The Safety Mom Chronicles

Latest MySpace Cyberbullying Victim

This week an 8th grade girl in Florida is missing her graduation.  She's too embarrassed to go because she's afraid she'll be teased about the sexual comments that have been posted on her My Space page.  The problem is, she isn't the one who has been posting these messages.  This little girl is the most recent victim of cyberbullying

Shameeka Mucklin made the unfortunate mistake of giving her MySpace password to some friends.  After a falling out, these ex-friends changed her e-mail information and password so that Shameeka no longer had access to her own MySpace page.  They then began posting sexually provocative comments under all of Shameeka's pictures.  Within hours, the 14 year-old began getting calls to her cell phone from adult men asking to meet her and wondering if "she'd do what she talked about on her MySpace page."

Shameeka's mother has contacted MySpace but has still not received a response.  The local police department is conducting an on-going investigation into this cyber-bullying case but for Shameeka the damage is done.  While MySpace says that it's sending out a list of safety guidelines, they're rather ineffective when dealing with devious teens. 

I'd be interested in hearing if your child has been the victim of cyberbullying or even if they've been a cyberbully.  How have you dealt with it?

Can MySpace Really Protect Our Kids?

It was just announced today that a group of state attorneys general have teamed up with social networking site MySpace to form a joint task  force.  The goal is to better protect children from online predators and educate parents about the risks of social networking sites.   As part of this initiative, MySpace will now make private the default profile settings for all members under the age of 18, so that adults whom they do not know in the physical world will not be able to find them.  It will also develop an e-mail registry for parents to block their children from accessing the site.

This sounds great in theory but reality is another matter.  Ask any 16 year-old to give you a "tour" of MySpace.  First, you will find out that there is nothing to stop them from lying about their age.  A 14 year-old girl who wants to meet college boys simply registers as an 18 year-old.  And, do a quick search trying to meet 16 - 18 year-old girls in a particular zip code and a bevy of beauties pops up.  Then it's just a matter of sending one of them a message.  And creating a new e-mail address which a parent doesn't know about takes mere seconds.  While it's admirable for MySpace executives to talk about protecting our kids from online predators it's virtually impossible when our kids are intent on hooking up online.  It is completely unrealistic and naive for any parent to rely on the government and website executives to protect our children when they really don't want to be protected. 

According to a study by Pew/Internet, 55% of teens online have a profile and 32% have been contacted by a stranger.    Additionally, of those with a profile, 61% have included the name of their city or town and a full 49% have included the name of their school.  The majority of teens surveyed admit to altering information about themselves and believe that a motivated person could eventually identify them.   For many teens, there is an excitement surrounding meeting people and forming relationships online. 

It is up to parents to thoroughly research social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace so they understand what their children are viewing.  It's also important to educate teens on the dangers of social networking sites, not just regarding online predators but cyberbullying.  Our kids need to become "cyber savvy" on how to deal with these issues and recognize potential threats.   

Social networking is here to stay and it's growing dramatically.  As moms, we need to stay ahead of the curve and get smart about cyber safety in order to protect our kids.

New Learning Software That's Safe and Fun

Internet safety is one of the largest issues that we as parents face today. With all the information available it is often difficult to decipher what is “safe” for our children to interact with online, or even on the computer in general. Even when a game claims to be safe and educational, we find ourselves still being a little skeptical, those types of promises are too often made without being completely true. However, one game now can provide us with the piece of mind that our children are learning safely on the computer and are games they will actually ask to play.

JumpStart World, created by Knowledge Adventure www.knowledgeadventure.com, is a bright, adventurous game that combines both the features that keep kids interested and the educational tools parents want. At the heart of JumpStart is a learning curriculum with hundreds of lessons containing the key skills to help our children progress. In addition, parents are also provided with progress reports and e-mails that keep you updated on your child’s navigation through the units. These units include math and reading that build a solid core to their education.

Since JumpStart World is downloadable software, you never have to fear that your kids may stray off into unsuitable content. It creates a safe, educational environment that both children and moms can enjoy.