Yeah, the picture my son put of me on there is the same as my avatar pic on here ~ to me that doesn't look like anything some man would want, and also in my stuff it said I was married ~ so, I am clueless as to why some man would write to me.

Anyone ever worry about info they post here, and whether someone you know IRL will find you here and learn a lot about you that you might not want to share?

I wonder that too ~ sometimes when I am playing around doing a search for things, it will take me to a message board, and it makes me wonder if other people are seeing our stuff ~ and.......I don't know ~ whether I've said too much, or things I shouldn't have said or whatever.

My daughter joined and I made her quit. A young person in our community (or near here) was killed after a predator got hold of him. Myspace and also video games where you can talk to people were how he connected with the perve.

I think you should be conscious of what you say whether you are an adult or a child. Just be careful, i mean clearly its easier for predators to prey on children but they can get to your children if you provide too much information. I read a statistic from the Center of Missing and exploited Children that 1 in 5 children are solicited online for sex, ewww. Lets keep those creeps off of the internet and away from kids, just dont provide too much information for EVERYONE to see.

Which is exactly why I think the most important thing you can do is talk to your kids! I can definitely say that when I was under 18, I was contacted by men online all the time regarding sexual topics. I first started using chat rooms when I was in 8th grade (about 13 years old). My parents sometimes worried about me, but they didn't have to--I was smart enough (and they had instilled enough common sense in me) to never give out too much personal information. Aside from my age and first name, I wouldn't even usually say what town I lived in (just the state) and would NEVER give out my last name or even my phone number (there are sites you can use to do a reverse look-up on home phone numbers and find the name and address that number belongs to).

There will always be predators, Internet or otherise, and I maintain that the best defense against them all is to EDUCATE your children and be involved in their lives (even when they may not want you to!).

Certainly makes sense. However.... I have educated my daughter. Worried about her, spied on her internet use etc. But still some of the DUMB things she does on the internet when we aren't paying close enough attention makes me have to remember that SHE is still a child and I am the one who has to make sure she stays safe.

She once started an instant message sign in with a name that I know SHE didn't mean anything by, but that had some very sexual connotations to someone who had a dirty mind. While she was logged in on my computer, some perve had to ask her if her "daddy thinks she's hot". I made her immediatlely delete that message name.

Creepy people out there. Children in all innocence do some dumb things. "My Space" has you declare that you are at least 18 before joining it. My daughter declared she was, and then admitted in her posts that she was only 13... Duh. Talk about a place for predators to get too much information.

You actually only have to be 14 to have an account on My Space (according to their Terms of Service), but there's really no way for them to tell if you really are 14+ or not. I think it's scary, too, that now younger and younger children are getting online. It makes sense that a teenager should know not to post certain information, but I know a certain 6-year old who is probably about as computer proficient as I am :dizzy: I doubt her parents would think to have serious talks about such things with her when she's only 10 or so, ya know?

I wonder what the difference is in how people think today versus 10 years ago. I know at 13 or 14, I was practically scared stiff at the thought of someone hunting me down via the Internet, so I was far from an open book. I created my own website before I was 16, but I didn't post any personal information about myself. I chatted with people online (yes, including men who were much older), but never gave out information regarding my location or which school I attended or anything like that, and I didn't meet anyone from the internet in real life until I was over 18 (and even then, someone always knew where I was going and who I would be with). I wish there was a way to scare today's kids into being as cautious as I was!

I think the difference in mentality today from 10 years ago is that you can be in touch with anyone, anywhere almomst at any time. Friends that i have made studying abroad and went to college here in the US, we can stay in touch, know what they are doing, where they are living etc. The downfall to all of this knowlege, is that we have to remember that if we put it out there anyone can see personal information, not just your friends, people you have lost touch with, etc. Its kind of a scary thought, one that i have admittely become much more aware of. I try to keep up with safety in every aspect of life and it seems that the internet is the newest place we have to teach our kids to be on guard and protect themselves. NCMEC has info on precautions to take and statistics about internet safety, its a good page to read and great info to have. Hope everyone is having a Happy Monday!!!