Some Scary Statistics

Kids And The Internet

I like to think of myself as a pretty savvy dad when it comes to technology. I like to think that my kids don;t pull too much wool over my eyes. I try to be as much of a friend as being a parent will allow and so far I think it has worked out. No suspensions from school. No calls to the principal’s office, or worse yet the police department. No tattoos or piercings. Not even a freaky blue Mohawk.  But do I really know all about their online social networking? Yes I am a “friend” on their Facebook pages, and visit their MySpace pages periodically at random.

But today I read this article and I began to wonder. Here are some sobering stats.

• You think they’re checking Facebook once a day. The reality? Many are checking it 10 or more times a day.
• You think they’d never hack into someone else’s online accounts. But a quarter of them have.
• You think they’d never pretend to be an adult and talk to strangers online. Nearly one in five has.

Kind of frightening to me. What about you? How do you police your kids to ensure they are safe online? Am I doing enough? Do I need to do more? Let’s talk about it!