Archive for January, 2007

« Older Entries

Cyber-Bullying is “In”

Monday, January 29th, 2007

The standard schoolyard bullying that most of us experienced at some point growing up is being replaced by a new form of torment: Cyberbullying.

From the article:

According to statistics, more than a third of American teenagers who use instant messaging and social networking sites such as MySpace, FaceBook, Xanga and Friendster fall victim to electronic insults, often by schoolmates.

The phenomenon has even provoked suicides. In 2005, a 15-year-old boy named Jeff killed himself in the southern state of Florida after being harassed for two years on the Internet by other teenagers.

Another 13-year-old boy from the northeast state of Vermont, Ryan Halligan, committed suicide in 2003. Halligan, who suffered from a slight handicap, had become the butt of jokes on the Internet by several girls.

The article also goes on to mention that while classic schoolyard bullying mainly involved boys, girls are actually slightly bigger perpetrators of cyberbullying than boys.

Fortunately, there are ways for parents to get help in dealing with cyberbullies. Cyberbully.org is a good place to start. They have an excellent guide (PDF) to cyberbullying as well.

Posted in Cyber-Bullying, Education | 1 Comment »

Teens Online: Stats and Findings

Monday, January 29th, 2007

According to a recent Pew Internet survey, social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook are all the rage. A full two thirds of all teens have at the very least created an online profile.

Of those two thirds of all teens, nearly half are between the ages of 12 and 14 years old, which means a large percentage of kids are lying about their age to sign up on these sites, since most require a minimum age of 14 to sign up.

If you’re interested, you can view the press release that summarizes the survey, or you can view the entire survey in PDF format.

FYI, the survey took place between October 23 and November 19th 2006, so you can rest assured the numbers, if taken again today, would be higher than they were just 3 months ago.

Posted in Education, Social Networking, Studies | 1 Comment »

Senator wants to Restrict Social Networking sites

Friday, January 26th, 2007

I think most would agree that social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook should take additional steps to protect minors that sign up for their services. But do we really need government to get involved? Georgia State Senator Cecil Staton has proposed a bill that would “make it illegal for the owner or operator of a social networking Web site to allow minors to create or maintain a Web page without parental permission.”

In the wild world of Web 2.0, how do you define a social networking web site? What inherent features flags a site as a “social networking web site” and who makes that decision?  And what happens if a social networking website just happens to be based outside of the USA? This kind of legislation raises all sorts of sticky issues that are better left resolved in the private sector.

From the article:

If owners or operators of a company failed to comply with the proposed law, they would be guilty of a misdemeanor on the first offense. A second offense would be a felony and could lead to imprisonment for between one and five years and a fine up to $50,000 or both.

And the real kicker:

Staton said the bill does not tell the companies exactly how to ensure that minors don’t log on without parental permission. The companies can figure that out on their own, he said.

“They can find a way to do this,” Staton said. “That’s my challenge to them.”

Read the rest here.

Posted in Government, Social Networking | 1 Comment »

Social Networking = Poor Grades

Thursday, January 25th, 2007

With the rise in popularity of social networking websites, students are finding it more difficult than ever to manage their time.  Parents should keep an eye on how long their teenage children are spending on social networking websites.  College students should know better. :)

The majority of the students said their online activities were not a distraction. However, when asked what their online activities did distract them from, 60 percent of the students said they were distracted from homework and 24 percent were distracted from studying.

Check out the full article.

Posted in Social Networking, Students | 1 Comment »

Man Threatens 13 Year Old Girls Family to Get Her to Expose Herself

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

Shaun Brown of Newfield pleaded guilty to threatening a 13-year old Ohio girl over the Internet.

Brown originally met the girl in an online chat room for cheerleaders, court documents said, and pursued her with sexually explicit instant messages.
With threats of harm to her and her family, Brown coerced the girl into exposing her breasts to a Web camera and then posted one of the photographs, along with her name and address, on MySpace.com — an online social network site potentially accessible to millions of people.

The girl didn’t tell her parents about Brown or the threats until he put her image on MySpace.com.

View the full article here.

Posted in MySpace, Online Chat, Underage | 1 Comment »

Sex Offenders Abuse Teen They Met on MySpace

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

Sex offenders preying on a 14 year old girl with a MySpace profile.  From the article:

Two Buchanan County sex offenders accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl they met on the Internet have been charged with third-degree sexual abuse.

Officials say Scott Seehawer and Winston Ramsdale met the girl through the online hangout MySpace. They’re accused of taking the girl from her home in Hiawatha to their home in rural Walker last month. Both men are registered on the state’s sexual offender registry.

Posted in MySpace, Rape, Sex Offenders, Underage | 1 Comment »

MySpace to Begin Sending ‘Missing Children’ Alerts

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

In an effort to silence some of the negative buzz MySpace has been receiving lately, Reuters reports that MySpace has teamed up with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and will begin the MySpace AMBER Alert program.   This will notify MySpace users in designated areas when a child has been abducted.

This is good news.  Hopefully Facebook, as the #2 social networking site, will adapt something like this as well.

Posted in MySpace | 1 Comment »

Lead Singer Charged with Sex with 15 Year old Girl – Found her on MySpace

Sunday, January 21st, 2007

Randall S. Shesto II, the lead singer of a crappy metal band called “Nailwounds” on MySpace, was charged with felony sexual assault for “allegedly” having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

“This isn’t some type of relationship,” DeCecco said of Shesto’s case. “He located a child that appeared to be somewhat vulnerable on the Internet, hooked up with her and then met her up here specifically for sex — I mean, there’s no talk of marriage or love — that makes a difference to us. It shows the exploitive nature.”

Capt. Dave Adams of the sheriff’s department said the department has investigated about 10 cases of underage sex involving the Internet in the last year or two.

“We’re finding more and more cases where MySpace or a chat (Web site) facilitates it, partly or totally,” he said.

Read the full article, mugshot picture and all.

Posted in MySpace, Sex Offenders, Underage | 1 Comment »

MySpace Still a Mystery to Parents

Saturday, January 20th, 2007

Parents are still trying to figure out what this “My Space” thing is.

If you have a child, he or she has probably been on MySpace. Kim Reyes of Milwaukee heard her kids talk about MySpace so she and a group of parents went online to see what all the fuss was about.

“We had one parent, who went on MySpace and looked and saw a child they knew, and she wasn’t the age she said she was, and there was some pretty provocative photos on there,” said Reyes.

“This is even in your own home now, that kids can get into a lot of trouble. They don’t even need to leave the house anymore, they just have to crank into the computer.”

View the full article here.

Posted in Education, MySpace | 1 Comment »

Registered Sex Offender Caught in Bed with 14-year-old Girl

Saturday, January 20th, 2007

Sick. Just sick.

Two Portland men, one a registered sex offender, have been charged with raping a 14-year-old Aloha girl they pursued over the Web site MySpace. Jover Mabaet and Dennis Keomoungkhoune, both 21, met the girl in person last year and then contacted her through the Web site.

In the fall, the girl’s father found the men in bed with the girl, chased them away and called the sheriff’s office. On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted the men on charges of rape, burglary and using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct.

Visit the full story here.

Posted in MySpace, Rape, Sex Offenders, Underage | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries