Who’s talking to your kids on Facebook?
Posted under: We’ve just been reading the full, horrifying details of young Ashleigh Hall, a 17 year old girl who was groomed online by predator Peter Chapman, before being kidnapped and murdered after Chapman convinced her to meet him by posing as a teenage DJ.
As details emerged of Chapman’s online life it became clear that he was an accomplished and successful liar, convincing literally dozens of girls to send him sexually explicit photographs and to answer questionnaires detailing their sexual experiences and fantasies for his sick gratification.
The full terrifying story is documented in many places both on and off-line, so we’re not going to go into more detail here. What we’d like to do is to ask you, no, beg you, to talk to your kids about who they’re talking to online.
We’ve published our own e-book about doing just that and you can download it Here
Key points:
Keep your computer where your kids know that you could walk past at any time – avoid letting them go online in their bedroom or where you can’t see what they’re doing
Remember that most mobile phones now offer access to the internet – your kids may be going online without you knowing. Do regular searches for your child’s name, nickname, classmates names on social networking sites and look out for profiles that may belong to your child
Learn to use the websites your kids are using – become their friend on Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Twitter etc. and keep an eye on their friend lists
Talk to your kids about the anonymous nature of the Internet – Anyone can pretend to be anybody online and pictures are not proof of ID
Be approachable – Encourage your children to talk about the people they talk to online and let them know that if they are uncomfortable with any conversations they can talk to you about it
Don’t try and ban your kids from using social networking sites – They’ll find other ways of getting online if you do and you will lose ANY control
NEVER let your kids meet up with someone they’ve met online
Use parental controls to monitor your children’s online activities – it’s not snooping, it’s keeping them safe
Remember: You wouldn’t let your child invite perfect strangers into your home. When they’re on Facebook, that’s exactly what they’re doing.
i like facebook its good