This simplest point is that the PARENTs need to know what is happening.
If you have a router in your house, you can block the PORTS that are
used for chats, cams, etc.
1. Are these always the same ports for all applications? Is it possible to set different ports?
2. I don't want to deny my child using chat or cams at all - these are major teenage communications media these days; cutting them off would be like cutting off the phone a generation ago.
3. I also use chat and webcams, for both professional and personal reasons. Sounds like a major PITA to turn those off for my daughter and on for me at the same time - a technical challenge I wouldn't know how to solve.
If the parent in JUSTIN's house had *simply
not allowed *the computer to be HIDDEN in his room.... In addition -
how did he get the PAYPAL account with out some form of CHECKING account
- which his parents should and could have monitored.
You don't need a checking account to get a PayPal account. You may not even need a credit card. Justin "had to have" a checking account for his web business, presumably. His mother may be culpable for not knowing more about his business and how much money he was making with it, but she may not be a businesswoman, either. Justin was being guided in deceit by a group of very savvy, educated people (doctors, lawyers, etc.) - it's not surprising they outwitted her.
Don't blame the Net for parents who lack good judgment or simple common
sense. We've all heard stories like Justin's but what we hardly ever
hear is how the parents used the computer as a babysitter and to occupy
the child's time.
Some parents undoubtedly do that, as many do with the TV. Others, like myself, realize that the computer is an essential instrument of modern living and that kids need to learn to use it.
ANYONE with a child and a computer should be there when the computer is
used, or have it set so that the net is only able to be used when it is
need for appropriate task.
"You're doing a paper, so I'll allow you access to Encyclopedia Brittanica"? Come on, you know that's not realistic.
Parents are at FAULT not the NET, not the Media.
Parents are responsible. Fault? That's a little tougher.
You didn't answer my question: are YOU at this time a parent? Of a teenager?
Anyway, all this is way off the topic of videoblogging. As I said, I brought it up because I think we need to be aware of all potential misuses as well as uses of this technology we love and share. Any technology can be misused. That doesn't mean the technology itself is bad or should be banned or kept out of the hands of kids. It just means that, when educating kids in using it, we also need to educate them about the dangers.
--
best regards,
Deirdré Straughan
www.beginningwithi.com (personal)
www.tvblob.com (work)
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