Comments on: To Bebo or Not… http://www.blisstree.com/articles/to-bebo-or-not/ Family, Health, Home and Lifestyles Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:31:10 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: the pomegranate apple http://www.blisstree.com/articles/to-bebo-or-not/comment-page-1/#comment-267054 the pomegranate apple Mon, 11 May 2009 21:49:29 +0000 http://www.blisstree.com/?p=66837#comment-267054 There is this great social networking site for kids that is 100 percent educational (as oppposed to webkinz and penguin which are more commercial interested). It's also super fun. A bunch of my cousins use it and love it. www.woogiworld.com They also build into their platform oversight for peer bullying (which is more concerning and common than being stalked). They are focused on teaching ethics and internet safety. Also check out this site for some other great discussions: http://ikeepsafe.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-internet-is-changing-kids-self.html There is this great social networking site for kids that is 100 percent educational (as oppposed to webkinz and penguin which are more commercial interested). It’s also super fun. A bunch of my cousins use it and love it.

http://www.woogiworld.com

They also build into their platform oversight for peer bullying (which is more concerning and common than being stalked). They are focused on teaching ethics and internet safety.

Also check out this site for some other great discussions:
http://ikeepsafe.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-internet-is-changing-kids-self.html

]]> By: Matriarchy http://www.blisstree.com/articles/to-bebo-or-not/comment-page-1/#comment-178340 Matriarchy Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:22:28 +0000 http://www.blisstree.com/?p=66837#comment-178340 I would set some boundaries, but let her join. She needs to learn, over time, to be responsible for her own internet safety. My 12-yo plays the games on ClubPenguin and WebKinz, where the networking and chat are limited. My 16-yo has MySpace and Facebook accounts, but didn't until she was over 13. Some of our rules: We MUST have their account and email passwords at all times. We don't snoop much, but we do check that we CAN get in, so that if something odd is happening, we can immediately get in there. We don't allow them to post real photos of themselves, just cartoon avatars. We don't allow them to use their real names, only aliases, even on FaceBook. My older daughter has friends that have posted group photos with her in them but they are not allowed to tag her - she is known as "She Who Must Not Be Tagged." If someone cannot respect her rules, they are not really friends and she drops them - without us asking. Only their friends need to know who they are, and they don't allow strangers to friend them. Their profiles are kept private, only for friends. We also belong to those sites, and check their profiles for problems, and for friends that are posting things we don't like. We don't like talk about drugs and alcohol, foul language, comments that demean our kids or our family, for instance. But we don't over-regulate, so they don't sneak around us, much. We have conversations about things like controlling your personal info, dealing with "friends" that harass or stalk you, allowing the internet to take over too much time. We also discuss what profiles look like to family, teachers, Sunday school leaders, friends' parents, future employers, future college admissions officers, and other people that may get their first impression of you online - for better or for worse. It's like helping your kids learn anything else safely. You stay with them in the beginning, provide firm guidelines, let them graduate to more complex things as they learn, provide a safety net without smothering them into hiding their activities. Your daughter will be talking to strangers all of her life - I would make sure she learns how to do so safely. I would set some boundaries, but let her join. She needs to learn, over time, to be responsible for her own internet safety. My 12-yo plays the games on ClubPenguin and WebKinz, where the networking and chat are limited. My 16-yo has MySpace and Facebook accounts, but didn’t until she was over 13.

Some of our rules: We MUST have their account and email passwords at all times. We don’t snoop much, but we do check that we CAN get in, so that if something odd is happening, we can immediately get in there. We don’t allow them to post real photos of themselves, just cartoon avatars. We don’t allow them to use their real names, only aliases, even on FaceBook. My older daughter has friends that have posted group photos with her in them but they are not allowed to tag her – she is known as “She Who Must Not Be Tagged.” If someone cannot respect her rules, they are not really friends and she drops them – without us asking. Only their friends need to know who they are, and they don’t allow strangers to friend them. Their profiles are kept private, only for friends. We also belong to those sites, and check their profiles for problems, and for friends that are posting things we don’t like. We don’t like talk about drugs and alcohol, foul language, comments that demean our kids or our family, for instance. But we don’t over-regulate, so they don’t sneak around us, much.

We have conversations about things like controlling your personal info, dealing with “friends” that harass or stalk you, allowing the internet to take over too much time. We also discuss what profiles look like to family, teachers, Sunday school leaders, friends’ parents, future employers, future college admissions officers, and other people that may get their first impression of you online – for better or for worse.

It’s like helping your kids learn anything else safely. You stay with them in the beginning, provide firm guidelines, let them graduate to more complex things as they learn, provide a safety net without smothering them into hiding their activities. Your daughter will be talking to strangers all of her life – I would make sure she learns how to do so safely.

]]> By: Christine Gooding http://www.blisstree.com/articles/to-bebo-or-not/comment-page-1/#comment-178310 Christine Gooding Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:50:16 +0000 http://www.blisstree.com/?p=66837#comment-178310 Hi Ginny.....i'm just scared of the internet bullying...and strangers stalking my daughter! I suppose that's the real reason that's holding me/us back in allowing her to sign up for Bebo. Perhaps if we get full access (we have full access on her emails now...a condition we've put when we gave her a laptop for her birthday) Let me know if you're successful in convincing your daughter join Bebo..it's meant to be good but who knows eh? Hi Ginny…..i’m just scared of the internet bullying…and strangers stalking my daughter! I suppose that’s the real reason that’s holding me/us back in allowing her to sign up for Bebo.

Perhaps if we get full access (we have full access on her emails now…a condition we’ve put when we gave her a laptop for her birthday)

Let me know if you’re successful in convincing your daughter join Bebo..it’s meant to be good but who knows eh?

]]> By: Ginny http://www.blisstree.com/articles/to-bebo-or-not/comment-page-1/#comment-178291 Ginny Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:23:12 +0000 http://www.blisstree.com/?p=66837#comment-178291 I would. My husband let my 11 year old join Myspace a few months ago. She has about 50 friends from school & dance that all have accounts as well. We have full access to the account. She tried getting facebook, but I made her close that one. Her myspace, she doesn't use her full name, but facebook you have to. I will have to show her bebo, maybe I can get her away from myspace. I would. My husband let my 11 year old join Myspace a few months ago. She has about 50 friends from school & dance that all have accounts as well. We have full access to the account. She tried getting facebook, but I made her close that one. Her myspace, she doesn’t use her full name, but facebook you have to. I will have to show her bebo, maybe I can get her away from myspace.

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