Warning For Those With Kids

[santaman2000]

I know there is less gang activty in the UK but I hope the following article still impresses you with the dangers your kids face on the internet:

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"Police warn about gangs recruiting prostitutes via Facebook

Facebook is a great way to connect with long-lost friends, and an even better way to connect with new ones. But not everyone who uses the world's most popular social network has good intentions: Police in Texas today are warning that girls are being lured into prostitution by gang members trolling their social media profiles.
According to San Antonio Police Detective George Segura, gangs look for girls on Facebook who are showing off a bit too much skin, and are possibly seeking attention. Gang members then approach the girls on Facebook, befriend them, and convince them to meet up in person. No one is too young to be exploited — police say girls as young as 12 are being recruited.
The sex trade is big business for gangs. According to a Bexar County probation officer, gang members "can easily make hundred of thousands of dollars per girl, per year."
While this news is admittedly alarmist, it provides a strong reminder to revisit your child's Facebook privacy settings. You should also discuss ways for your son or daughter to be smart, safe digital citizens, so they'll be better equipped to avoid such dangers. And, of course, it's important to know when your child is too young to handle tech on their own. "Not every child needs access and such freedom to chat with strangers that could do them harm," says Segura.
[Image credit: An image of a silhouette of small hands via Shutterstock]
This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca"

 

[Bowlander]

There are some bad people out there. Saw a docco the other week about a town in Mexico where the main industry was trafficing girls into prostitution in New York. It was horrible.

More locally the recent case in Rochdale shows the failings of the social service system in the UK.

 

[rosshs1]

thanks for the info, hopefully won't need to worry about it for a few years. the thing I can't help but think with the case from rochdale is, when I was younger my mum end dad always knew where I was and who I was with, so the parents are to blame as well. I know if one of those my daughter then I wouldn't be waiting for social services to do something.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[blacktimberwolf]

There is in France too a wide spread phenomena where men contact young girls via the social networks pretending to be of the same age, know exactly what to say, & when the girls become infatuated (read fall in love) they are persuaded to exhibit themselves & perform sexual acts in front of their webcams. These images are then 'distributed' through the various specialised sites. A few girls have commited suicide after knowing their images have been used in this way. I haven't heard of any cases of organised prostitution rings but they must exist, albeit on a small scale. It doesn't take much imagination to realise that these 'victims' could easily be groomed into meeting up with someone in secret.......
Another nasty practice is cyber-bullying.......where certain people find it amusing to threaten & insult youngsters again via the social networks.......we may scoff but impressionable & naive kids can take it very seriously & make their lives a misery..........again, there have been suicides.

The best advice is not to let your children shut themselves in thier rooms, alone, with their computers. Of course it would be ideal to have only one communal family computer in the house but nowadays with phones & Ipads & visiting friend's etc. they will always find a way to bypass your restrictions. We can only warn them of the dangers I suppose as we were warned back when kids used to play outdoors.

 

[Andy BB]

Unfortunately its not just kids that appear to have no awareness of how much damage stuff they post on sites like Facebook can come back to bite them on the backside. Its not just friends who check out their pages but prospective and current employers too, police have used it in criminal prosecutions, and thats before you start with all the potential weirdos and stalkers.

 

[sandbender]

Unfortunately its not just kids that appear to have no awareness of how much damage stuff they post on sites like Facebook can come back to bite them on the backside. Its not just friends who check out their pages but prospective and current employers too, police have used it in criminal prosecutions, and thats before you start with all the potential weirdos and stalkers.

+1

Yep, pretty much.

 

[santaman2000]

thanks for the info, hopefully won't need to worry about it for a few years. the thing I can't help but think with the case from rochdale is, when I was younger my mum end dad always knew where I was and who I was with, so the parents are to blame as well. I know if one of those my daughter then I wouldn't be waiting for social services to do something.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

Me neither. Unfortunately it may not always be that simple. If the girl is successfully lured to a meeting she may well just be abducted there and sold somewhere you'll never see or hear from her again. And unless you or the police think to search the computor history, you may never even know what happened; she just disappeared one day.

 

[dwardo]

Install a key logger on your kids machines if unsupervised. Hack their facebook password and check their account on a regular basis.
I will have no quarms hacking my kids social media accounts at all. Granted it will be hard to keep my mouth shut if there is something on it don't like but its worth it for something I feel might be dangerous.
That or i will try my hardest to talk them out of this type of communication completely.
I have 20 years in IT and I am NOT and never will be on facebook.

 

[boatman]

Oh dear! Warnings about germ laden onions and maniacs on Facebook. What next, reproductions of chain letters started by GIs in a trench in Korea/Vietnam/Afghanistan or solemn statements that it might not be wise to try and get your illicit share of a deceased foreigner's fortune left in a Nigerian bank?

Can we not take it as a given that there are hazards associated with the wonderful world of the web and get on with business?

Sad and horrific as many things are they are not relevant. I mean, what would the mods say if I warned about the dangers of letting your children associate with clergy and leaders of groups within organisations for young people? Seems just as much chance of something going wrong there as with Internet communication going on past evidence.

 

[Andy BB]

Oh dear! Warnings about germ laden onions and maniacs on Facebook. What next, reproductions of chain letters started by GIs in a trench in Korea/Vietnam/Afghanistan or solemn statements that it might not be wise to try and get your illicit share of a deceased foreigner's fortune left in a Nigerian bank?

Can we not take it as a given that there are hazards associated with the wonderful world of the web and get on with business?

Sad and horrific as many things are they are not relevant. I mean, what would the mods say if I warned about the dangers of letting your children associate with clergy and leaders of groups within organisations for young people? Seems just as much chance of something going wrong there as with Internet communication going on past evidence.

Got no children of your own then, Boatman? I'm guessing not..............

 

[dwardo]

The problem with the facebook and other media interfaces is the speed they have developed whilst the cultural boundaries have yet to catch up. It is simply and lack of education that causes 99% of problems. I gather there are big chunks of education dedicated to the internet in schools now which emphasise the fact that once its out there its out there, no going back? If not there bloody should be.
People put some really daft stuff out without considering the consequences. They are just tools at the end of the day I agree but a large majority have yet to develop a buffer between brain and keyboard. Often guilty of it on here my self

 

[boatman]

Got no children of your own then, Boatman? I'm guessing not..............

Such assumptions Andy, got two in their thirties if that is relevant. Point is you might just as well warn about teaching kerb drill and the dangers of crossing the road or the importance of locking medicines away from children. There are hundreds of hazards but some feel fit to warn that your Grandmother might choke while sucking eggs.

 

[santaman2000]

Oh dear! Warnings about germ laden onions and maniacs on Facebook. What next, reproductions of chain letters started by GIs in a trench in Korea/Vietnam/Afghanistan or solemn statements that it might not be wise to try and get your illicit share of a deceased foreigner's fortune left in a Nigerian bank?

Can we not take it as a given that there are hazards associated with the wonderful world of the web and get on with business?.....

Unfortunately as a cop this IS my business. Or was before I retired. Disiminating the warnings is also part of that business. And some things never stop being part of who you are; I will always be a both Gi and a cop. Retired or active. Sad to say, but business is good. Good enough that entire divisions of some departments are devoted exclusively to internet pornography and sex crimes.

 

[abominable_scouse_monster]

The problem with the facebook and other media interfaces is the speed they have developed whilst the cultural boundaries have yet to catch up. It is simply and lack of education that causes 99% of problems. I gather there are big chunks of education dedicated to the internet in schools now which emphasise the fact that once its out there its out there, no going back? If not there bloody should be.
People put some really daft stuff out without considering the consequences. They are just tools at the end of the day I agree but a large majority have yet to develop a buffer between brain and keyboard. Often guilty of it on here my self

Aint that the truth, even the 15 year old set who group up in the post dial up age seem to not understand that what you do online on "Social Media" sites like facebook can have a real world impact, the zuckster has a rather nice quote that got leaked from a IRC chat before facebook became big outside the ivy league set in the US to the effect of "It's going to be nice in 20 years time having all this dirt on future politicians and CEO's".

I feel sociologically we as a species still can't handle knowing every thing about every one, there are some things that need to remain confidential between immediate members of the group that at the time need to be secret and that information is processed and the important decisions made before it becomes common knowledge to the rest of the larger group, as a species I have read that we naturally know and freely associate with 100 - 150 people and that's the largest amount of people most can naturally handle where normal societal boundary's can still be respected and transgressions of the norm are considered taboo. But on Facebook especially with younger people the "Friends list" often exceeds that and it leads to situations where in Denmark one person invites friends to a party and people not part of the group get wind of a gathering they where not invited to invite there friends who invite there friends etc and you have the police showing up in riot gear to just break it up.

I am glad I don't have kid's and a social media presence (despite how hard this is for my friends and prospective employers find this to believe) it suits me just fine, as when I want to be social I pick up the phone, email or txt some one and say "Pub?" that always get's a response and is far better than sitting staring at a monitor having a virtual social life I go out and have a real one.

 

[santaman2000]

Such assumptions Andy, got two in their thirties if that is relevant. Point is you might just as well warn about teaching kerb drill and the dangers of crossing the road or the importance of locking medicines away from children. There are hundreds of hazards but some feel fit to warn that your Grandmother might choke while sucking eggs.

The hazards you reference are indeed well known, and have been for decades (some for over a century) The internet haowever is a relatively new phenomena; at some time in the future we can take for granted that everyone knows the hazards and takes appropriate safeguards. We're not there yet.

And FWIW there are still numerous adverts warning against drunk driving even now, decades after the first emphasis on the subject. Apparently they're working (DUI tickets are still being written but the numbers are getting better) Should we discontinue them as well?

 

[boatman]

Of course warnings of various things might do some good in the general media but if you cannot see that there is a difference between that and someone selecting a fashionable hazard to warn people about on this forum. Selection from many other possible dangers of something which is in the news every day seems pointless as who would not be aware?

Remember to check that your child is always in a group when with a priest or a youth leader and that they spend no time alone with them. Or is this unnecessary advice? A calumny on decent organisations or something you are all aware of? Better not get on to the dangers that siblings and uncles might pose.

Or should we leave such discussions to the columns of the Daily Mail, Mumsnet forum and similar?

 

[santaman2000]

Of course warnings of various things might do some good in the general media but if you cannot see that there is a difference between that and someone selecting a fashionable hazard to warn people about on this forum.....

This is an internet forum so it follows that people here have access to the internet. Seems like a good place to post a warning. Just the way the DUI warnings go on alcoholic beverages and in bars.

 

[santaman2000]

....Remember to check that your child is always in a group when with a priest or a youth leader and that they spend no time alone with them. Or is this unnecessary advice?.....

Unnecessary? No. It is obsolete however. All those organizations now have that as a matter of official policy (have done for quite some time) Current advice centers on teaching your children how to recognize inappropriate contact and to seek parental or official assistance.

And considering that all those organizations also conduct some type of outdoor activities (camping, hiking, etc.) at some time, then this might be an appropriate venue for those warnings also.

I understand your frustration at seeing some warnings repeated over and over. It's the same as the new threads asking questions that have been rehashed over and over. it is a fact of life however that there is always a newer, younger, or less experienced audience that hasn't gotten the memo yet. Some things just bear repeating. If you've seen it already, just skip over it.

 

[dwardo]

when I want to be social I pick up the phone, email or txt some one and say "Pub?" that always get's a response

Works on me every time!

 

[boatman]

Unnecessary? No. It is obsolete however. All those organizations now have that as a matter of official policy (have done for quite some time) Current advice centers on teaching your children how to recognize inappropriate contact and to seek parental or official assistance.
.

Works well doesn't it so no problem the? No Maths teacher allegedly absconding with an under-age girl then and I am sure there is never a problem in the States either.