Oh Chey, my daughter is using one of those blog sites. I've checked it out but what I saw scares me, not so much for my daughter because she's pretty netwise but some girls as young as 14 or so have passed cell phone numbers and personal info as if they were talking in their yards. The possibilities are horrifying. Kids just don't see the potential for danger. If I knew some of these kid's parents I'd pass on some warnings but I don't know any of the ones I've seen leaving this types of info.

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As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will. He will be sure to repent - Socrates

Love is not looking in each other's eyes, but looking together in the same direction - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

I was just thinking this morning about solutions... *got my thinking cap on extra early for a Friday* - Chey would you be willing to be a mod for their site? Or could you talk your daughter (this goes to BigBear as well) into setting an example - often times teens are more willing to listen to a peer than an adult. Have your daughters (once they understand the dangers) post a ...'hey fyi - just thought i'd help you wise up' sort of message. Just a thought as you both mention being concerned for those other teens out there that might not have the same guidance from home.

I'd thought along similar lines Maddy, I've started to send a note when I see something but then how would they differentiate my "helping" from some old fart trying to hook up so I refrained. Some kids are just anti advice even from peers.. it's a touchy situation in some cases. Some of the girls are my daughter's friends so I can pass the message along by my daughter but for those I don't know ... I wish there was a way to show them the risks they're taking.

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As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will. He will be sure to repent - Socrates

Love is not looking in each other's eyes, but looking together in the same direction - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

I work at a school. One of the roles I have is to educate kids about internet safety as I am the Web Developer. What I have found in the age group of 11-15 is that the kids think that they are safe because they don't "see" the person face to face. They don't think about who they are talking to, or what they are even typing. They think that they have a barrier to bad people because they are communicating thru a computer and internet line.

I have found a really neat site that has mini-movies about teens who have actually experienced the dangers. http://www.netsmartz.org/netteens.htm (Bear - that might be a neat site to send to your daughter for her to share with her friends) These are true stories and seem to have an impact on some of the kids at the school. There is a lot of other information on the site that can be applied to various age groups depending upon their maturity.

Also, there is a site for elementary students too. http://www.netsmartzkids.org/indexfl.htm

The site I am worried about is run by a very popular net dating / meet people / adult content site. If anyone would like the web address to check this out, PM me and I will send it to you and you will know what I mean. I don't think that they would want me as a moderator - LOL.

BTW - I have yet to receive a reply to my email. I am going to give them another week and then I may email our state news channel and our attorney general the information along with the url and my concerns. Iowa right now is really trying to cut down on the opportunities sex offenders have and I hope that they won't forget to be concerned about the internet.

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

Well, I went to the site to get the contact information again so I could email them another "vent" and obtain a physical address to also send them snail mail and I noticed that some changes were made to the message boards. At the top of each thread was this (pic attached). While I believe this is an excellent reminder to the girls, it isn't good enough for me.

I have contacted the state news station and gave them the url - hopefully something will come of that. I have also emailed the Attorney General the information as well.

My aim in this is not to shut the site down. I think the site has the potential to be a good place for young girls to meet and talk about stuff. I want this site to be more proactive in keeping the girls safe from predators. I know this is but one site out of many, but I guess a person needs to start with one and move to two, three......

Attached Images

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

It's a start Chey........good job!!!!

Such is the nature of the internet. We all want to see it kept free of censorship and the threat is looming for not only teen sites but for the rest of us as well. If this site does have some areas that you approve of and some that you should be concerned over,you might be missing the opportunity to sit down with your daughter and explore the site together. It seems as though most of it is an exchange of information that may concern teenagers. The fact that a site like that may have lurking pedophiles is a problem.The best guard against this kind of abuse is education. Although you were right to e-mail your concerns directly to the managers of the website,I for one would not wish go any further. What is at stake is our freedom of speech and the right for adults to view adult sites that all carry a warning to minors.

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Sex is one of nine reasons for reincarnation.The other eight are unimportant...Henry Miller

I somewhat agree with you lakritze - especially on censorship. What I am concerned about is that this particular site allows teens - ages 11 - 17 to discuss items of extreem sexual nature without guidance or moderation and does not really provide a "safe" haven for them. As adults, it is acceptable to discuss these types of things, but I don't think that teens should be allowed to do so without adult guidance as well as in an environment that will not put them at risk. There comes a time when censorship shouldn't even be considered when there are safety risks involved.

And, maybe I am a prude. I don't think it is ok for an 11 year old to talk about having a threesome or wanting to find out about having a threesome because her 15 year old boyfriend wants to have one. These children are not emotionally, mentally or physically ready for these types of things. By providing a place for discussion without guidance is totally wrong.

Cobalt and I were talking about this the other night again. I told him I was sad about these kinda things that girls are experiencing so young. One of the most precious things to me was experiencing something that I had never done with him. Had I done that when I was 11-14 what would I be doing now?

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.

We seem to have gravitated back to the "sexualisation" of very young girls.

A person needs a full childhood to allow then to blossom into a full adult, but that fullness of childhood

concerns learning to explore physical and emotional boundaries, discovering the inner strength and joy of

being them, not trying to be a sexual adult.

It is a form of abuse to encourage premature sexuality.

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Congrads Chey, its a pity more parents dont take an intrest in what their kids get up to on the net, i went through this with my 13 year old girl who not only thinks shes 19 but trys to play the part, after i sat down and vented my thoughts aboutwhat i think is appropiate she didnt speak to me for a week or so but now she is over it. i think her biggest concurn was me trying to bring her back to being 13

Thanks for the link Chey. I will go over this with my 13 year old. My daughter loves her internet and Yahoo chatting with her friends. She mainly sticks to this doll site where the kids all roleplay and goof around. She has become very close to many of them over the last year and I do allow her to have phone calls from them and chat. But, I must first see the person on the cam and talk to them myself on the phone. My daughter has strict rules that she has to have her archives on and isn't allowed to touch her history. Yes, I know she could get around this but right now she isn't that smart and knows that if I catch her trying to hide anything from me her net is gone. But, it's tough. I talk to almost everyday about being careful. They are so trusting of everyone and just believe what people tell them.

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