Like most social networking sites, NewMoonGirls.com provides girl with their own profile page. It’s called “My room.” On “My room” girls can include a picture and an “About Me” section along with “My Dreams” and “My Inspiration” as well as “My Favorites” and “My Pet.” When girls create this page it asks them for their first name only, their age, their country and state. No more information then that. So unlike MySpace, you won’t have to worry about them including their telephone, address or school information (assuming they don’t put that in the About Me section).

Girls can also add their own creations, including video or a song that they created and their own artwork (a picture, drawing or cartoon). They can also write a poem or a story. And they get the choice of either having their creations open to the public for the whole network or keeping them private so she’s the only one who can see it (like a diary). There is a section called “Voices” where you can find poems, stories and videos uploaded by other girls.

The “Voices” section also includes some Q&A. The Ask a Girl feature lets girls ask for advice and other girls provide the answers. This is monitored by an adult editor who reads every post before making it public. There’s also an Ask Luna section which seems to be kind of like a letters to the editor section where you can get answers to questions about the website and magazine.

To round it out, there is a Features tab that includes tons of information young girls care about. The Spotlight section includes books reviews, current events and special features. Changing the World gives girls information on how they can help the environment and participate in politics. In Body & Feelings girls can get accurate information about their bodies including info on body image, mood swings, puberty, her first period, and more. For the Curious includes interesting math and science facts and information. Arts & Culture let’s girls experience different cultures with stories from girls around the world. And the Sister to Sister page allows teen girls 13 and older offer advice to their younger “sisters.”

I’ve been poking around the site for a while and I’m pretty impressed. NewMoonGirls.com is fully COPPA-compliant and they provide adult moderation at all levels of communication. It’s a great way for young girls to learn about social networking in a safe environment. They can share their creativity, make new friends, and learn from other girls all over the world. And right now NewMoonGirls.com is offering a membership package including full access to NewMoonGirls.com and six issues of New Moon Girls magazine for $29.95 per year, reduced from $44.95. This might make a good holiday gift for that special tween girl in your life.

Post from: Blisstree

New Moon Girls Offers Social Networking To Tweens

To recap the story, Lori Drew’s then 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, and one of her best friends, Megan Meier, had a fight and ended their friendship; as is common when you are 13-years-old. Lori Drew and two others (an 18-year-old employee of Drew’s and Drew’s daughter) created a fake MySpace account and pretending to be a good-looking teenager named Josh. They had “Josh” become friends with Megan so they could see what Megan saying about Sarah. Megan began an online with relationship with “Josh” where “Josh” called Megan “sexi” and told her he loved her. Eventually Drew and accomplices ended the relationship with Megan by having “Josh” say some pretty nasty things to Megan including something to the effect that the world would be better off without her. After that online correspondence Megan killed herself.

The Missouri community in which Drew and the Meier family live in was outraged. However, Missouri does not have any cyberbulling laws and had nothing to charge her with. There are no federal laws on cyberbulling either, but prosecutors decided to charge her with violating the federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act.

If always been kind of iffy on this case. The Computer Fraud & Abuse Act wasn’t created for this kind of case. And people create fake MySpace pages all the time for very innocent reasons. Part of the appeal of the internet is the ability to be anonymous.

But I also think Lori Drew needs to be held accountable. What kind of mother conspires with her daughter to create a fake MySpace page to spy on and torture an old friend? I always considered it my job as a mother to help my children learn from their mistakes. They need to learn that sometimes friendships end and we move on. We don’t come up with elaborate schemes to humiliate other people. I’m not surprised that a 13-year-old would do something like that, but an adult?

And Lori Drew didn’t just know this was going on. She encouraged it. And she participated in it. Where is her sense of morality? That is just disgusting to think a grown woman, a mother would partake in something like this.

Plus this wasn’t just some girl her daughter used to be friends with. Lori Drew knew Megan and her family. And she knew them well. Sarah and Megan had been friends nearly their whole lives. Megan had been to the Drew house many, man times. She had even vacationed with them. Lori was well aware that Megan had self-esteem issues and suffered from depression and still went along with this prank. It’s just unbelievable.

So what do you think? Do you think justice prevailed in this case? Are you happy to see a conviction for Lori Drew?

Post from: Blisstree

Lori Drew Is Guilty

Today gossip has gone high tech. There’s no need to pass notes when teens can just text each other. Instead of phone calls teens spend their nights on the computer talking to friends on IM or on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. There are even websites specifically for the purpose of gossiping about classmates, teachers or other enemies.

We thought gossip was hurtful in our day, but it’s even worse today. Today it’s more permanent. Anything on the web is out there for everybody to see…forever. Even if you remove the offending comment it still lives in infinity. There’s no way to scratch it off the bathroom stall or paint over graffiti on the wall. And it’s more anonymous. A teen can write post something from the local library with a fake name and nobody will ever know who did it.

So what should you do if your teen is the victim of online gossip?

• Don’t respond to gossip. A teen’s first instinct might be to defend herself, but it usually ends up just making it worse. Ignore it.
• Stay off the site. If mean girls are gossiping about your teen on MySpace then have her log off and stay away from MySpace for a while. When she isn’t there to take the abuse the mean girls usually move on to somebody else.
• If the gossip continues you may need to step in and talk to the offender’s parents. I don’t recommend this being your first course of action though because it could be embarrassing for your teen and it may not do any good. Some parents just aren’t as diligent in their parenting as you may be.
• Depending on what is said, you may need to get the school involved. Just because it’s online instead of on school grounds doesn’t mean it’s not a school issue.
• If the gossip is threatening take it seriously. You may need to call the authorities.

How can you make sure you teen isn’t the one spreading the gossip?

• Talk to you kids about the dangers of internet gossip. Many kids don’t realize things they write on the internet are there forever for colleges and future employers to see. And often they regret what they wrote three days later when they patch up their friendship.
• Make sure you know what your child is doing on the internet. You should be doing this anyway to prevent predators from reaching your child. Check out his/her MySpace and Facebook page. Ask him who he’s talking to on World of Warcraft. Stay informed.
• Set consequences for harassment. If the gossip is threatening, teens could get in trouble at school or even with the law. But even less severe cases of gossip should have consequences. Make sure your teen knows what those consequences are and that you will enforce them if you discover your teen is being mean on the internet.

The internet is a great tool when used properly. But many people abuse it. It’s easy to forget your manners when you can be anonymous. Make sure your teens know the rules and understand the consequences of being a mean girl or boy on the interent.

Post from: Blisstree

Online Gossip

Who is Lori Drew?

Back in 2006, two thirteen-year-old girls, who had been friends their whole life, had a falling out. Lori Drew, the mother of one of those girls, decided to step in. She, along with a teenage co-worker in her store, decided to create a fake MySpace page for a sixteen-year-old boy named Josh Evans. Using this page, she befriended her daughter’s ex-friend, Megan Meier. Lori used this page to find out what Megan was saying about her daughter. Megan and “Josh” started an online romance. But then “Josh” decided he didn’t want to have a girlfriend who was mean and told Megan as much. In his last message to Megan he told Megan telling her the world would be a better place without her. Megan was devastated by the breakup and hung herself in her closet.

Previously the Missouri prosecutor (where the Drew’s and Meier’s live) said he couldn’t find a statute to charge Lori Drew with. But the federal grand jury in Los Angeles thinks differently. They have indicted her on charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers to obtain information to inflict emotional distress. She faces up to 20 years in prison.

How do you feel about this new development? Do you think Lori Drew should be held accountable? Should it be illegal for adults to bully teenagers on the internet?

Post from: Blisstree

MySpace Mom Indicted

Even better, MySpace is going to take safety one step further and add some additional features to their site, including:

• Setting 16- and 17-year-olds profiles to private, as well as 14- and 15-year-olds.
• Offering tips and PSAs on safety to parents.
• Developing free software to enhance safety.
• Possibly creating an email registry where parents can submit their child’s email address to prevent their kids from creating a MySpace profile.
• Improving communication with those who have complaints.
• Creating a 24 hour hotline for law enforcement, as well as helping law enforcement by releasing information about predators.
• Establishing a task force that will look in to technology to keep kids safe such as age verification.

Of course, it’s still our job as parents to monitor what are kids are doing online, but at least now we have some help from MySpace to keep our kids safe.

Post from: Blisstree

MySpace Cares About Safety

But I loved it. I was an only child of divorced parents. I spent the summers with my mom, a thousand miles away from my friends. I was also very shy and didn’t make friends easily. So while my mom was at work during the days, I would sit in front of the television watching soaps or cruise the internet on mom’s new computer.

In that time there was no such thing as AOL or Netzero. If I wanted to get on the internet I used Prodigy. What I really liked about Prodigy was chatrooms. I was too shy to go outside and meet some face-to-face friends, but it was easy to make friends online. I met quite a few people and talked to them daily.

Back in that day nobody was worried about online predators or pornography or cyber-bullying. It never even occurred to us that adults would pretend to be kids in a chatroom and I don’t remember anybody ever being mean to me online, just to be mean.

It’s a very different story today.

Now an adult neighbor you thought you could trust may create a fake MySpace account to find out what your child is saying about their child. An innocent game of UNO on Xbox 360 Live can turn in to an awful display of nudity or drugs. And we’ve seen enough of Chris Hansen’s To Catch A Predator on MSNBC to know there are some sickos out there preying on our children.

When my kids started getting on the internet and created their first social networking profile, I made them sign an internet contract. We revisit that contract often so we are sure the kids understand the rules. We make it clear that if these rules are not followed they will lose their computer privileges and possibly other privileges. And we already have tracking software installed on their computers, although I rarely access it. I find it’s a fine line between keeping them safe, trusting them and still respecting their privacy. I also created my own profiles on MySpace, Facebook and MyYearbook and had the boys add me as their friend so I can occasionally peek in on them.

We’re trying to do what we can to make sure the kids are safe in cyberland, but it’s hard to keep up with the crazies. So I have to rely on my kids and the internet to keep me informed. A site I really like is wiredsafety.org. There you can find a lot of great tips about internet safety as well as how to deal with cyberbullies and predators. If your teens or tweens are online you might want to check out wiredsafety.org. It’s a great resource for parents and kids.

Post from: Blisstree

Staying Safe in Cyberland

“The government or school authority now is attempting to regulate speech that is occurring off-site or off-campus,” Sharp said. “The analysis for the courts will be whether or not the school can reasonably forecast a disruption of school activities because of the speech.”

Personally, I do not agree with the Bullit County school board AT ALL! It is not the school’s place to be monitoring students’ MySpace usage. The school’s job is to teach students – not monitor their extra-curricular activity.

MySpace, Facebook, and all other questionable sites should not be accessible from school computers. It is up to parents to monitor their child’s online activity and if their child is being threatened during non-school hours, then they need to approach local law enforcement – not the school!!

Instead of wasting tax-payer dollars monitoring online activity off-campus, the schools need to ramp up their technology programs and teach students how to use technology in their daily lives – responsibly. Chances are, most of the students in any given high school across this country are more tech savvy than the teachers in charge of their education.

Maybe the students and the teachers need to be working together to learn how to use MySpace, Facebook and other social media tools to enhance the educational experience rather than be so paranoid about the whole thing.

What’s your take? I would love to hear from parents, students and teachers!!

Post from: Blisstree

Should Schools Be Able To Punish Students For What Is Posted on MySpace

• Somehow I missed this well done post from Linda Moran on the HPV vaccine.  Angela also makes some important points in her post on why she chose to know her HPV status.
• Denise at Parenting Teens tackles social networking in her post titled “Is Facebook Safe“. In my opinion, in order to keep our children safe online we need to constantly be educating and monitoring their online activity. I would prefer that my child have a Facebook page over a MySpace page, but either way, groundrules must be set and followed.
• ParentDish follows up on the results of a recent study that seems to indicate that fewer teens are becoming parents. Let’s hope this positive trend continues.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Post from: Blisstree

Speedlinking – 07/15/07

Has anyone seen the movie yet? My girls want to go see it, but I’d love some reviews first!

Post from: Blisstree

Nancy Drew has a Blog

Here is one of the ads I particularly like – because it shows the effect of the web in a traditional fashion that many more parents are apt to relate to.

Thanks to Trench at MyCrimeSpace for letting me know about these. Please take a few minutes and share some of these with your tweens and teens and discuss!

Post from: Blisstree

MySpace PSAs on YouTube