You state, “Parents wouldn’t throw their 13 year old kid the keys to the car and say drive would they? So why are parents allowing their kids computers IN THE PRIVACY OF THEIR BEDROOMS with mic and webcam? ” Good question! I ask myself the same question.

You can’t say that all parents don’t care though! As a parent of two teens, I monitor my children from home when they use the computer, however I worry when they go to a library where they can access commercial social networking websites” and “chat rooms. I only hope that they will make wise choices based on the information that we constantly provide them with. I do wish there was an act that would prohibit schools and libraries from providing access to these types of websites to minors.

Kids know what they are doing, they know they are putting themselves at high risk. Don’t ever doubt that. They are teens, they don’t care was what my girlfriends 14 year old told me. And yes, she’s right. There are too many parents that DON’T CARE what their kids are doing, even though i’ve showed them the proof of what their kids are up to online. I have personally sent hundreds of nexopia links to parents, guess what, things don’t change…

I don’t like bills like these and i’ll tell you why. Too many times we give the government more and more control of our freedoms, this is no exception. Let them control the net they say? I don’t think so.

What about targeting the source? The government knows full well that mIRC is crawling with pedophiles so why not shut it down??? What about yahoo or msn chat rooms? Why not target ISP’s that host these sites, fine them up the wazoo, take them down? Why censor a library where a child is supposed to go to learn?

Parents wouldn’t throw their 13 year old kid the keys to the car and say drive would they? So why are parents allowing their kids computers IN THE PRIVACY OF THEIR BEDROOMS with mic and webcam? Hmmmm… makes me wonder. Babysitter maybe?

It’s plain and simple, until something happens? Nothing happens. It’s called complacency folks.

One of the issues I do see with the bill is that most US public schools are always lobbying for additional teachers, library staff etc. Most student to teacher ratios are so high in most schools, I believe it will be difficult to effectively monitor online child users.
Obviously public libraries are a different matter.

As technology advances, the ability for students to access these sites from cell phones and the handheld mobile pc’s could quickly make this law as out of touch as the 1934 one it is enhancing. Ironically, most of the schools still complain about the lack of pc’s. If I understand correctly it effects schools that purchase via E-rate or receive funding from them and not schools that don’t.

However, I beleive you have to start somewhere. One of the issues our US legislators have is not all of them keep pace with technology issues, yet they legislate how to best protect our children from it’s abuse.

If you look how quickly the bill is moving through the process it also indicates it is an election year for some states in the US.

P.s I have been experimenting with wordpress so the blogs I have will be updated there.

Regarding personal security, there is no question that tweens and teens need to understand the serious risks they undertake when they engage in irresponsible behavior by posting inappropriate pictures or comments online. And “yes, kids will push the envelope when it comes to rules and responsibility”, but many kids don’t really understand what they are dealing with in “real” terms. For example, I think it’s safe to say that most kids wouldn’t drink poison because they know the consequences — death. Internet safety education should be mandated for each grade level. and I don’t just mean the teacher giving a lecture. There needs to be “show and tell”, just like when kids take driver’s education classes and graphic films of traffic accidents are shown. Images are more likely to change behavior. The “faces” of these online crime stories need to be included in the education curriculum. Parents and kids who have been victimized need to speak out detailing what happened. Is this harsh to the victims and/or their parents after all they’ve gone through? Perhaps. But it is also a means of healing while also helping to prevent other unsuspecting kids from making the same mistakes.

Right now, it seems as though all the power is in the hands of the predators. Only through internet safety education and outreach to others will parents and kids be empowered to ward off predators. Kids need to learn to say “no” and to report online incidents. Parents need to support their kids in reporting online incidents and they need to parent and educate their kids on a “regular” basis. Part of parenting is saying “no” and enforcing restrictions. And part of parenting is knowing what content your child is posting online.

From my experience in speaking with parents and kids, the majority of parents know that MySpace is dangerous and know that their kids have a MySpace account, but they have never seen a MySpace page! Parents need to see MySpace, Friendster, Xanga, etc. so they know what they are dealing with. It’s also important to note, that MySpace is the conduit not the perpetrator. Kids need to know how to navigate within the cyberspace environment safely. There will always be predators. It’s how not be one of their victims that needs to be taught and followed.

As for predators, the laws need to be more stringent and harsh.

As technology continues to improve, so do the risks. Kids can now be reached by predators right on their cell phones or personal PC’s or smart phones and their parents won’t even know. That said, education and outreach is more important than ever. Communities need to be involved as a community, not just school by school, but as a community.

By the way, regarding the issue of kids being able to report people who contact them with inappropriate content while on MySpace, please note that on every MySpace page, there is a link at the bottom of each page for the user to make a report to MySpace. Also, there is always law enforcement.