, etc?
I'd say that 95% of the parents do NOT know what their kids post and read on MySpace dot com. My kids aren't old enough, but I sure as heck would be checking up on their *ss, 'cuz I know there are tools to watch and will use them. Another question, how do you think a site could "verify" that parents know what their kids are doing? I mean, how can a website check for real that their parents DO know? That would be nearly impossible to hold up. Of the 5% that do know, however, most if not all are dubbed as "nosy" by their kids, citing that they just want to get into their "business". Well, guess what, Kyle and Todd, until you're 18, you can't say sh*t about what we parents look at. The difference is, chow_yun_fat, that myspace is EXTREMELY more popular and "easier" to use than the others, and there are so many "gadgets" and sh*t like that to put on there as compared to the rest.
I don't think they know, but they should...I have to block crap all the time and I like p*rn... I don't see it as any different than monitoring what your kids watch on tv/movies, listen to, etc...
When I get a computer for my kids, I'm going to filter the **** out of my network. I'll set it up just like at work and audit everything. Being in IT has it's benefits
I trust my kids. They don't need a website for validation or to fill some need that doesn't exist in my house. They know the difference between right and wrong and from what I've seen on their sites, they connect with their cousins, friends and schoolmates (privacy settings). However, I do have their passwords.
At least as far as you know. My son is 19 now and I know when he's downloading pr0n, because the bandwidth goes to crap. I just yell out, "Are you downloading pr0n?!?!" He says, "No!" - And then the performance gets better. Go figure. He knows that I am capable of going further than that, given my profession. Most of his stuff is the harmless legal pr0n. I didn't know who Tera Patrick was until, I had to shut his computer off. She's cute, but then I would never blow my nose with someone else's hanky. I hope he grows out of it soon.
Preach on brutha! <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XxkF6EKk8LY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XxkF6EKk8LY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
No, no, and no. Unless you're one of those IT or computer people, I doubt you will know what your kids are doing. Even then kids are always a step ahead of their parents IMHO. They're always coming up with newer and newer programs to do it. But I think most of it is just p*rn and such. No biggie, no matter how much you try to stop it, they're gonna get to it one way or another. Oh and on the subject, I hate myspace.. it's a piece of crap. I don't understand why kids love it so much. Anyways, I don't have kids yet.. but from looking at my nieces and nephews.. I'm more worried about them shooting drugs and having unprotected sex.
You could set up a router and store web addresses visitd, put in keylog to track every key stroke, but seems extreme.
You know.. I think when I have kids.. I might just go do that Seems like a lot of work tho. I just hope I won't have one of those weird anti-social hacker kids.
God, I have a 2 year old daughter and another one coming in a couple of months. Protecting kids -- especially daughters -- from themselves is what just makes me cringe at the idea of being a father. Myspace (or the 2017 equivalent) is just the tip of the iceberg. My daughters will have plenty of opportunities to get themselves into all sorts of trouble in the neighborhood, at school, on the phone, etc. Here's hoping they know how to take care of themselves.
I guess it depends on where they go on Myspace. I am on it, and don't really see anything that offensive. I see stupid customized backgrounds on some of the teen myspace pages that have mar1juana leaves and stuff, but nothing that I would have to warn a teen-aged kid about. I'm sure its out there. It is just that my interests haven't taken me to those pages.
