"ask.fm" Are parents aware of this extremely dangerous social media threat?

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

With so many new sites or aps coming out all the time, its hard to keep track of who has what and what it does. So, for this household, dd is taught what to do in a situation on ANY site--

Not giving out personal info, coming to us if someone is harassing her (and tools to deal with it on her own before she comes to us), not saying anything or doing anything that you wouldn't want everyone else seeing or hearing---and all of the rest.

Any social site can be used inappropriately. All can be used for bullying. IMHO, you have to teach the kid, so that they are prepared when the next big thing comes out and they all flock to use it.

I don't check dd's phone, I don't read her text, I don't look at the history on her laptop. I teach her what she needs to know and how she needs to behave online. So far, so good.

With all due respect, I can not tell you how many times I have heard those same words from parents of my high school students (and even from my own friends) and I have seen horrific stuff they have posted. Parents have to be vigilant and kids have to know that there is at least the possibility that their parents will check up on them/check their phones/texts, etc.

 

[luvsJack]

[QUOTE="Cinder" Ella's Mom;49732068]With all due respect, I can not tell you how many times I have heard those same words from parents of my high school students (and even from my own friends) and I have seen horrific stuff they have posted. Parents have to be vigilant and kids have to know that there is at least the possibility that their parents will check up on them/check their phones/texts, etc.[/QUOTE]

So, may I ask how you keep your child from doing those same horrific things in person where you cannot poke around and find out?

I raised two sons without the benefit of being able to read their conversations. Their conversations were private. If they did anything "horrific" they did it IRL; and as far as I know, they didn't.

Texts can be deleted, as can FB messages or any private messages on any site.

When dd first started "dating", I did check her messages and her FB and some other site she was using at the time. First off it got boring. Second off I realized that it was fruitless. They could just SAY anything that they didn't want me to know about it. Or any texts that they felt were questionable could be deleted.

We cannot constantly check and re-check everything our kids do all the time. So, for me and my child, I just find it more important to teach her and talk to her and make sure she has the knowledge to navigate her way through all of the social media out there.

She says she doesn't use ask.fm and I believe her. The reason she doesn't use it is that she has heard other kids talking about much of what is being discussed here. She uses Twitter mostly and FB occasionally and sometimes Snapchat (which has a real potential to allow kids to send inappropriate pictures). With each of these we talk about the dangers and the ways to use them and not use them. And she knows that anything she may put in a text or online can go anywhere in addition to the person it is intended for.

Mostly she spends real time with her friends and her boyfriend. Twitter is big for her because she talks to other people that are a fan of the same thing she is a fan of. Her real name and information is not even on there.