How close to watch teens’ online use?

Julie Kincaid gave her son, Taylor, permission to open a Facebook account two years ago on this condition: She’d have his password so she could see what he was doing on the social-networking site.

Now 16, the Fairfield High School sophomore says he’s still comfortable with the arrangement. Usually.

“I’m usually not doing anything that I would be ashamed of,” he says, but adds: “I kind of get nervous hoping she doesn’t read some of that stuff.”

Says his mother: “I think it’s a parent’s responsibility to check those things out, within reason. It’s not so much a trust issue with Taylor. It’s more, I want to see what kind of kids he’s hanging out with.”

The online world offers many opportunities for positive interaction with others, but with stories circulating regularly about sexting, cyberbullying, Internet predators and the like, many parents wonder how closely they should monitor their teens.

In a national poll released in August by Common Sense Media, 39 percent of teens reported posting something online they later regretted, but only 20 percent of parents said their child had done so. While 28 percent of teens said they had shared information online about themselves that they wouldn’t normally share in public, only 16 percent of parents were aware of it.

Johnston, John. “How close to watch teens’ online use?” News Cincinnati. 8 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.

My Mobile Watchdog is now Live on FACEBOOK & TWITTER

eAgency, Inc.’s smartphone application My Mobile Watchdog, is proud to announce our new user forums on Facebook and on Twitter. Come join us today for all the latest updates, news & events related to My Mobile WatchDog, protecting your children from Sexting & Cyberbullying, and much more! Join our User Forums, we look forward to hearing from you and participating in an active discussion group.

June 12, 2009

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been using RADAR-“My Mobile Watchdog” for over one year in the investigation of online child sexual predators. This software program has been critical in my investigations of online predators and in their arrest. In my investigations of online child sex predators I have seen an increase in the use of cellular telephones by the predator in communicating with the child. In 2008 our unit made 41 internet arrests and 20 internet arrests to date in 2009. In over 80% of these internet arrests the predator was using a cellular telephone. This has proved to be an invaluable investigative tool in my case filings. The RADAR program assists me with logging the incoming, outgoing and MMS files that are sent and received by the predator in a chronological order. I would recommend this program as an investigatory tool for law enforcement in their criminal investigations.

Detective Mark Michieli
Crimes Against Persons/Internet Sex Crimes
Adams County Sheriff’s Office
Brighton, Colorado 80022

“Sexting”

I have included two links to some MSNBC articles about “sexting.” It is a very real trend that I don’t think is going to do anything but get worse. I am aware of a recent case involving a young adult who engaged in similar behavior at her work place. You can’t imagine the grief this causes when the pictures get widely distributed, which often happens quickly given the advance of modern technology. It is an irreversible act, and little can be done to locate and destroy all of the pictures.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29546030/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28679588/

So, what is a parent to do?

I am a big fan of monitoring your kids cell phone and computer. I recently ventured into a private lecturing business. I did this in an effort to make community awareness lectures to parents. I quickly realized the parents who really care about their kids attend these lectures. The parents that were to busy or did not care stayed home or were busy doing something else.


I first believed I might be wasting my time talking to parents about these issues. I soon realized the kids of the parents that were too busy to attend the lectures were still friends with the kids who parents cared, and vice versa. I have words of wisdom for the parent who says “My kids were raised in a good loving home and they know better then to text or talk to a stranger.” I offer that a large portion of my case load involving teen sexual crimes are often discovered by another teens parent, or another teen that in turn notifies authorities. In fact, more often than not, law enforcement is notified by the victim’s parent only after the incident is brought to their attention by someone else.


This is not to say parents don’t often discover inappropriate sexual activity between their teen and an adult, it is just more rare. Generally, my experience has shown a teen having an inappropriate sexual relationship with an adult will go to great lengths to hide and deny the relationship to their parents. Many times the teen will talk to their friends about the relationship and eventually law enforcement becomes involved once it is exposed.

Jeff Brown