Keep Your Kids Off of ClubPenguin

[M.D. Holloway]

One of our friends told us that she caught her teenage daughter chatting on a site called ClubPenguin. From what she told me is that this site is a breeding ground for creepies looking to chat it up with young'ns. In fact, she was so concerned that her 13 yr daughter might be involved with some not-so-nice dialogue that she put software on the computer to log all the dialogue and sure enough there was plenty of cybersex going on. The mom had to walk a delicate line - discipline on one side without tipping her hand that she was spying/monitoring on the other (that is a whole other debate!). Anyway...

The scary thing is, you don't know who your kid is chatting with and often there is mention to move over to other websites where more intense conversations take place. The site seems innocent enough yet I can see where it could get downright bad quick.

Just a note of caution. Has anyone heard of this site? Any of your kids on it?

[legion]

My neighbor's kids are on it. I really have no idea what it is.

[notfarnow]

My brother's 13yr old stepdaughter has a computer in her bedroom. I think he's fking nuts.

He says it's important that she knows they "trust" her. I wouldn't trust a teenager any more than a heroin addict. More imporantly, I wouldn't trust cyber strangers who want to talk with teenagers.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Man, oh man I thank God my kids got out of their teen years JUST before the blog, chat room thing got huge. I don't think I'd really know how I'd deal with this without worrying constantly.

[scottmandue]

I don't have kids but I would never let them chat online with anyone they didn't personally know and would install software to monitor them... and tell them it is on the computer.

I had a co worker with two teenage sons and an unblocked Internet connection... I told her (knowing how teenage boy are) "your boys are looking at porn on the Internet" she said "oh no, not my boys"

A few weeks later the seventeen year old found some porn on the computer the thirteen year old had uploaded and ratted him out to mom.

[onewhippedpuppy]

No way in hell my kids will ever have a computer in their room. Any parent that has ever seen "To Catch a Predator" is insane to allow their young teen unsupervised access to a computer. To this end, when we finish our basement next year, we're putting in an office. Office will have french doors. Wood framed GLASS french doors.

[Rick Lee]

One of my car buddy's wife was telling me about their 5 yr. old learning how to use the computer. He was into Winnie the Pooh and Google'd "pooh". Oh, I feel sorry for parents.

[RickM]

Leaving a kid alone with their computer is like connecting a sewer line filled with degenerates to their bedroom door.

Even with the computer in a common area parents must be vigilant in knowing what they do at all times.

My daughter was in SantaClaus.com's chat room a while back (sounds innocent enough, right?) and I reviewed the chat log after realizing she signed up on her own. I also read the profiles of the other "kids" that she communicated with. I can say with confidence that these were not kids and that the chats were slowly building trust by offering her gifts and other niceties. I quickly deleted her profile and any traces I could that she ever existed there. I also wrote a pointed Email to the site administrator.

American girl also had chat rooms. Their security practice (lol) was to have a parent call to register their kid. What's to prevent a pedophile from calling to register? Apparently nothing. They've closed the chat rooms since.

I continually warn my daughter about the slime out there and implore her never to offer ANY personal information....ever.

She has a laptop that is not connected to the house network. If I do connect it will be with a browser capable of utilizing a white list where I can control which websites she has access to.
Other measures, including constant supervision, will be used as well.

[Mo_Gearhead]

Parents that do not supervise their children's on-line activities are inviting trouble, it may come in many forms and it may not be just THEIR (family) personal problem. Witness the parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

Gee ...we had no idea they had a website, blog, etc.??? Making bombs in the garage ... certainly not my child!

[gassy]

My 11 yr old goes on that site--. Those creeps go everywhere. Unbelievable. Thanks for the heads up.

[Jims5543]

I am happy my 14 y/o is so not into chatting and blogging. He is more into FPS games like Halo and plays with a bunch of kids from his school online. He has a laptop because it is required in the school he goes to, all his assignments are done are there and either printed out or emailed to the teachers. He is not allowed to use it with his bedroom door closed and we prefer him to use the family computer which is in the middle of the house where we can monitor it.

Since the beginning of the school year and somewhat over the summer we set out to get him into other activities, he is totally not a stick and ball team sports player. He is not Karting every week and playing paintball once a month. We are also waiting for cooler evenings again so we can resume playing racquetball.

My sis-in-law has a 13 y/o daughter that is like a moth to a flame with the internet stuff. He myspace page has been deleted by mom and she is watched like a hawk. She is built like a 20 y/o and already understands the power she has over boys. She is big trouble.

Thanks for the heads up I will pass this onto my bro in law.

[M.D. Holloway]

Always better to be safe than sorry. Our 4yr old loves Webkinz but in no way does she chat - then again she is 4 but even then it is never to early to start safe.

Its really too bad because I think that the internet can be a great learning tool and a wonderful source of entertainment. It is sad that creeps will always find a way - just like a roach.

[dhoward]

For god's sake don't let her find PPOT....

[stomachmonkey]

Parental Control Software!

They can only go were you decide.

[on2wheels52]

Survived that phase, believe it or not there are still a few 'normal' kids in the US. I won't take credit for doing anything special, he just turned out OK on his own. We were prepared to take action if we thought it necessary but he never gave us cause. His friends still come over with him two hours away at college.
Jim

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by legion

My neighbor's kids are on it....

I'm trying to visualize how you know that....

[legion]

Originally Posted by milt

I'm trying to visualize how you know that....

Good friends with the neighbor. Last week he mentioned his kids spend a lot of time on a Penguin website. I figured this was it.

Even I think my response was a little creepy re-reading it...

[the]

Originally Posted by legion

Even I think my response was a little creepy re-reading it...

But then when you pair it with your avatar, it makes it all right.

[nostatic]

not only alright, but pretty much a moral imperative.

My soon to be 11 year old uses a gaming PC in the living room of my apt. Like Jim's kid he does FPS games (Battlefield 2, HalfLife2) along with MMOGs (World of Warcraft, Runescape) and casual games at places like addictinggames.com. Doesn't chat or blog yet, but will sit on the phone with his friends as they navigate the MMOGs together.

Luckily I'm in the thick of this stuff for work so it isn't a mystery to me. But still have to watch what is going on...

[mikester]

...I'm sure the violence in those games is great too...