Ok parent’s here is a little wake up call and if this is nothing new to any of you then hopefully it’s because you actually are your child’s parent and not best friend.
I have a high schooler and a middle schooler so having techy teens around the house is not unfamiliar territory for me and my husband. I being online constantly have been right in step with my two kids and we have an understanding. They have complete privacy and there space to do what they want without having thier parent’s snooping and going through there things like detectives……as long as all account’s, email addresses, networking sites etc are written in a notebook labeled Internet access information. They write in these books any accounts they sign up for the web address to them their login information to include passwords.
The back up email addresses for password changes etc are to my email address. What this does is gives me complete access to everything they do online but the trust of my kids that it’s for safety reasons and a way to keep them being honest about what they are doing online by having to think “will mom be thrilled if I am using this site?” In a way they are policing themselves for me. But in another way to look at it how many times have you read in the news about a parent looking for there child and could get into their online files and by the time the police had someone crack the code the information that would have possibly saved their loved one was 48 to 72 hours to late?
As my kids have gotten older the trust has grown stronger so much that I actually get information that I can pass to other parent’s as a heads up. Most of the time I get a thanks for the heads up but I have been more then once told to mind my own business when I kindly inform a parent that their daughter is posting almost nude photo’s on web sites that are teen dating sites. For instance Yearbook.com now know as MeetMe.com is supposed to be for teen’s to meet new friends from all over the country; sort of like a online Pen Pal.
Well Mom and Dad check out the site some time what you see will shock or embarrass you! Now some may not know this but anybody who knowingly see’s a picture of an underage child that is provocative in anyway and fails to report it can be charged with child porn and endangerment. Every Time a girl sends a text to my boy’s that shows her cleavage I have to report it it’s the law not because I want to be a you know what….
The bottom line, be careful. The internet is a good tool that can facilitate a child’s learning. After all, look at what Tutor for Good has done for thousands of students nationwide. The average online math tutoring session costs $35. Where else can you get it for free? But, when utilized inappropriately, the internet can also be dangerous. What are your thoughts on this as a parent?