Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How horrible that a 13 yo girl was so naive that she stole a car to drive across country to meet up with a "boyfriend" she met online. I remind my 10 yo daughters frequently never to talk to anybody online and why. I'm hoping if they hear it enough when the time comes they actually are online without supervision they will have enough sense to know better.
I really don't understand parents who put internet access and computers in children's bedrooms. That's like asking for trouble.
Are parents just so happy to be rid of their children, to not have them in the way where they have to see them that they just do this to be rid of them? Any computer that will access the internet should be in a public room like the living room or kitchen.
Parents need to stop letting chat rooms be their babysitters.
Kids dont even use computers anymore, they use their ipods, on the couch, at dinner, in their rooms.......and for some reason parents just dont see a problem.
I would forward this to some of these parents, if I thought they'd care..
I think in the past parents would let tv be the babysitter, but there was no way predators could really influence them, there generally was no porn on the tv for the kid to watch and he or she sure couldn't chat through the tv to their whole school.
The kids I know, hardly watch tv anymore, parents just hand them ipods like they are candy and they go entertain themselves.
I really don't understand parents who put internet access and computers in children's bedrooms. That's like asking for trouble.
Are parents just so happy to be rid of their children, to not have them in the way where they have to see them that they just do this to be rid of them? Any computer that will access the internet should be in a public room like the living room or kitchen.
Parents need to stop letting chat rooms be their babysitters.
You don't need one anymore, to allow strangers into your bed room. Any screen will do... 4 inches, 20 inches + an xbox and a microphone, smart phone, tablet... anything.
At the same time I posted this article I sent it to my 10 yo daughters and after they read it we talked about the subject again.
I'm hoping that by keeping the lines of communication open and by starting early, they will have enough sense to not do this. none of my kids ever had a computer or TV in their rooms. DH and I have our own personal computers but family computer is in family room where we are aware of what is happening.
and yes playing online games can be really dangerous as well. This 13 yo kid has to have some serious issues to steal a car from her brother to drive 1000 miles to meet some kid from the internet. serious issues indeed
The problem is not the stolen car or the audacity to flee/drive. I admire her skill in driving that long. I can't last more than 45 minutes, coz my bum starts to hurt.
The problem is letting your child play x-box that long. Plain negligence and poor parenting.
So instead of scaring the kids about the predators of the internet, teach them good internet skills and limit game time.
It's not the resident moms doing the majority of the fearmongering...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
