General Chat

seeing on the internet? And does it concern you?

There was a sex ed programme on this week ( geared to teenagers) which showed a group of parents being shown how easy it is for their child to access pornography , not just 'subject specific' sites but through web cam posts on social networking sites or just through googling an innocent phrase.

The parents were very shocked at the ease of access to sites, and at the lack of 'personal respect' shown. One parent commented (to the effect) that it showed a very skewed attitude to sexual relationships and that a teenager watching would think that was what was 'expected'.

I have just experienced this with a friend of son staying, there is a general site, teenage trends etc...and a seemingly innocent link posted by a member threw up something well outside the 'norm' of sexual behaviour shall we say. ( really,not just me being prudish lol).

Although D has a filter on his comp' ( to stop his friend "downloading rubbish"..his choice) this wasn't blocked as it didn't contain any of the keywords he had filtered if you follow me. D told me about it and has since erased it as completely as he can.

Obviously teenagers are curious, and I certainly wouldn't suggest blocking everything, but i do think it's good to know what might be being watched and to be able to talk about it.

I would hate to be the parent of young teenagers these days, the internet is so attractive to them and there are so many potential pitfalls.

Tbh Rose I don't actively monitor what my kids are watching on the laptops. However, I do often sit down next to them, on the settee, while they're on them and can easily see what they are watching.

Both are open about what they see on the laptops, usually stuff like Japanese animae, American tv programmes such as Cold Case or, in my daughter's case, programmes like One Tree Hill, Beverly Hills 90210. Sometimes they even watch Power Rangers lol

Having said that my two are now 17 and 18. Yes, they could stumble over porn, although neither use networking sites, which you've mentioned. I have to trust them and respect their privacy, especially my 18 year old, who is technically an adult.

mines only little so when he is aloud online, 9 times out of 10 he is sat on my knee, or at the table with dad watching him

but i agree its a worry, i once googled disney land, a few year ago as my brother was going, and when i clicked on one of the sites tht came up it certainly wasnt disneyland, and i was disgusted, :-(

my brother then told me some sites may change one letter of a popular brand, place etc, so when u google they flit in and you hit them unexpectedly,

Son was trying to identify army uniform circa 1880 for cousin and I in order to name an old photograph. He came downstairs in fits of laughter warning us to be careful if we ever googled military uniforms!! I do remember him warning me to be careful if a heading had e.g. 'X' in it.

"HALF the children using the internet do so with no supervision. And one in seven accept all requests for people to become their friend on social networking sites such as Facebook, new research shows.


Experts say urgent action is needed as youngsters have been lulled into a sense of false security online.

A third of those aged between 11 and 15 admitted that they took more risks when using the internet than they would do normally, such as befriending strangers. Many said they had friends on social networks that they had never met. More than half do not tell anyone about bad experiences they have had online.

And 17 per cent have used their privacy settings to stop their parents from being able to see their pages on social networking sites, the research by security software company Trend Micro showed.

Only a quarter are friends with their parents on Facebook or other similar sites. While one in four parents said they thought their children hid some of their online activity, in fact 57 per cent of youngsters admitted doing so."

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/262024/Alarm-over-the-stranger-danger-to-teens-on-net

I am going to be shot down in flames but here goes..
Why is it so neccessary for parents to know the ins and outs of their kids lives?
Why do parents not give their kids the benefit of the doubt when they come across these situations?
Kids talk to other kids , a lot of the time they can and will deal with a 'nutter' on line , they also (believe me) know the 'other' sites that may come up when they google, they don,t need monitoring..
if they have a good relationship with their parents and if things get too out of hand on line they should be able to come to you for help .

"if they have a good relationship with their parents and if things get too out of hand on line they should be able to come to you for help ."

hopefully most can do that, talk either to their parents or peer group ...but if " More than half do not tell anyone about bad experiences they have had online. " that is evidently not happening?

I don't think it's necessary to know all the in and outs as you say HH, but it does help to know what's 'out there' ( nutters not being confined to teenage communications of course lol)

As one of life's 'trusting souls' I found out the hard way that people aren't all they seem online....as a young teen I would have been even more gullible lol.
:-D

But before 'on line in the olden days, kids had to find these things out for themselves in the real world on the street and in real life
Those not coping ?
I feel that this is an insult to the intelligence of 'young people' .. I hate that phrase..
'more than half do not tell..' Oh come on .. you ask a teenager any question and I bet more than half will comply with the answer
ask them if they have a problem with spots?
I bet most of these kids talk to their mates .. have a laugh and deal with it
x

yeees but I think perhaps finding, for example, child porn online is something that kids didn't have to deal with ?. It's the sheer accessibility and breadth of content of the internet that makes it different? when 'we were young' it was a slower process perhaps.

But that is how things are now.. you cannot hide it .no matter how hard you try.
We are now 2011 and access to this type of thing is now sadly readily avaliable,
Instead of trying to refuse access to this sort of thing we need to explain why it is there and allow it to be discussed as to why it isn't right?
OMG I sound so up my own.. but TBH if my kid came accross porno on the web I would be happy to sit down and talk about it.. but my youngest is 19 and he would laugh his socks off at me...
;-)

night night HH , falling asleep here lol. xx

Night RR .. I have that effect on people.. LOL
XXXXXXX <3
OMG it's nearly 1 am !!!

I've got a medium high filter on my computer, but on trying to find a saint (or at least I think he is) tonight, I came upon some 'girlie pictures!

My 9 year old grand daughter can probably change my settings, but hopefuly has enough respect not to do it.
I have sat with her while she registered with a (very safe) website, and explained that she shouldn;t use her real (very unusual) name, nor disclose where she lives etc.

Just out of interest, when she'd gone home, I 'googled' her name - and found all her details in the local parish magazine, which was online!!!