QUOTE(Alison @ Sun 25th July 2010, 8:29pm)
QUOTE(Somey @ Sun 25th July 2010, 12:52pm)
Anyway, putting this Wikia-scrape business aside for the moment, what would a "typical" parent do in a situation like this, if this were their daughter? Some degree of childhood narcissism is natural, maybe even healthy, but I'd have to say this is a good deal beyond that. Even so, if enormous numbers of 12-year-old girls have webcams, and the people on 4chan's /b/ forum are determined to make them "famous" (well, at least the "lulzy" ones), what do you do? I should think that if you've already completely messed up on the whole responsible-parenting thing, nothing short of imprisoning the poor kid in a room without a computer in it (or at least no internet) until she grows up is going to keep her from doing this stuff.
Off the top of my head, and in no particular order;
- Don't allow them to have computers/laptops in their bedrooms. Have them in the family room where they're visible.
- Restrict their hours on-line to sane levels (and do the same for the TV!) There are software packages available for this and I happen to know - *coff* - that MacOS X has a built-in option to enable this.
- Give them their own account and let them know from the outset that you will be monitoring it at whim.
- Operate a URL whitelist. Yes, I know it's draconian but tough shit Dem's the rules.
- Disable that webcam!
- Enable the ratings system for media (MacOS X again has it. Windoze likely does, too)
- Enable the profanity filter on the dictionary and thesaurus, if ya care. I didn't.
- Most importantly, show an interest in their on-line activities and show them you care. Make sure you have an environment in which they feel they can talk freely with you.
- Show them respect. Don't block *everything* but be sensible and be actively involved.
- Email whitelists for sending. Use them.
- Teach them how to be smart on-line and to look after their dox. Never reveal personal information to strangers and don't post it to websites. Keep their RL name off everything.
- IRC. Kill it.
My son is an adult now, and I agree with
most of this list. He didn't get a PC in his room until he showed me he was responsible and mature in general - until them it was the PC in the living room, where he was open to view by Mom and Dad. I also monitored his communications periodically (and he knew I had the tech smarts to do so).
As he got much older, he was allowed to buy a system (50% his money, 50% mine) and use it in his room, but the packet log stayed in place (my network, my responsibility).
No whitelist or profanity filter. No ratings system. He knew that surfing certain types of content would lead to sanctions, and that they weren't 'optional' sanctions. Webcam not allowed until 18.
Aside from a few embarrassing missteps on FaceBook in high school, he did well.