Another scary story about Facebook?

bromley mum · Post by **bromley mum** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:50 am

Check this out.

http://www.lemondrop.co.uk/2010/03/24/f ... in-stds%2F

sherry_d · Post by **sherry_d** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:10 am

How do you meet multiple partners or strangers on facebook?

When I receive friend request I only accept the ones from the people that I know. Do people really just accept anyone to be their friend?

I can understand if its children because there seem to be a race to who has the most friends and all those predators can just pretend to be who they are not and lure the kids but for adults

The thought of kids using facebook really scares me and I think 13 is still very young without adult supervision for social networks. I know of kids who have done it behind their parents' s backs so it seem better to let them have one that you can access. Even that still makes me jittery, kids can easily become IT whizz at these sort of things to stop parents seeing the stuff they dont want us to see or worse still create a second account, arggg, we can never protect them 100%

Josa · Post by **Josa** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 11:01 am

Totally agree with you sherry_d that 13 is very young to have a facebook account especially without adult supervision. Quite a few of my friend's dds are my friends on facebook and to say I am gobsmacked about the postings on their wall is an understatement, not to mention their use of the English language when posting stuff.

Fatandfifty · Post by **Fatandfifty** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:57 pm

I know of a mother, who is a teacher, who lets her 8 year old daughter have a Facebook account along with her other under age children!!

Midget Man · Post by **Midget Man** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:30 pm

I've had a few of my friend's children wanting to add me as a friend but I have declined, would feel wrong for a minor to be reading adult conversations/wall's on fb.

Ed's mum · Post by **Ed's mum** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:53 pm

I frequently have past pupils asking to add me. It's always a polite refusal - they're still only about 12/13. No thanks! Far too risky.

DarkEnergy · Post by **DarkEnergy** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:14 pm

Trying not to break confidence, but I talk to my students about their online experiences and they are very open that they are "approached" online or friend requests etc on face book and others, up to ten times every week by unknown adult males. Fortunately my students routinely block these approaches. As you can tell, I am constantly teaching esafety.

Best advice - never let your kids have internet access in their bedrooms. Make sure it is in the living room or other open place where they cannot hide.

cappucino · Post by **cappucino** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 11:12 pm

I'm not sure that facebook is any worse than many of the sites pertaining to be for children where they add friends in the form of penguins, mini people fantasy characters, war games etc Those sites look more user friendly for the children, but they can be approached by anyone to be a friend, in the form of a cuddle creature, with a cute nickname.

I know of a 10 year old playing on one of these who was chatted up by an 18 yr old, who promptly made their life a misery telling everyone they were gay when turned down.

Sassie'sDad · Post by **Sassie'sDad** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 11:31 pm

Yes, sounds sensible Darkenergy but now that internet is available on mobile phones and Ipods that is no longer really an answer.

I think the onus should be put on Facbook to make their registration process much more than the fig leaf it is at present. Firstly if one can join FB as a minor without bona_fide parental consent then that is the fault of FB more than anyone else. I have a dd still under 13 who has had an account for well over a year. I thought her mother had authorised it

but recently found out her sister (18 at the time) had done so

One of her school friends' parents is an IT Consultant working in Banking Security etc. He will not let his children have a FB account no matter the protests.

My other gripe is that the settings page is all too easy to reset. For those children their accounts could easily be given a superuser/administrator privilege where only the parent can login as superuser/administrator and thus change settings. If there is one place government should be poking its' nose it is here! But it has only rhetoric: it lacks the spheroids!

Yes the language is deplorable but then it is only reflecting what is said out of our hearing anyway!

bromley mum · Post by **bromley mum** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 12:00 am

I have allowed my DD to have a Facebook account but with some condtitions. At first we had one account which she and I shared ( she was 14) plus at that time. Later she was allowed her own account but she had to add me as a friend and she had to tell me her password. She has never complained about this si I guess I am lucky.