Internet Safety

Darly is fast approaching the age where most social networks will allow her to have an account legally.  I know I'm a really mean mom for not allowing her to have an account early like so many folks that I know.  But then I see this article and feel justified in sticking to my guns.

So since Darly is almost old enough, I want to make sure she's smart enough. 

She seems to be.  My niece who is too young for an account and has one anyway recently posted this meme...
1. Who knows you best?
The message reads:
Can you do this? My middle name __________, my age ___, my favorite soda _______, my birthday ___/___/___, whose the love of my life ______, my best friend _____, my favorite color ______, my eye color _______, my hair color ______ my favorite food ________ and my mom's name __________. Put this as your status and see who knows you best.

Note:  I copied this from this Yahoo Article on Biggest Facebook Security Threats  I showed Darly the post and she rolled her eyes and was able to tell me why it's a bad idea.  I told my niece that she should pull it down, and niece said it wouldn't hurt anything because no one she knows would know all that info.  I told her that I knew all that info but I'm smart enough to not post it.  When I tried to go now to copy it from her wall I wasn't able to find it...so either she pulled it, or her parents did.  Whew!

A friend of mine set up a class on Internet Safety that we attended today.  The guy heading up the class has many different social network accounts and poses as young children to catch pedophiles.  He catches a lot, but there are a whole lot more that he can't catch.

He started off the class showing the kids just how easy it is for a predator to find kids.  Then he showed the kids how he catches them.

He gave tips on the dos and don'ts of internet safety...one huge tip was to not be online friends with anyone you haven't met.  (I guess that should knock out most of my blog readers!)  But it so totally makes a ton of good sense.

I guess the best part of the class was that Darly took it all very seriously.  She even reconsidered if she really needs to have a Facebook account.  I'll let her have an account, but I'll be keeping a close eye on it...and of course her first friend will be me.  I'll make sure her account is totally closed and I'll be a mean mom at every turn.