A month or so ago during a family holiday get together I was called into a room full of upset mothers. You know exactly what I'm talking about, when something is said by a male or a child that makes every mother in the room yell in indignation. Like mud stained carpet, or a pregnant daughter.
The culprit behind this maternal anxiety was a discussion about myspace and the things my adolescent cousins had on their accounts. Both had listed themselves at 18 years old, neither of them were older than 13.
For those of you unfamiliar to the Myspace world, it is a network of blogs much like this one, but more popular. Each member has their own page with their own links to pictures, friends and comment boxes. You can decorate them with music files, pictures of yourself and of any kind of graphic you can pick the coding for.
It is inhabited namely by preteens, teens and many adults who still think that they are teens. Atleast that is what it started off to be.
My cousins had filled theirs with risque pictures of themselves, Symbols of a famous pornographic empire and sparkle butterfilies that change colors. These are cousins that I used to babysit often. While their mother and father would go out they would stay at our house, where we would watch movies and play board games, or go into town and laugh through the aisles of the local grocery store. The pathetic thing is, is that I can not call this abnormal for their age. A quick glance at the pages of their friends, and of other girls the same age or older revealed something out of a depiction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The internet no matter what we may want to say about it, just isn't safe. It never was. It can be a tool of use to our churches, studies, and an easy means of communication. However left unchecked it can be the Devil's greatest asset, to both your mind and the lives of children.
As I mentioned before most blogs looked exactly like theirs, atleast the ones that I could look at before having to click away. These are children, just children. Mirroring the whoremongers, and "strangewomen" mentioned in the Bible.
Some reports are saying the men and women behind locking Internet Predators up are having more and more success using myspace. And this with good reason, because the predators are having more success. Myspace isn't the only blog type playground for kids. Sites like Facebook, Live Journal and many more provide instant access and venting space "for the frustrations of youth".
To me this problem can be solved by you parents. Make sure you know whats on these websites your kids are checking. Know the passwords to their internet accounts, and dont allow them any unsupervised time.
What good is it to have a word blocking agent on your t.v., pad lock on your door or even a strong say so as to what your children read if we let them run free on the web.
Do yourself a favor, Google for the statistics of childrens deaths due to internet stalking, read some of the stories of parents just like you. Hug your children, and then put the computer in a room where anyone can see what is being typed. The living room, kitchen alcove somewhere open. Use software that tracks where your children are going on the web. And at night before you go to bed, take the power cord with you. Not just the mouse, not just the keyboard. Remember those can be done without.
Strict? Maybe, but I'm taking these thoughts from a radio program done by christian parents, who have buried their children after some pervert had finished with them.
The world is no different from the one you grew up in. But technology has found new ways to get away with what you fear when you tuck your children in.
I grew up with this technology, my generation is what is making these sites so popular. It's just sad that to many parents show no care over what their children do. I'm not saying blogging is evil. Myspace, maybe, Facebook, no. But you have to pick up your Bible and draw that line.
Besides after hours web surfing should be avoided by anyone, think of all that sleep you could be getting.
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