One of the main concerns as a parent is to keep your son or daughter safe from the dangers of this world. Unfortunately, we cannot be with our kids around the clock. We teach our children important things such as not talking to strangers and to look both ways before crossing the street. We can only hope they continue to practice these lessons even when we are not around to protect them. However, in the 21st century a new danger has arisen that makes protecting our kids much more difficult.
The Rise Of Social Networking
Social networking is a popular trend among youth culture in the United States. Sites such as Facebook and MySpace are popular among youth. They allow them to connect with one another outside of school to share photos of birthday parties, outings, family vacation or group events and much more. Often they post a status about what they are doing at the very moment or even plan on doing later that night. This information is okay among friends; however, it may be putting your child in danger without their knowledge.
Social Dangers
There are two aspects of the social networks that may be endangering your child. The first is when the privacy settings allow anyone to view the information posted on their page. This includes photos, statuses and other identifying information. These settings should be adjusted so that only friends of the child would be able to view them. However, this is not full-proof. Pedophiles may try to connect with children via the social network. Unfortunately, this is not as far-fetched as it sounds.
Recent Report Shows Increase In Danger
On September 28, 2010, Fox News reported that pedophiles are using Facebook to connect with one another and even children. Through a quick group search on Facebook, Fox News found dozens of groups connected with the North American Man Boy Love Association. This group advocates the legalization of 'consensual' relations between an adult male and an underage boy. Local chapters of the group feature pictures of boys as young as four or five. A pedophile blog even has posts discussing strategy on using the social networking site to connect with children.
Keep Your Kids Safe With Child Internet Safety Software
Child Internet safety software is an important tool to ensure that your children are not posting inappropriate pictures, communicating with individuals they do not know and giving away too much information through statuses. Some child Internet safety software allows you to see everything they are doing on MySpace and Facebook including what profiles they are visiting and pictures they are posting. Pedophiles are using all the tools available to them to take advantage of your kids. It is time for parents to use tools such as child Internet safety software to keep them safe.
I'm Jon Buschlen and although my children aren't old enough to use the internet I'm sure to purchase internet safety software to protect them when it comes time. --> Click here to get your copy. It's never too late (or too early) to keep your kids safe online.
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