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Parenting and the Internet

SBu

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Another child commits suicide due to online bullying: Answers - and justice - remain elusive in 'bullied' Connecticut student's suicide | Fox News

What are your thoughts about parenting and the internet?

Are these parents to blame for recklessly exposing an adolescent to constant internet access? Is it ok for parents to allow their children essentially unfettered access to the internet? In the words of the child's parents:

"I would look at his computer sometimes because he left it unlocked sometimes and to check on him I would read his email. He was talking about happy things. It seemed like he had friends to talk to. I didn't think I needed to look further."


Sorry, no poll. Clicked submit before setting up the poll.
 
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Another child commits suicide due to online bullying: Answers - and justice - remain elusive in 'bullied' Connecticut student's suicide | Fox News

What are your thoughts about parenting and the internet?

Are these parents to blame for recklessly exposing an adolescent to constant internet access? Is it ok for parents to allow their children essentially unfettered access to the internet? In the words of the child's parents:

"I would look at his computer sometimes because he left it unlocked sometimes and to check on him I would read his email. He was talking about happy things. It seemed like he had friends to talk to. I didn't think I needed to look further."


Poll to follow...
It is an awful thing..bullying has always been with us...I remember the horrific walk from school where the bullies would wait for me in a side street...

On-line bullying is just the modern version...one thing I did find out though..was that all bullies were cowards..
 
I beat the hell out of my one bully, lets just say I never had trouble again.

Another child commits suicide due to online bullying: Answers - and justice - remain elusive in 'bullied' Connecticut student's suicide | Fox News

What are your thoughts about parenting and the internet?

Are these parents to blame for recklessly exposing an adolescent to constant internet access? Is it ok for parents to allow their children essentially unfettered access to the internet? In the words of the child's parents:

"I would look at his computer sometimes because he left it unlocked sometimes and to check on him I would read his email. He was talking about happy things. It seemed like he had friends to talk to. I didn't think I needed to look further."


Sorry, no poll. Clicked submit before setting up the poll.
 
As much crap and insults that get thrown around DP, I really am not sure people should be that quick to judge internet bullies.
 
If your kid is "tho thenthitive" about bullying, then you should probably not introduce them to the internet until they grow some nads.

It's a parenting problem for sure. Television used to be the babysitter for kids with crappy parents. Now it's a computer.
 
We won't ever be able to stop bullying of any sort. It needs to be addressed when it is encountered, but kids also need to be trained in how to deal with bullies. They need to learn techniques that can be used to remove the bullies power. For example, some kids can learn how to "own the joke". This works as well in person as it does online. someone seeks to belittle or degrade you, go along with it and exaggerate their claim to the point of absurdity. If a bully has no power to create teh illusion of superiorty, they will either give up trying or else they will expose themselves as insecure morons who don't know when they've become the joke.
 
If your kid is "tho thenthitive" about bullying, then you should probably not introduce them to the internet until they grow some nads.

It's a parenting problem for sure. Television used to be the babysitter for kids with crappy parents. Now it's a computer.

Kids used to learn how to be street savvy by going out..how can you let kids out alone these days??
 
It seems that the internet had little or nothing to do with this suicide, as the story noted that this "bullying" occured mainly at school. If anything, the internet seems to allow a better trail of evidence than simply verbal comminication of threats/taunting. Have NSA look into it. ;)
 
It seems that the internet had little or nothing to do with this suicide, as the story noted that this "bullying" occured mainly at school. If anything the internet seems to allow a better trail of evidence than simply verbal comminication of threats/taunting. Have NSA look into it. ;)

With physical bullies..you can go home and they can't get you..with cyber bullies..they can..

We have sites here that encourage young people to kill themselves..
 
Kids used to learn how to be street savvy by going out..how can you let kids out alone these days??

Easy, and the same way you teach them how to swim - throw them in the deep end, and eventually they'll get it.
 
It seems that the internet had little or nothing to do with this suicide, as the story noted that this "bullying" occured mainly at school. If anything, the internet seems to allow a better trail of evidence than simply verbal comminication of threats/taunting. Have NSA look into it. ;)

The kids bullying him set up false facebook accounts to mock him it sounds like. My opinion is that kids need to deal with bullies for sure. Otherwise they'll never grow up. However, the home should be a place to get away from the need to constantly confront bullies. To that end, I think parents who give their kids unfettered internet access (more or less) are exposing them to incessant bullying. I think most parents just don't understand how plugged in their kids really are online. Parenting fail.
 
Easy, and the same way you teach them how to swim - throw them in the deep end, and eventually they'll get it.

Oh baby..you can't do that now!!!

That is why we have obese children, playing computer games all day,, and never allowed out of the house unless they are with an armed guard!
 
The kids bullying him set up false facebook accounts to mock him it sounds like. My opinion is that kids need to deal with bullies for sure. Otherwise they'll never grow up. However, the home should be a place to get away from the need to constantly confront bullies. To that end, I think parents who give their kids unfettered internet access (more or less) are exposing them to incessant bullying. I think most parents just don't understand how plugged in their kids really are online. Parenting fail.

Parents can't sit with their kids at school..the internet is just an extension of this..
 
With physical bullies..you can go home and they can't get you..with cyber bullies..they can..

We have sites here that encourage young people to kill themselves..

I visit sites and read the emails of only those that I wish to communicate with. As with this site, you are neither compelled to read nor to respond to my posts; it even has an ignore feature.
 
Oh baby..you can't do that now!!!

That is why we have obese children, playing computer games all day,, and never allowed out of the house unless they are with an armed guard!

Sports-based extracurriculars are a good way to prevent that. Have a kid that's doing little league, pee-wee football, or swimming/gymnastics/etc. and they won't be afraid of the outside and glued to a computer. If you live close enough to a school that they can ride a bike to and from, instead of a bus, you can help there too.

When I was a kid I played baseball from tee-ball to starting varsity, and still had plenty of time to goof around on my Nintendo.
 
Another child commits suicide due to online bullying: Answers - and justice - remain elusive in 'bullied' Connecticut student's suicide | Fox News

What are your thoughts about parenting and the internet?

Are these parents to blame for recklessly exposing an adolescent to constant internet access? Is it ok for parents to allow their children essentially unfettered access to the internet? In the words of the child's parents:

"I would look at his computer sometimes because he left it unlocked sometimes and to check on him I would read his email. He was talking about happy things. It seemed like he had friends to talk to. I didn't think I needed to look further."

Sorry, no poll. Clicked submit before setting up the poll.

I think parents who give their kids unfettered access to the online world are playing with fire. A child's computer should be in a public area of the house so that his parents easily understand how much time he/she is spending on it each day. And that time should be limited. Social network sites should be monitored regularly -- all passwords known by the parents. I personally would install spy software that showed me where my child was going on the internet as well.

If my child earned it by good behavior, he'd have a cell phone without internet access. Unlimited texting and suitable minutes is enough.

If I saw that my child was bullying someone else? The cell phone's gone and so is internet access. For how long? Well, I'm not sure. But it'd be long enough to make an impression. If my child were interacting with kids who posted **** on their site or my kid's site, I would insist he unfriend the offender. If that didn't solve the problem, I'd change the password on his site and it'd be gone.

The freedoms we give our kids are earned perks, not entitlements. They're for his entertainment and enjoyment; for learning and developing social skills. And they are (would be) completely under my control to make sure that's how they're used.

I'd be a real bitch of a mom. ;)
 
Filters have improved, but are still limited. Parents can't spend the time to be completely on top of things that goes on the internet world, but they can limit what is going to be served to them. A lack of sanctioned social media accounts can be a good thing, but you can still run into the problem where they may go around you anyhow. You can't quite kill an email account, because the school system will increasingly rely upon them, and Google requires cellphone text messaging to gain access to an account if many accounts are created underneath the same network (such as the public school).

I was probably lucky in that online bullying wasn't prominent, because most people thought you were a nerd if you knew what Google was (instead of Yahoo or Altavista) or bought an iPod (I even had the "geeky" big earphones back then).

We're navigating new waters.
 
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I visit sites and read the emails of only those that I wish to communicate with. As with this site, you are neither compelled to read nor to respond to my posts; it even has an ignore feature.

that's good..but you don't go to school with them/don't live next door/or are a part of your social life!!
 
MaggieD;I'd be a real bitch of a mom.

:applaud:applaud: A Big STANDING O for you Mags .... You'd be a TERRIFIC mom !! :applaud:applaud

Have a terrific day, Ms M.

Thom Paine
 
:applaud:applaud: A Big STANDING O for you Mags .... You'd be a TERRIFIC mom !! :applaud:applaud

Have a terrific day, Ms M.

Thom Paine

Nice sentiment MaggieD..but it don't work...If you don't have any kids..you have no idea!!
 
It has nothing to do with the Internet, this is a case of poor parenting. You can't just let your kids go, pay no attention to what they're doing and expect the schools and the Internet to educate them, parents have to be intimately involved in their children's lives.

My kids have had their own computers since they were 4 and Internet access since they were 7-8. The trick is, my wife and I are involved in their lives, we know what's going on, we know, in general terms, what they're doing and they know there are rules and consequences for violating those rules. I can't say they've always been perfect, my oldest daughter, for instance, is an artist and she got a DeviantArt account before she turned 13 by creating a fake e-mail account for my wife to give them permission to give her an account. She got caught and she got punished, had she just come to us in the first place, we would have given her the account anyhow. She learned her lesson. It's easier to just come to us and talk to us than to reap the consequences of not doing so.
 
I beat the hell out of my one bully, lets just say I never had trouble again.

Same here. Got bullied once, put him on the ground once, we ended up becoming really close friends.
 
Another child commits suicide due to online bullying: Answers - and justice - remain elusive in 'bullied' Connecticut student's suicide | Fox News

What are your thoughts about parenting and the internet?

Are these parents to blame for recklessly exposing an adolescent to constant internet access? Is it ok for parents to allow their children essentially unfettered access to the internet? In the words of the child's parents:

"I would look at his computer sometimes because he left it unlocked sometimes and to check on him I would read his email. He was talking about happy things. It seemed like he had friends to talk to. I didn't think I needed to look further."


Sorry, no poll. Clicked submit before setting up the poll.

The bullies are to blame for bullying.
Their parents / authority figures are to blame for failing to be the authorities over the bullies. (IE: failing to intervene, failing to act, failing to punish, and even encouraging it (I've see this happen sometimes).
The parents of the child (victim) are at fault, as well, for enabling the situation to continue with permission via the un-monitored use of THEIR internet.

Enough blame to go around - it's a tragic storm of 'everyone's doing a bunch of nothing.'

My children don't have access to the internet unless I give them PERMISSION - and I monitor what they do. They don't do 'social sites' - they don't NEED to. They social with friends in real life who are NOT bullies and do NOT fight with them, pick on them, or cause trouble.

In fact, I don't let them associate with the crap kids who have crap parents and are always in trouble.

Same here. Got bullied once, put him on the ground once, we ended up becoming really close friends.

Well good for you guys - sometimes violence doesn't stop it for other children. :roll:
 
Nice sentiment MaggieD..but it don't work...If you don't have any kids..you have no idea!!

I assume you're addressing me.

I have two boys, well, they're men now ages 27 and 23. What Maggie suggests can and should be done; I did that and more.
As an aside though, I am surprised and oft bothered by parents who cannot exercise influence and control over their children. Parenting is not an easy task but there are no options once children arrive. Parents Should never abdicate their responsibilities by giving a child unfettered freedom of action and choice.

I could ramble on but it might best be left for a different thread.

Again
KUDOS TO MAGGIE for her awareness !!

Have a nice eve Wolfie

Thom Paine
 
Parents can't sit with their kids at school..the internet is just an extension of this..

So, you think that parents can't sit with their kids while using the internet? In other words, can't control kids' access to the internet?
 
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