I Wanna Smash Facebook Inventors In The Face!

[njray]

Ok now that i have your attention. Over 18 years OK under know way........Yep I am a prude... sue me....

Fact ! Has any one looked at there kids facebook pics and friends pics videos all of them......... friend of mine has showed me the pics of 13 14yr old KIDS in his daughters and sons school.......girls and guys........ WHAT !!! Have you seen the videos? Not just on one persons site hundreds of them all from one school in one town........... Girls posing like hookers and posting like them! Guys looking like pimps and acting like them............ Do we not understand? Yes as much as we want kids to be mature they are not capable of understanding the true consequences of there actions!!!!!!!!!! That is why they are minors - kids....... I am truly saddened. As a society we are missing the boat I think in the name of greed and selfishness.

 

[The Albatross]

I am really alarmed at the "sexualization of children" in our society. I don't do social networking, because I don't want to encourage or be motivated by "friends". Thank goodness for skype.

 

[catjudo]

The problem is not FB or its inventors. The problem is parents. Parents have the responsibility to teach their child right from wrong, appropriate behavior, internet safety, etc. And parents have the responsibility for monitoring what their children are doing online. JMO

 

[Kintsugi]

Published in The New Yorker, May 16. Sherman Alexie rocks. <3

 

[njray]

I am enraged not going to say why but...... my children which are unfortunately the victims of divorced parents (me and my X) Have better not ever be on facebook (They are 10 and under)....... Unless i am over there shoulder check that as I think about it more they are banned... ..WHY simple I can not monitor other kids simple. Heck it is tough enough to monitor mine......... And the way I saw how facebook was set up there really is no 100% way i can protect them from viral behavior of others. Yes I cannot protect them at school or when they are out with friends but I ask lots of questions and if I get answers I do not like guess what you aint going! I would not take my kids to a porn shop and say DONT LOOK... Never take them to a bar and say No drinks for you..... Lead by example. Parents are weak they give into peer preasure so that is why there kids do.

CatJUDO i agree parents are to blame in part........ but why do inventors need to target the young.They are smart enough as adults to invent the damn thing well guess what they share in the responsibility for the safety of kids.... I am not a brain surgeon in fact i still have a tough time with this forums technology but facebook was and is set up to attract the vulnerable.

 

[Kintsugi]

I really think that children under the age of 13 need to not be on the Internet as much as possible. It really erodes the sense of self you should be beginning to build through realtime interactions. Without lots of life experience, it is hard to realize what is appropriate and inappropriate from too much interaction on the Web. I learned this first-hand and it took me staying offline almost entirely other than for research and school email purposes for two years to realize how to manage my real life and my Internet dealings appropriately!

 

[Innordinate]

It's illegal here for anyone under age 18 to post, send, link etc any pictures of halfdressed or worse minors. So, if you're 17 and you send your girlfriend a picture of yourself without a shirt on or whatever.... illegal. Even if it's a picture of yourself.
Up to parents to monitor and report of course.
I'm not so worried about my kids. My wife is ever vigilent with the internet and technology. She won't even send pictures via email to family or friends because there is that small chance that it can be taken by some jackass and spread around.
Agree with Cat though.
It's not the technology. It's the parents letting the kids play with the technology and in some cases even to buy certain things or giving them certain things.
Why do kids even need their own computers for example.
Some of it I think is ignorance. Parents don't even know what a lot of the newer things can do.
A cell phone is no longer just a cell phone. figure it out.

 

[njray]

I am finally breathing only because I was/am so ticked off my shoulder began to throbbb........... I had to take a walk up and down the block for 4 mins to contain myself from posting things I would regret........ That said I am amazed that we as adults do not remember being 13 14...... I have to be honest If I had facebook god knows where i would be? ADHD and instant gratification from the computer to which there is no consequence.....PLEASE...... I remember my father driving his car (Grand camino brown starsky and hutch looking) across the high school football field at 10:15 at night and nearly kicking my ass because i was 15 minutes late after my curfew at 14 years of age and all we were doing was playing football in the dark. Funny two of those 6 kids who stayed out that night to smoke pot(I found out the next day) are now DOA from drug addictions while in there thirties ... Sad thing is if he did that today I probably could call up child services and have him arrested for abuse....... Wow no wonder why we are in the state of confusion with all these wars, sex scandals etc........ again sad.....

 

[catjudo]

My daughter does have her own computer. But it has very strict parental controls implemented on it...she cannot access ANY website unless I have pre-approved it. She is young so the websites she has access to are very limited, trusted sites. She is not even able to google...she knows what google is but when she wants something looked up she has to come to me. As she gets a little older I will have to have to relax that a little but know that there will still be parental controls on that will block her from accessing inappropriate things. What's that you say? She can still get around that? Of course, but that's why her computer is in a public area where I can see and hear what she is doing at all times. It's also my responsibility to teach her right from wrong and not to give in to the temptation of what is "cool" or what her friends are doing. Should she make an error in judgement and do something she shouldn't online there will be consequences including but not limited to loss of computer access.

Now, as far as FB is concerned...we have not yet had to walk that road. To have a FB account one must be at least 13 years of age. That doesn't mean that I will necessarily allow my daughter to have a FB account at that age. It's not about a number, it's about maturity and responsibility. I would have to question whether my daughter has demonstrated the ability to understand the importance and follow internet safety guidelines. For my daughter to have a FB page she would also have to give me her password so I could access and monitor her page at any time. She would not be allowed to add a FB "friend" unless she first asked me. I would only allow her to have "friends" that are people that she knows IRL (and that I know). If any of her friends were posting things that I deemed questionable or inappropriate she would have to "unfriend" them on FB. If my daughter wasn't following the set rules I would de-activate her account and she would lose that privilege.

I'm really a pretty liberal individual. But it is all about personal responsibility, monitoring your child's activities and teaching them right from wrong; teaching them to make responsible decisions. I think it can be a mistake to restrict a child so much that they have no access to things such as FB until they are an adult and you have no control over the situation. Make it a learning experience. Teach them the right way to conduct themselves when you can monitor the situation and take away the privilege if they do not demonstrate the requisite level of maturity. Otherwise you end up with an 18 year old who goes crazy and makes bad/dangerous choices and you have no control over the situation.

 

[MurphyJB]

Speaking as someone who grew up with myspace amd Facebook, I can say from experience that it has everything to do with parental guidance.
I wasn't allowed to have a myspace when that was the cool thing to do. (i was 13 or 14) So naturally I thought I was smarter than my
Mom and made one anyways. My mom found out and I was in BIG trouble. I was grounded for a pretty long time.
After I got ungrounded my mom put a key logger on the computer, which recorded everything I typed.
I think I got a Facebook my junior or senior year of high school. (before that you had to have a college email yo be able to sign up).
My mom knew about it, and was fine with it. I've of course encountered things and people on their that I wish I wouldn't have, but that's just life.

 

[njray]

I enjoy all the keyboards of reason............ I type from immediate emotion sometimes YA THINK. I hope not to put chains on as I was afforded movement as a teenage and young adult. My footsteps were monitored for that is maybe one of the few good qualities my father enjoyed. I often wonder if the thrill of the hunting and capturing was his game or was he just trying to be a good parent unlike what it seemed his father was.

Life is what life is...progress is progress I embrace it but I would really be naive if I was not aware that the likes of facebook, myspace, you tube and skype are built for profits and those that prosper really only care about the numbers in the bank today or 5 years out not the real long term numbers on those that may effected by even there short term exposure.

When I see posts here like the one about the gang rape on a child by children and posting of it on facebook it really upsets me as a father..Oh my god how does that poor victim and her parents feel ...

 

[KP the nut]

The problem is parents. Parents have the responsibility to teach their child right from wrong, appropriate behavior, internet safety, etc. And parents have the responsibility for monitoring what their children are doing online.

100% correct IMHO. When we first bought our computer, my children definitely knew far more about the workings and differnet sites than I did. My answer was to get smart and learn. Our computer was in a room which was not private and my H and I could monitor where they were visiting.

I have a FB account as do some of my friends, it has brought me in contact with people in other countries whith whom I had lost contact. I also have acces to both my daughters' pages and that of some of their friends.

It is so easy for parents to opt out and make excuses be it on an internet site or anti social behavior (ASB) on the streets. I have worked to tackle ASB, and the parents who say, it is not my fault problem, it is the school or society or their friends. Rubbish you chose to have children now take responsibility and monitor their activities.