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Sexting is Still the Rage Among Teens
12/15/2009
I came across a new article today from CNN which reports "Nearly one-sixth of teens who own cell phones have received nude or nearly nude images via text message from someone they know." This is the phenomenon known as sexting. Here are a few items of interest from the article. First, "teens whose parents searched through their cell phones were no more or less likely to send and receive sexually explicit text messages than those whose phones were kept private," and also "boys and girls surveyed were equally likely to say they engage in sexting."
So it doesn't matter if your teen is male or female and it doesn't matter how tightly you, as a parent, regulate control over the device.
That's not encouraging.
Part of the solution, I believe, is communication. In fact, an 18 year old named Avery has this to say in the article:
Avery suggested parents talk to their teens about appropriate cell phone use when their kids first get cell phones. But don't overdo it, she said, because teens generally understand the dangers of sexting.
"Parents think it's happening more than it actually is," she said. "It's not seen as very normal by teenagers."
FULL ARTICLE:
CNN - Survey: 15 percent of teens get sexual text messages
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Parents Experience Fear, Naivetˇ and Defeat
11/13/2009
I came across this article by Rhett Smith, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate based out of Texas. He describes some observations about the emotions that parents go through when it comes to technology, social media, and their children. Making the list is fear, naivetˇ and defeat.
I think most of us can relate to those feelings whether technology is involved or not! Raising children invites a host of emotions. But he didn't stop there, he also explored why he thinks our kids, and especially teenagers, are attracted to technology and social media.
As a parent, I want to understand this and I think you should too. Take a look.
FULL ARTICLE
Providing Understanding for ParentÕs Experiences Around Their Kids and Technology | | | |
Pornless Porn Star Videos? There's an App for That
9/23/2009
CNET is reporting that Apple has approved the first 2 "Porn Star Apps" for iPhone and iPod Touch. These apps contain porn star related blogs, photos, and videos. What you won't find, however, is letter-of-the-law pornography.
In January we wrote about Apple walking the gratification tightrope when they took down an app that allowed you to enhance certain anatomical components of your own images with simulated 3D, uh, geography. One of the reasons that the Apple Store is being scrutinized in this area, is because they have made efforts to keep the iPhone Apps somewhat respectable. What they haven't done a good job of, however, is clearly defining exactly where the line of "objectionable material" lies.
I don't think these apps make your son or daughter's iPhone/iPod any more or less dangerous as a delivery mechanism for inappropriate material. A savvy (or clumsy) young person can pull up any webpage on the entire Internet via the native web browser on these devices. If you can see a website with your computer, they can see the same site with an iPhone, and probably an iPod Touch. Unless of course you put a content filter, such as SafeEyes Mobile, on it.
The reason I bring this up here, then, is to remind you that these mobile devices are constantly evolving, and it is your responsibility as a parent to keep up with the times to the best of your ability.
FULL ARTICLE:
Apple OKs First Porn Star Apps for the iPhone
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Not Just Kids, But Seniors Too
7/30/2009
Found this interesting about how parents have to teach internet safety to their parents now! Check it out.
"The fastest growing demographic group on Facebook are women over the age of 55," said Debra Berlyn, who runs the Consumer Privacy Awareness Project.
She says the same sort of protections that we always talk about with kids and computers also apply to older adults who go online.
"Our parents today are helping their kids with online safety but they also have to help their parents with online safety," she said. "They're sort of the digital sandwich generation so they're helping their kids and they can also help their parents. If you're older and you're online for the first time, ask your son or daughter to help you figure some of this stuff out." | | | |
E-Trade Baby More Fact Than Fiction?
7/10/2009
A friend shared an article with me over on the InternetSafety.com blog, based on an Associated Press story. A new Nielsen Online study asserts that 9.5 percent of internet users in May (roughly 16 million total) were between the ages of 2-11 years old.
The more things change, the more things change.
Full Article
Life Imitates Art: E-Trade Baby More Fact Than Fiction | | | |
Porn Fetishes and Vomit Are Hilarious. Apparently.
7/2/2009
Microsoft keeps buckling under the weight of a beast known as market share. They want more of it and it appears that they'll stoop pretty low to get it.
They've released a series of new videos for an Internet Explorer 8 ad campaign. The browser looks to be an excellent product and the ads have been doing a terrific job at raising awareness, by means of satire, of certain technological difficulties and human behaviors. This week they released a new ad that raised more than awareness, it raised a few eyebrows as well.
The premise of the video is, "Surf your porn in secret with IE8 so that your significant other doesn't discover your secret sexual fetish and vomit on you."
No, really.
They have retracted the ad which has probably helped drive traffic more than anything else. It should be noted that the feature they are touting, which allows you to surf the internet without an audit trail, is not unique to IE8. Safari, Chrome and Firefox have similar settings. "Private browsing" is here to stay, so check the settings on your family computer and make sure your kids know it is off limits in your home.
FULL ARTICLE:
Microsoft Wishes You Happy Porn Surfing
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Microsoft Responds To Bing Concerns, Falls Flat
6/11/2009
An article in InformationWeek discusses Microsoft's response to the concerns about its new search engine, Bing.com. They are basically still ignoring home users, but they have provided a hack workaround to keep SafeSearch in strict mode for all computers on a corporate network.
Microsoft also has added a tool that lets network managers enforce the SafeSearch mode at the network level. Add "&adlt=strict" to the end of a query "and no matter what the settings are for that session, it will return results as if SafeSearch was set to strict," said Nichols.
I can understand why they would want to fix this. Corporations use server-side web content filters in order to protect themselves from sexual harassment type lawsuits. Where I work, most political sites are also blocked. These sorts of policies help keep the peace.
Nichols said Microsoft may introduce some other tools that help Bing users block explicit content. "We think our current search safety settings are solid, but at Microsoft we are always working on pushing this stuff farther," said Nichols.
I don't think Microsoft necessarily wants to please everybody. They know they need an edge in the marketplace, and I don't blame them. My hope is that a decision-maker there realizes that being considered a trusted, family-friendly resource could be just the edge they're looking for.
FULL ARTICLE
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/search/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217800550
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New Search Engine Bing Circumvents Porn Filters
6/2/2009
Everyone wants to be the new Google, even older, established companies like Microsoft. In that vein, today they launched a new search engine called Bing with a focus on trying to not only match, but also improve upon, the legendary Google search engine.
So far, no cause for alarm. Businesses compete with each other and consumers win.
In its bid to out-best the competition, however, Microsoft has added a really nifty and usable feature that has caused a bit of a digital ruckus. Bing allows you to view videos from other sites without all the hassle and page load time associated with actually making you go to the pages that have the videos on them. In fact, all you have to do is hover over one of the videos in your search results and it starts playing right there on the Bing page.
This is a terrific improvement on reducing unnecessary latency in finding what I'm looking for on the Internet. This is simultaneously a terrific way to cripple most commercial and free parental control software packages that are designed to protect your family.
This is because most of these applications rely on blacklisting Internet addresses. So if your middle school aged son does a search for sex on Google, all he gets are search results with some descriptive text and a link pointing to web sites with sexual content. If he then clicks the link to visit the site and see the videos, your web filter will recognize that the link's address is a known sexual content provider and deny access.
With Bing it's different. Your middle school aged son goes to Bing and searches for sex and the first thing that happens is a message comes back saying THE SEARCH SEX MAY RETURN EXPLICIT ADULT CONTENT. To view these videos, turn off safe search. Not only that, but the words safe search are clickable and if clicked, he is given directions on how to turn off Bing's safe search. Two clicks later, a page full of videos is returned. So far, this is not all that different than other search engines. But here is where Bing diverges from the pack. Because of the new feature, your son doesn't actually have to leave the Bing website to watch the videos. And since he is still on Bing, an approved, white-listed website, your parental control filter never has the opportunity to do its job and block the sexual content. Remember, most filters are triggered on the transition from the search engine to the target site. And this part is skipped.
SOLUTION: If you have young kids in your house and you are trying to keep your computer as family-friendly as possible, simply add bing.com to your Internet filter's blacklist. All major free and commercial packages can do this. Call technical support for your product if you do not know how.
To compound the problem, it also came out that Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 is forcing Bing to be its default search engine. Hopefully you are using a newer version or a different browser entirely.
It should be noted that Microsoft may address this issue in the near future. They have shown that they are keen to address sexual search concerns based on the sensitivity levels of various cultures. For example, Bing works a little differently in India than here in the U.S.
This new feature isn't bad, but it does have an unfortunate side effect. Im hopeful that it will be addressed by either Microsoft, Internet content filters, or both.
Microsofts New Search Engine Puts Porn in Motion
http://tinyurl.com/npkgtr
IE6 Forcing Bing As Default Search Engine
http://tinyurl.com/o5ayy3
Searches Using 'Sex' Or 'Sexual' Are Taboo on Bing in India
http://tinyurl.com/qmtwyu
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Porn Goes Back To Monochromatic Roots With Kindle2
5/14/2009
Before soft core porn was widely distributed on magazine stands, we had the Sears catalog. Remember that? Yeah you do. The lingerie section was replete with glorious, buxom, monochrome beauties. Well I have good (read: bad) news! Monochromatic soft core porn (and more) is back and freely available on the Amazon Kindle.
The Amazon Kindle is an eBook reader that just so happens to come with a free, no-monthly-charge Internet connection on Sprint's EVDO/CDMA network. It comes with a built-in web browser and the display boasts a delicious 16-level grayscale palette.
What once was old is new again.
I've owned a Kindle since February and I absolutely love it. I used to read a lot and now, thanks to this new toy, I'm plowing through books at a ridiculous rate. Taking notes too. And it reads (text to speech) out loud, so I can even "read" books on my commute to work.
But it does have easy access to pornography and no ability to enable parental controls. Granted, surfing porn would be slow, painful, and limited to pics only (no video). But it's worth mentioning because Amazon is now pushing to get textbooks transcribed to eBook format. Who wouldn't want all their textbooks and notes in one small device like this? I know I would.
Bill Gates envisioned a day when every home had a personal computer. It's not a stretch to presume Amazon's Jeff Bezos has similar aspirations concerning the Kindle and your teenager's backpack.
Keep your eyes on this one.
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Vermont: Child Porn Legal For Some, Not Others
4/15/2009
This is a controversial subject.
"Sexting" is the term used to describe when teenagers exchange explicit photos of themselves. Call it what you will, but naked kid pics sounds like the definition of child porn to me. Sexting is illegal in this country and offenders are usually prosecuted under the same laws that prevent adults from creating, distributing, or possessing child pornography.
Some lawmakers in Vermont want to change this. They want to make it legal for teens 18 and under to create and share explicit photos of themselves.
I'm a bit confused as to their logic and the article isn't very helpful in that regard. Maybe they have a good reason but I just can't see how removing consequences solves the root problem. It appears to encourage it instead! Change the consequences to fit the crime or scale the consequences to fit the mental capacity of the perpetrator. These things make sense to me. But a blanket legalization? Please.
Another title for this blog post could be "Teens To Be Further Victimized By Vermont Lawmakers, Each Other".
Our kids are doing this stuff often or lawmakers wouldn't be bothered about it. One statistic from the article said that 18% of female students nationwide have tried sexting. Is your daughter one of them? Stop and think about that a minute. 2 out of 10 girls.
Time's ticking. Get involved.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://wcbstv.com/technology/sexting.vermont.teens.2.983956.html
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Internet Filtering and Accountability For iPhone
2/5/2009
SafeEyes internet content filtering is an excellent product by itself. It is not without its frustrations, but it does do the job of keeping your family safe from adult material. It has been noted repeatedly on this site that while filtering products are available for personal computers, our mobile devices and video game systems are pretty much wide open.
This week, however, InternetSafety.com changes a small part of that. Internet content filtering and accountability come to iPhone and iPod Touch with SafeEyes Mobile.
Some info from the FAQ...
Are there any other products on the market to filter the iPhone and iPod Touch?
No, Safe Eyes Mobile is the first app available for these products. The same award winning technology has been leveraged from Safe Eyes and is available in this user friendly application for your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Can my Safe Eyes account be linked to my Safe Eyes Mobile account?
Yes! If you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch you now can be sure your family has seamless internet filtering while at home or on the go with Safe Eyes Mobile. You will be able to apply your existing settings to the mobile devices. This creates a seamless transition to a filtered Internet. You can rest assured that the same award winning technology in Safe Eyes is also available in Safe Eyes Mobile.
How much does it cost?
There is an introductory cost of $19.99
Company Site
http://www.internetsafety.com/safe-eyes-mobile-iphone.php
SafeEyes Mobile on App Store
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=298505665&mt=8
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90,000 Sex Offenders Purged From MySpace
2/5/2009
New article on Fox News.
RALEIGH, N.C. Ń About 90,000 sex offenders have been identified and removed from the social networking Web site MySpace, company and law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
The number was nearly double what MySpace officials originally estimated last year, said North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who along with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has led efforts to make social networking Web sites safer for young users.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,487486,00.html
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Apple App Store Walks Gratification Tightrope
1/27/2009
A new article on TechCrunch chronicles recent events regarding iPhone and iPod apps that attempt to cash in on our anatomical jiggly bits. Last month Apple banned an application called "Shake a Pair" which tapped into the motion sensor of the iPhone so that users could shake a pair of 3D rendered "baby bottles" (as my 3 year old used to call them).
Good form, Apple! At least until you redesign the App Store to keep age appropriate/inappropriate material separate.
Not longer after, a new app hit the store that uses your own pictures in a similar fashion. It gives you targets to place on a picture so that when you shake your iPod, the targeted areas "wobble." Yes, really. Lucky for us, the app creator made a handy dandy video to illustrate.
Groan.
This time Apple did not ban the application. They merely asked the creator to remove all innuendo from the videos and marketing material. I agree, it is a tough call. Technically the app could be used for innocent amusement.
All this to say, stay in the game, parents! Do your young teen, preteen, or tween kids have an iPhone or iPod Touch? When's the last time you talked to them about what apps are on it? When's the last time you picked it up and looked?
Clearly, this is no time to stick your head in the sand.
FULL ARTICLE:
Boobs and Bootie Banned From the App Store
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Teens Discuss Risky Behaviors On MySpace
1/7/2009
A new article on ScienceDaily reads "Majority Of Teens Discuss Risky Behaviors On MySpace, Studies Conclude".
Shut the front door are you for real? Yes ladies and gents it is now scientifically verified. Teens are discussing risky behaviors on MySpace of all places.
This is actually good news.
The previous concern for our teens has been cyber-stalking and bullying and child predators. And while this stuff still happens online, and offline for that matter, the Internet is becoming a less dangerous place. Kids now-a-days are seeing it as an extension of real life more than an escape from real life. More and more, they only want real friends from school and church to be in their "friends" list on social networks. They are as weary and cautious with online strangers as they are with real ones.
So this latest article is no surprise really. What it is really saying is that teens are discussing risky behaviors on MySpace also. Because if it is discussed on MySpace, it is also discussed in real life. Although our online lives are often a caricature of our real lives, so the study probably sounds more alarmist than it is in reality.
What I liked about this study is that they had a physician create a MySpace profile and contact 500 randomly chosen MySpace users with risky behavior displayed on their profiles. Sort of an "online intervention." Then they came back later and evaluated the profiles to see if the teens changed any of the content. You can read the results yourself below.
So, as usual the remedy is to be involved. Work on your relationship with your teens. Find common ground. Build trust. Then, when important topics of conversation arise, you will have the credibility you need to speak with influence.
If some random stranger claiming to be a doctor can send an email out of the blue to 500 teens and have an effect on their behavior, surely you can too with your own teen(s).
FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090105175317.htm
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YouTube Opens Enhanced Abuse And Safety Center
12/11/2008
YouTube has literally saved my wife and I from the crying hysterics of our 1 yr old on several occasions. When things get really bad and we need backup, we pull out this video and it calms her down every single time.
Furry Happy Monsters
But the truth is, YouTube isn't always a safe place for kids. I have personally witnessed hardcore pornography (read: sexual penetration) on the front page. This is because anyone with an internet connection can upload any video they want, and they often do. It is up to the community at large to report questionable content, and even then it isn't removed immediately. It goes in a queue to be reviewed. Which brings me to a new blog post on TechCrunch today.
YouTube has just launched a new Abuse And Safety Center meant to help make the site as safe as possible for families (YouTube is only meant for ages 13+, but kids still flock to the site in droves).
FULL ARTICLE
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/11/youtube-opens-abuse-and-safety-center/ | | | |
More Sex Videos For All On YouTube
11/12/2008
For those not in the know, Google owns YouTube. Today I learned that Google is changing the way they sell advertising on YouTube and this change will very likely increase the number of sex videos displayed in search results, even when end users (that's you, me, and our kids) aren't specifically searching for sexual content.
Erick Schonfeld of the excellent TechCrunch blog summarizes this much better than I. Check out the full article after the summary.
YouTube has long resisted selling search results, but it has now caved in. Now anyone can promote their YouTube videos for specific search keywords on a pay-per-click basis.
Google likes to pretend that paid search ads can be just as relevant as organic search results. And in the text world that is sometimes true. But when it comes to video, the sex factor gets magnified, and what you end up with half the time are sex videos no matter what the search term happens to be.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/12/more-sex-videos-for-everyone-youtube-sells-video-search-results-to-the-highest-bidder/ | | | |
Study Finds Sexual Content on TV Influential
11/4/2008
A study has been released which analyzes the link between the quantity of sexual content consumed and the number of teen pregnancies. It may seem like common sense that we, as humans, lean towards behaviors that we are constantly exposed to, but it's good to see scientists taking the time to investigate the matter anyway.
This article not specifically about porn but it does seem to indicate that sexual content viewed can manifest into sexual content expressed.
Teen Pregnancy Linked To Viewing Of Sexual Content On TV
ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2008) — Adolescents who have high levels of exposure to television programs that contain sexual content are twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy over the following three years as their peers who watch few such shows, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081103084042.htm | | | |
Porno porno porno porno
10/29/2008
If you have a tween or preteen, today is an excellent day for you to sit down and talk about the word "porno". Chances are your child has heard the word, or even looked it up online.
A new movie is coming out titled Zack and Miri Make a Porno by Kevin Smith. Some advertisements for the film have dropped the "make a porno" part, but some have not. I have seen the movie trailer on TV in my area and it still had "make a porno" in the title.
We are confident at The Porn talk that someone is going to teach your kids about stuff like sex and porn. The conversation is going on in our culture, and it will continue. Don't fear it, join it. You should join the conversation with your kids in a responsible and appropriate manner because you have the most influence and their best interests at heart.
Kevin Smith brings a different "porno" to theaters
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sex was an endless topic of conversation for the characters in director Kevin Smith's 1994 breakthrough hit "Clerks," but in his new movie "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," sex is more than talked about, it's on display.
FULL Article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE49R7UD20081029 | | | |
Girl (15) Faces Child Porn Charges for Self-Nudes
10/8/2008
"It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?" If only dangers were as temporal and geo-local as they used to be. They are not. Our kids are so connected these days that dangers transcend time and location like never before. Talk to your teens and pre-teens, let them know they are valued because of who they are, not because of how they look.
If your kids are mature enough, maybe use the following article to trigger a conversation. Ask them why they think this girl might do something like that.
I can't help but think that maybe the important people in her life weren't validating her for being the beautiful person she is with her clothes on, and so she was seeking that validation in other ways. I've heard it articulated that teens are "acceptance magnets." They can't help but gravitate towards it. Shower them with unconditional acceptance and it will diminish the attraction when someone tries to shower them with conditional acceptance.
15-Year-Old Girl Faces Child Porn Charges for Nude Cell Phone Pictures of Herself
NEWARK, Ohio — Central Ohio authorities have filed felony charges against a 15-year-old girl accused of taking nude cell phone photos of herself and sending them to high school classmates.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,434645,00.html
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Senate to Conduct Advanced Blocking Study
10/6/2008
The United States Senate has unanimously passed a bill that requires the Federal Communications Commission to explore what advanced blocking technologies are available to parents to help filter out indecent or objectionable programming. The Child Safe Viewing Act (S 602) was sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor, Democrat of Arkansas.
"With over 500 channels and video streaming, parents could use a little help monitoring what their kids watch when they are not in the room," Pryor said in a press statement following the passage on Wednesday. "Today’s technology to protect children from indecency goes above and beyond the capabilities of the V-Chip. It’s time for the FCC to take a fresh look at how the market can empower parents with more tools to choose appropriate programming for their children."
FULL ARTICLE:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081005-senate-wants-fcc-to-conduct-advanced-blocking-study.html
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Project Space Porn: Denied
10/3/2008
The private company planning to take wealthy tourists to the edge of the atmosphere starting in late 2009 or early 2010 has refused a million-dollar proposal to film a sex video while the participants are floating gravity free, the company's president said.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26991760/ | | | |
Google Chrome: Secret Porn Surfing Just Got Easier
9/2/2008
Today Google announced a new browser called Chrome which competes with Internet Explorer, Fire Fox, Opera, Safari, etc.
On the plus side, this product looks like it will make significant strides towards a faster, safer and more secure Internet experience by improving page rendering times and making it more difficult for phishers and malware companies to get access to your private information.
On the down side, one of the new features not only does an excellent job keeping my private data private, but it also makes it a breeze for me to surf porn without leaving any history trail what-so-ever. The feature is called surfing "incognito". Here is Google's description of the feature:
"You've gone incognito. Pages you view in this window won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however."
Chrome was literally released moments ago, so not much is known about it at this time. I don't know if existing web content filters will work with it or not, consult the product home page for your specific family web filter.
This product looks very promising, but as with all new technology, be sure to understand the good and bad before adopting it.
MORE INFO:
http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?answer=95464&hl=en-US | | | |
OpenDNS: Block Porn on iPod Touch, Wii, PSP, Etc..
8/28/2008
The problem with internet content filters these days, is that they need to be created, from scratch often times, for each device. A PC-based filter cannot run on a Mac for example, unless the company develops a specific version for each.
As we've been saying around here for a long time, today's homes have various wifi-enabled devices. It's not just computers anymore. Included are game systems such as XBox360, Playstation 3 and PSP, Nintendo Wii and NintendoDS, iPod Touch, and on and on.
Well I recently discovered a free service that allows you to filter web content (aka BLOCK PORN) for all devices in your house and it is called OpenDNS (http://opendns.com).
The down side is that it is a bit complicated to setup. But once you have it configured you will know that your kids, and your neighbor that steals your wifi, will be safe from surfing mature content.
It's free and it covers all devices in your home. What's not to love? | | | |
Another School Year
8/23/2008
Another school year has begun. Carpools and PTA meetings and recitals and sports/band practice and clubs. It's easy to get buried underneath it all and let the important issues go unaddressed.
The end of August is approaching and we will enter the final quarter of 2008. Please don't let another year pass without taking the time to talk to your teenage son or daughter about porn. Be honest, be transparent, and be willing to make that connection with them no matter how awkward it may be at first.
Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders are talking about it to your kids. Shouldn't you be willing to do the same? | | | |
New Study: Abstinence Programs Have Weak Effect
8/9/2008
New research released by the University of Washington asserts that parents and teens are not communicating effectively to each other. Shocking, I know. The study says that parents and teens define abstinence differently. The parents treat "abstinence and sexual activity as opposites," while the teenagers do not consider them opposites.
Communication is critical, and it's your job as a parent to clear things up. Talk to your teen. If you are trying to encourage abstinence in your family, make sure to clearly define it. Don't just assume that your teen's version of abstinence is the same as yours. They are immersed in a culture that is telling them, louder and more often than you, that sex is intercourse and everything else is fair game. They are constantly bombarded with the message that a person can be sexually abstinent and at the same time engage in everything save sexual intercourse.
The author of the article at Science Daily goes a bit off topic and blasts our "Abstinence-Only" government funded programs. Please don't be distracted from the important findings of the study: that we need to communicate better with our teens. And better communication starts with us as parents.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080806152436.htm
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The Sexualized Childhood
8/6/2008
MSN.com has an article discussing a new book titled So Sexy So Soon.
There is a lot going on in children’s lives around issues of sexuality and sexiness that is important for the caring adults in their lives to recognize. The following stories from parents and teachers make it very clear that if we are to understand and deal with the sexualization of childhood, we must begin our efforts with very young children.
They also have a poll you can participate in.
At what age should you talk to your kids about sex?
ARTICLE:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26037851?GT1=43001
POLL:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26044418/
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U.S. ISPs Announce Anti-Child-Porn Agreement
7/18/2008
A large group of internet providers (aka ISPs), such as cable companies, have collaborated with state 45 attornys general to make efforts towards stifling distribution of child pornography.
Specifically, the cable companies have agreed to use NCMEC's list of active websites identified as containing child pornography, to ensure that no such site is hosted on servers owned or controlled by those companies. The companies will also report these instances to NCMEC's CyberTipline and where appropriate revise their policies around other potential sources of child pornography, such as, for example, newsgroups.
What this means is that an organization has been formed to keep a master list of websites to block, and all ISPs have agreed to block access for any site on the list, for all of their customers.
This is controversial in "freedom of speech" circles, because it is, at its core, censorship. Not government-to-citizen censorship, but corporation-to-consumer censorship.
Here are the companies that have chosen to follow the agreement.
The cable operators that have agreed to execute the MOU within 30 days include: Comcast Corporation; Cox Communications; Charter Communications; Cablevision Systems Corporation; Bright House Networks; Suddenlink Communications; Mediacom Communications; Insight Communications; Bresnan Communications; Midcontinent Communications; Broadstripe; GCI; Harron Communications; US Cable Corporation; BendBroadband; Eagle Communications; and Sjoberg’s, Inc. Time Warner Cable has already signed the MOU.
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.slyck.com/story1715_ISPs_Nationwide_Unite_in_Attack_against_Exploitation
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Talking Parents, Healthy Teens
7/14/2008
A new study released in the British Medical Journal supports something that we've been saying around here for quite a while. When parents learn how to communicate effectively, teens will be influenced.
The study, published online by the British Medical Journal on July 11 with an accompanying editorial, evaluated a parenting program called Talking Parents, Healthy Teens. The worksite-based program teaches parents how to get past their own inhibitions and fears of making a mistake, and how to maneuver around classic teenage shrugs and "uh huh" responses.
... snip ...
Parents .. attended eight weekly lunch-hour sessions. Through role-playing and other interactive exercises, they learned techniques for starting and sustaining conversations on sensitive sex-related topics, including recognizing teaching opportunities in everyday situations, using creative opening lines, and identifying their teenage children's conversational roadblocks. Through the approach of "active listening," parents were taught to listen to their children without interrupting or starting to lecture. They also learned how to teach their children decision-making skills, assertiveness skills, and to have confidence in interacting with peers.
Our culture today provides a cornucopia of "teachable opportunities" if we can simply recognize them and move past our hesitancy. But don't forget that being a good listener is just as important to a great discussion as being a good contributor. In fact, in the beginning I would probably lean harder in the direction of listening than speaking. This will provide a relational foundation qualified to support the more difficult conversations that come with increased trust.
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080710193711.htm | | | |
Boy Breaks Into Home, Orders $100 Worth Of Porn
7/3/2008
9:06 am EDT July 2, 2008
PALM BAY, Fla. -- A 14-year-old boy broke into a Central Florida home and ordered more than $100 worth of porn movies on the family's television, police said.
FULL STORY:
http://www.local6.com/news/16767927/detail.html | | | |
When A Child Receives Gifts
7/2/2008
Here is a quick tip for parents.
Every parent should be cautious of their child getting unknown gifts or products from online stores. If something shows up at your house that you did not help your child purchase, this is a warning sign.
Why you ask? Often online predators will reward children with gift certificates to online stores. This technique is part of the grooming process and is used to help establish good will with your child.
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Warning Signs For Easy Prey
6/24/2008
While 71 percent of parents think their children's Internet surfing is for academic purposes, according to NetAlert, only 23 percent of teens confirm such. They're busy doing other things online.
Almost all unwanted sexual solicitations involving teens take place in a chat room or via instant messaging. The child who makes for easy prey is the one who ...
Is vulnerable, depressed, feeling isolated, and lonely. Feels disconnected from you, the parent. Is emotionally or intellectually lagging in maturity. Has poor grades. Has been the victim of prior sexual abuse. | | | |
Gov't tries to revive Web porn law called outdated
6/12/2008
Government lawyers tried Tuesday to revive a 1998 law designed to keep online pornography from children, amid questions that it is significantly outdated and blocks too much legal speech while having no effect on content posted from overseas.
Whether you believe in censoring Internet porn or whether you are against censorship of porn, one thing remains true. You, the parent, have the potential to be the biggest influence in whether or not your kids view porn. And I'm not talking about getting out and calling your local politicians, either. You personally, as a parent, hold the potential to be more influential to your kids than any law written in any law book.
All it takes is a little face to face communication. We've done our best to provide helpful resources here from the podcast to the articles. Yes, it's going to be difficult. Yes it's going to be a bit awkward. But please please please make it a habit.
Habits are easy. Second nature. Comfortable. Not all habits start out that way, some take work up front. But we believe that you can get to a place where talking to your kids about sexual issues and porn can be easy. And natural. And comfortable. All it will take is for you to invest time into them. Whether they know how to express it or not, they want this from you.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INTERNET_BLOCKING?SITE=AP | | | |
Parental Controls on iPhone 2.0
6/9/2008
I'm following a live blog feed of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference 2008 Keynote and they announced the iPhone 2.0. Details are vague, but one of the touted new features is "Parental Controls." This is good news and hopefully more mobile devices will follow suit! More details as we get them. | | | |
7 Signs of Porn Addiction
5/27/2008
Fox news "Sexpert" Yvonne K. Fulbrigh has an article describing 7 Ways to Tell If You Are Addicted to Porn. The text of the article is clearly aimed at adults, and not teens.
It is important, as parents, to be reminded of how the future of our sons and daughters could look if we clam up and refuse to talk to them about the issue of porn. So as you read the article, ask yourself if it is worth the hassle, the awkwardness, and the stress surrounding just sitting down and speaking your heart to your teens. I have two daughters myself and as they grow I want to do everything possible to inspire and guide them away from the behaviors, habits, and scars that pornography introduces and feeds.
7 Ways to Tell If You Are Addicted to Porn
Author’s note: This is not an article on whether or not erotica is morally wrong. It is not an article on whether porn use is an addiction
FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357323,00.html
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MySpace Tragedy
5/18/2008
Lori Drew, 49, created a MySpace account to convince her neighbor 13 year old Megan Meier, that she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. After building a relationship online with the 13 year old, Lori(pretending to be Josh) began sending cruel messages including one stating “the world would be better off without her.”
Megan was being treated for attention deficit disorder and depression at the time (which Lori knew.) But that didn’t stop her from perpetrating this cruelty. And because of Lori(Josh) cyber-bullyinging, Megan hung herself. Yesterday, Lori was charged with a crime because of her actions.
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Scribd Says Money Not in Hosting Porn
5/18/2008
Scribd, the “YouTube for documents”, has announced that it will be removing all pornographic material from the site beginning May 21.
Here’s the announcement from the site’s blog:
Over the next month, we will be updating Scribd’s Terms of Service to prohibit pornographic documents and images. It’s become clear that adult content is limiting Scribd’s usefulness to educators, parents, students, and publishers - exactly the types of users that benefit the most from our site and services.
Starting today, there will be a one week grace period to allow users with adult content on Scribd to download it to their local computer before it is removed from the website.
Full Article:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/17/scribd-goes-straight-bans-porn/ | | | |
Tracking Risky Teen Behavior Using Cell Phones
5/16/2008
"... the GPS data revealed that they were spending more time away from home, school and surrounding areas than anticipated. Learning that we were able to track their movement is important because previous studies which have looked at the effect of environment on teens have focused only on home, school and surrounding areas," said Sarah Wiehe, M.D., M.P.H.,
"A person's environment in some way influences or is at least associated with their health and health outcomes and in the case of adolescents their health behaviors."
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080324100045.htm | | | |
Marketing To Children
5/12/2008
A study released today from Consumer Reports Webwatch and the Mediatech Foundation, found that childrens’ websites are not doing a good enough job disclosing their advertising and marketing tactics to parents.
Parents involved in the study kept video journals which documented families’ frustrations with game websites and virtual worlds that draw kids into games and require a purchase to continue playing, among other things. I’d be surprised if some of those scenarios haven’t already been played out in your home.
Click here to read more. | | | |
Teens Trade Nude Photos Via Cell
4/14/2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Forget about passing notes in study hall; some teens are now using their cell phones to flirt and send nude pictures of themselves.
The instant text, picture and video messages have become part of some teens' courtship behavior, police and school officials said.
"I've seen everything from your basic striptease to sexual acts being performed," said Reynoldsburg police Detective Brian Marvin, a member of the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force of Central Ohio. "You name it, they will do it at their home under this perceived anonymity." | | | |
IKeepSafe.org
3/30/2008
IKeepSafe.org's mission is to give parents, educators, and policy makers the information and tools that empower them to teach children the safe and healthy use of technology and the Internet.
This is a great website that we recommend to help parents and kids.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT IKEEPSAFE.ORG | | | |
Miss Bimbo Internet Site
3/25/2008
A Web site that encourages girls as young as 9 to embrace plastic surgery and extreme dieting in the search for the perfect figure was condemned as lethal by British parents' groups.
The "Miss Bimbo" Internet game has attracted prepubescent girls who are told to buy their virtual characters breast-enlargement surgery and to keep them "waif thin" with diet pills.
The site is aimed at girls aged from 9 to 16, has attracted 200,000 members. | | | |
Good Time To Talk
3/8/2008
So when is a good time to talk to your child about porn and internet dangers? I found a great qoute from Mother Teresa that I think sums it up pretty well.
"Yesterday is gone. Tommorow has not yet come. We have only today. So let us begin."
Talk to your kids today.
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MySpace Doesn't Increase Victimization Risk?
3/2/2008
Here is a snippet from a new article.
Most Internet Sex Offenders Aim At Teens, Not Young Children, Study Shows
For example, in spite of public concern, the authors found that adolescents' use of popular social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook do not appear to increase their risk of being victimized by online predators. Rather, it is risky online interactions such as talking online about sex to unknown people that increases vulnerability, according to the researchers.
"Most Internet-initiated sex crimes involve adult men who are open about their interest in sex," Wolak said. "The offenders use instant messages, e-mail and chat rooms to meet and develop intimate relationships with their victims. In most of the cases, the victims are aware that they are talking online with adults."
Full Article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218185101.htm
This is good news! It indicates that teens are getting wiser about online safety, especially on the popular social networking websites. But teens can and do roam beyond these sites. The more a teen experiments with online porn, the more likely it is he or she will be exposed to online porn-centered communities, forums, and chat rooms. Logically, any teen involved in communities like these is engaging in "risky online interactions such as talking online about sex to unknown people" which the article concludes "increases vulnerability."
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Social Networks More Popular Than Porn
2/16/2008
New research from Hitwise has found that social networking sites dominate web traffic from college students. Blogs and email services also rank very high. Researchers found that traffic to porn sites from 18-24 year olds saw a 33% decline over the last two years.
The researchers concluded that as twenty somethings become more interested in social networking, they become less interested in online pornography.
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Cyber Bullying
2/8/2008
The charity Childnet International has recently produced a video on cyber-bullying to show how the internet and digital technology can take an existing problem and multiply it a hundred times.
Stephen Carrick-Davies, head of Childnet International, says: "It really does wreck children's lives.
"Bullying itself is bad enough. When you've got cyber-bullying, which actually extends because there is 24/7 [and'> lack of closure.
"With the tools that they now have - wonderful, engaging, creative tools like social networking, like mobile phone technology, like instant messaging - they can also hurt and cause distress and abuse other children and young people," he adds. | | | |
Online Parent-Child Gap Widens
2/5/2008
A new study by Dafna Lemish from the Department of Communication at Tel Aviv University has found that there is an enormous gap between what parents think their children are doing online and what is really happening. 'The data tell us that parents don't know what their kids are doing,' says Lemish.
The study found that 30% of children between the ages of 9 and 18 delete the search history from their browsers in an attempt to protect their privacy from their parents, that 73% of the children reported giving out personal information online while the parents of the same children believed that only 4% of their children did so, and that 36% of the children admitted to meeting with a stranger they had met online while fewer than 9% of the parents knew that their children had been engaging in such risky behavior. Lemish advises that parents should give their children the tools to be literate Internet users and most importantly, to talk to their children. 'The child needs similar tools that teach them to be wary of dangers in the park, the mall or wherever. The same rules in the real world apply online as well.'
Keep in mind the study was done by Tel Aviv University, therefore it is likely the parents and children surveyed were predominantly european and culture rules apply. For example, "In one part of the study, Prof. Lemish surveyed over 500 Jewish and Arab children from a variety of ages and socio-economic backgrounds." But it also states, "Prof. Lemish suspects that this gap is wider in the U.S., where children from middle-class backgrounds have more opportunity to surf online privately."
ARTICLE:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204143203.htm
HAT TIP:
http://slashdot.org/articles/08/02/05/0212254.shtml
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Students Play Video Games To Learn Safety
1/11/2008
Utah students will be playing video games to learn about Web safety. Students at 75 Utah public schools will be playing these video games to learn a thing or two about their own safety. Web Wise Kids, a new pilot program sponsored by the Entertainment Software Association will train teachers and hand out Internet safety computer games. ESA sponsored the $75,000 pilot. The games are targeted for junior and senior high schools. They include interactive simulations based on real criminal cases that students help solve. | | | |
New IPod Touch Has Internet
12/31/2007
First off, we hope you had a very Merry Christmas and perhaps Santa brought one of Apple's cool IPods. One feature that parents should be aware of with this next generation of IPod's is its ability to access the internet through Wi-Fi. It has a built in browser(Safari) and can connect to an open Wi-Fi network. This is a great feature but parents should be aware of this capability and take the wise steps to monitor and set expectations for this piece of technology.
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Airborne Internet May Cause Turbulence
12/29/2007
NEW YORK (AP) — Seat 17D is yapping endlessly on an Internet phone call. Seat 16F is flaming Seat 16D with expletive-laden chats. Seat 16E is too busy surfing porn sites to care. Seat 17C just wants to sleep.
Welcome to the promise of the Internet at 33,000 feet — and the questions of etiquette, openness and free speech that airlines and service providers will have to grapple with as they bring Internet access to the skies in the coming months. Vint Cerf says, "Airlines have to be sensitive to the fact that customers are (seated) close together and may be able to see each other's PC screens. More to the point, young people are often aboard the plane."
Steve Jones, a professor who specializes in Internet studies, said passengers and flight crews would need to undergo "the kinds of learning the ropes and learning the etiquette anytime we put new technology in new settings." | | | |
Sex Ed
11/27/2007
The Taipei Times reports that curious children and young adults can often be misguided by pornographic material if there is not enough adequate sex education to provide them with accurate information on the topic.
Through a survey of 3,614 children and young adults from elementary school to college age, 65.4 percent said they had viewed or read materials with sexual content, such as pornographic films, pictures, comics, computer games or Web sites.
"Most of the students surveyed cited curiosity as one of the reasons why they viewed such materials," Kao said. | | | |
Second Life: Wonderland
11/2/2007
Britain's Sky News TV channel on Tuesday uncovered a virtual playground hidden away behind a strip mall in "Second Life" — a playground where little girls who looked about 10 years old offered the Sky reporter's avatar, or virtual representative, a variety of sex acts.
Sky reported the playground, called "Wonderland" in possible reference to an Internet child-porn ring broken up in 1998, to British authorities.
But Linden Lab, the San Francisco-based creator and operator of "Second Life," doesn't plan to take any action for now against the non-age-specific sex playground.
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New Research on Parents Feelings About Web
10/27/2007
The Orlando Sentinel reports as kids spend more time online, doing everything from chatting with friends to researching homework, parents are struggling with how big a role the Internet should play in their children's lives.
A study released this week says the number of parents who think the Internet is beneficial for their children declined from 67% to 59% between 2004 and 2006, according to the study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. But most other parents don't see it as a bad influence, either: 30% say the Internet has no effect on their children, up from 25% in 2004.
"We have more of a gray view of technology than we did in the past," said Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist with Pew. "It's not this fabulous and wonderful thing that will make your child get straight A's and improve 16 different aspects of your life. As you grow to know it, you realize where its power lies and what its frustrations are."
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A Blog To Help Parents Understand Cells
9/12/2007
We here at The Porn Talk think one of the requirements of being an effective parent is to understand the technology that your child is using. We found a great blog that is dedicated to parenting and cell phones.
As mentioned before in previous posts, kids and teens are using cell phones for a lot of things these days. This blog will help just get all the necessary facts and trends on what is going on with this technology.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT WWW.KIDSANDMOBILEPHONES.COM
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New Updates
9/7/2007
We just made some new updates to the site today. Make sure to check out our new "porn in the pocket" section dealing with cell phones and porn.
A large proportion of new mobile phones have web access, and more recently - mobile TV has been launched. This means that young people can access content from the internet and TV wherever they are, and without parental or teacher supervision.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
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Teens Text. They Don't Email.
7/25/2007
Read this tonight on Yahoo. We've heard about how email is yesterday's communication for today's teens before, but here are some pretty compelling comments from young entrepreneurs at the center of teen online life about how teens use tech to communicate. They're from Cnet's Stephanie Olsen's report from the YPulse Mashup 2007 conference in San Francisco.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY | | | |
ThePornTalk In Atlanta And Denver
7/20/2007
This weekend Mike will be speaking at Stoncreek Church in Atlanta at their main services. We will be talking about porn, parenting, and how to have healthy conversations with your kids about pornography and the internet. It should be an amazing time. Mike will also be heading out to Denver to Southeast Christian Church to speak at their services the first weekend in August. For more information on ThePornTalk speakers, email us at Booking@ThePornTalk.com | | | |
"Friend Requests" In MySpace
7/17/2007
Makayla and Beryl have just requested to be my friend through my MySpace account. They have also requested that I look at their nude photos of them too. Out of the last 5 "friend" requests I have received through this MySpace account, 3 of them have been girls promoting their porn pictures and them wanting me to see them.
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Web Site for Teenagers Has X-Rated Link
7/11/2007
According to the New York Times, parent and child safety experts concerned about the online activities of teenagers have been particularly nervous about a Web site called Stickam, which allows its 600,000 registered users, age 14 and older, to participate in unfiltered live video chats using their Web cameras.
Alex Becker, a former vice president of Stickam.com, accuses the Web site of being a pornographic trap for teenage users. But those Internet safety advocates might be even more anxious if they knew of Stickam’s close ties to a large online pornography business.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE STORY | | | |
Porn And Pizza
7/2/2007
Well if getting porn wasn't easy enough, a new pizza joint is helping bring pornography to the masses. According to CNEWS, local entrepreneur Corey Wildeman has launched Porno Pizza, a delivery-only pizza business that places pornography where you would usually find only cardboard -- under the pizza.
Corey said when describing the photos, "It runs the full gamut. There are some that are very Playboy-esque and others which Larry Flynt would blush at."
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY.
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Glubble: A Safe Browser Plug In
6/25/2007
Chris sent this over and thought we would pass it along. A great program to have if you are using Firefox as your browser. Here is some info on it:
Glaxstar's new startup, Glubble, is making the internet kid friendly by child proofing the browser.
Glubble is a Firefox plugin (3.8 MB) that allows parents to control a white list of which domains their kids can visit. The service is seeded with a list of 350 approved properties for domains like Disney.com or Nickelodeon, but parents can add new domains or individual links and even combine their lists with those of other parents.
The service isn't meant for older kids who can just load up Internet Explorer or know how to edit Firefoxe's plugin folder. It's meant for children under 12 who are still at the "holding hands" phase.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE | | | |
Barbie Porn
6/13/2007
We got this email and wanted to share it with all of you. We responded to this email but do you have any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi there,
I have a 7 year old daughter who likes to play on Barbie.com. One day I had come back in and got on the computer after (child's name) had been playing on Barbie.com. There were tons of pop ups for sex/cartoon porn and other sorts. I talked to her about it and she said she had left the computer before that had popped up and she didn’t even notice it.
So maybe a couple of days later again, she was on the same site. I walked up on her and noticed she was watching cartoon porn. She didn’t know how she had got there, she couldn’t back track the steps, but I cannot believe what she saw. Even though I put on the parental control, because it was cartoons, it didn’t block it. So now I have to block every single site with a password and approve it as she plays. Do you have suggestions or know how/why the porn got there?
And why on Barbie.com? It just disgusts me.
I will read more on your website for suggestions on how to talk to her about this sort of thing. | | | |
Girls At Risk To Being Lured Online
5/30/2007
According to the Times Online, John Carr, an adviser on online safety said that girls are particulary at risk online. “The most vulnerable group are girls between the ages of 12 and 15 who are going through puberty and becoming interested in boys and relationships,” he said. “You only need to listen to the news to see how common it is for girls to be lured into meetings.”
Most recently Jade Powell, a 14-year-old girl from Chelten-ham, went missing with an 18-year-old man she met on the internet. She was found safe and well five days later. Another study, conducted last year by Webwise, found that 27 percent of teenagers had encountered someone online who asked for personal information, such as a telephone number, while 23 percent had received unwanted sexual advances. | | | |
MySpace Hands Over Sex Offender Info
5/28/2007
According to FOXNEWS, MySpace.com said Monday it will release data on registered sex offenders it has identified and removed from the popular social networking Web site.
The company, citing federal privacy laws, initially rebuffed a demand from North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and colleagues in seven other states who last week asked for data on how many registered sex offenders are using the site and where they live.
MySpace agreed Monday to provide the information to all states after some members of the group filed subpoenas or took other legal actions to demand it.
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Parents Taught About Online Safety At Work
5/17/2007
We thought this was a pretty cool thing. Apparently, working parents are being taught about kids and cyber safety at their workplace. According to CTV, this new program is giving busy parents a chance to pick up cyber-safety tools at the office to better understand what their kids are doing online and how to protect them from potential dangers.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM | | | |
Second Life Child Abuse Claim
5/17/2007
According to the BBC News Online, Second Life is being investigated by German police following allegations that some members are trading child abuse images in the online world. The investigation follows a report by a German TV news programme which uncovered the trading group and members who pay for sex with virtual children.
The police are now trying to identify the Second Life members involved. Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, said it would help identify users and pass on details to prosecutors. | | | |
Porn On The Disney Channel?
5/5/2007
It's hard to believe something like this could happen but it did. Chris sent this story over from FOXNEWS. They reported that cable giant Comcast is currently investigating how hardcore pornography was broadcast during a popular cartoon program on the Disney Channel.
Customer Paul Dunleavy would also like to know. He was stunned Tuesday morning to find his 5-year-old son watching porn on the channel that should have beein playing kids programs. "It was two people doing their thing, it was full-on and it was disgusting," the Middletown father of three told The New York Daily News for Wednesday newspapers.
Comcast has apologized and said the error was due to some technical problem.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY | | | |
A Good Dose Of Teen Reality
5/3/2007
The findings from a University of New Hampshire study are startling but true. They interviewed 1500 pre-teens and teens and found:
+71% reported receiving messages online from someone they don’t know.
+45% have been asked for personal information by someone they don’t know.
+By the age of 12 most boys and more than half of teenage girls have looked at pornography - with most admitting they got ideas from it.
+14% have actually met a person face-to-face they they’ve only spoken to over the Internet (9% of 13-15s; 22% of 16-17s)
+33% of 13- to- 17-year-olds reported that their parents or guardians know “very little” or “nothing” about what they do on the Internet.
+A third of girls and 40 per cent of boys had had phone sex, while 70 per cent of both had received sexual text messages.
So do you think its time to have a serious conversation with your child about these important issues? We think so. | | | |
The Porn Tax
4/24/2007
Porn star Marey Carey, who ran for governor in 2003, returned to Sacramento in opposition to the porn tax bill. The adult entertainment impact fund sponsored by Whittier Democratic Assemblyman Charles Calderon would increase the tax money from adult media and any live shows.
Carey argues that the tax will just push business away. Carey, while in opposition, makes several arguments that would benefit those against the bill.
"People are just going to get it from other places," Carey said. "If there is a tax here, they'll just order more online or from other countries and that's not going to benefit California in any way."
Calderon insists that the bill is targeted at balancing the state budget and not balancing morals. | | | |
ThePornTalk In Springfield,IL
4/21/2007
Mike will be headed to Springfield, IL this weekend to speak about porn, parenting, purity, and we are sure some other letter "P" words too. He will be at a church down there sharing insights on these important topics at their services.
And one final thought, isn't Springfield where Bart Simpson lives? Or maybe that's another place :)
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Easy Access To Mobile Web
4/18/2007
We got this email from Matt. We thought we would pass along this great information. Thanks Matt.
I was listening to a few of your podcasts and reading your section on "How Kids get Porn" and was reminded of the access that cell phones with mobile web can provide. While some parents may be aware of that, and believe they can prevent that by not subscribing to the web service for their child/young adult's cell phone, they may not be aware that is possible to gain access to the web without paying for it through the service carrier (verizon, cingular, etc).
There are providers that offer access to mobile web through their own proxy servers at a substantial discount (only $12/year, very affordable for young people.) Step-by-step instructions are provided in an email and takes very little technical know-how for programming the phone. The discounted service is merely provided as alternate to the "overpriced" service provider's pricing, but the possibility of gaining mobile web access is possible without a parent ever knowing would be easy to do. | | | |
Girls Gone Wild Goes To Jail
4/11/2007
According to the Smoking Gun Website, Joe Francis, the "Girls Gone Wild" founder, was indicted today on federal tax evasion charges for illegally deducting more than $20 million in phony business expenses from his 2002 and 2003 corporate tax returns. According to a two count indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Reno, Nevada, Francis, 34, sought to conceal income through the use of offshore companies and nominees. At one point, he transferred $15 million from one offshore bank account to a California brokerage account in the name of a Cayman Islands corporation he controlled.
Francis was arrested yesterday on an unrelated federal warrant stemming from a civil lawsuit brought against him by seven underage women who were filmed by "Girls Gone Wild" cameramen in Florida in 2003. The contempt citation was issued after Francis rebuffed a judge's order to settle the case with the aid of a mediator. | | | |
Child Online Protection Act Violates Free Speech?
4/6/2007
Marylee Shrider writes that "it happened again last week when a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled the 1998 Children's Online Protection Act -- a law that would impose prison time and fines on porn peddlers who don't require adult-access codes or credit cards to access their Web sites -- violates the pornographer's First Amendment right to free speech."
"Porn magazines sold in convenience stores are kept behind the counter, television networks aren't yet allowed to air graphic sex and violence during the dinner hour and Janet Jackson can't, without consequence, bare her breast during the Super Bowl.So what makes the Internet so sacred, porn so accepted?" The courts once again show their ignorance of the internet and what is really going on. | | | |
Interview With ThePornTalk.com
3/23/2007
We thought we would link an interview that we did for the Christian Standard. It covers a lot of the big questions of what were doing here and what we are trying to accomplish. Also, big thanks to Brad for conducting such a fine interview.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW | | | |
A Great Resource:TheFight.com.au
3/20/2007
We got this really kind email this morning from a ministry in Australia. It's called Roundabout Ministries and its about helping young people, youth ministries and churches talk and deal with issues related to sexuality in a healthy and positive way. They have a specific focus in areas of same-sex attraction, sexual addictions & pornography. Make sure to check it out.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT WWW.THEFIGHT.COM.AU
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Second Life Video Clip
3/17/2007
Kristen Powers from FoxNews did a great report exploring the world of Second Life. If you're a parent and don't know much about the world of Second Life this will be a great introduction to some of the potential dangers. We have included this news report in ThePornTalk Video Player located on the right. Just click on the video called "Fox News On Second Life" to hear her report. It's a real eye opener. | | | |
New PornTalk Graphic Downloads
3/16/2007
We just added some new graphics to ThePornTalk.com downloads page. Wallpapers, banner ads, and other goodies are now available. Put them on your computer screens and blog postings and help spread the love of ThePornTalk.com. Thanks.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE DOWNLOADS PAGE | | | |
Field Trip
3/12/2007
For those who believe that we may be alarmists concerning children and their exposure to explicit and very sexual material, listen up. This weekend I went on a field trip. This weekend I went into a chat room.
Getting into a chat room is easy enough. Most times a user name is all that is required and then you gain access to a multitude of chat rooms. And some require a little more involvement and request that you create an account, which usually requires an email account and a sex. Either way, both thresholds are easy enough to complete.
Once I chose my user name, a neutral spin-off of my favorite band, I then got to choose from a lengthy list of chat rooms. The names of the chat rooms encompassed everything from “Singles” to “The Back Seat,” and had up to a hundred people on it. The minute I entered the chat I noticed the unusual user names of the other people in the chat. Most everyone talking claimed to be anywhere between 13 and 20, and I realized that their user names where more of an advertisement than anything else, with many advertised their age, sex, sexual preference and their physical…attributes.
Within 2 minutes of entering the room, there was a couple who had just met having cyber sex. Cyber sex is virtual sex, which is essentially verbal sex. While this was going on I received several private messages, where a window pops up and allows users to talk to each other where nobody in the chat room can see. The customary greeting is asl (Age, Sex, Location), and after I replied, the immediate question from “DadsTastyGirl” was what I looked like. Feeling like this message was going south; I closed the window and was greeted by another one by another user shortly after.
This time they asked if I wanted to “cyber.”
When asked what chat rooms they go to, they swear they go to their school chat room or a Christian chat, all seemingly safe and innocent. The truth is there are no “School chats,” and if there are Christian chats, they are the black sheep of the rest of the chat rooms, usually containing few or no members while “The Back Seat” contains 140.
Please don’t take my word for it. Parents, this weekend go on a field trip. | | | |
Casual Sex Damage?
3/10/2007
"Unhooked" is a new book that is receiving quite a bit of attention and criticism. The book focuses on the changing perspectives and mores of young women towards casual sex or "hooking up". At the center of the buzz is author Laura Sessions Stepp's conclusion "that hookups can be damaging to young women, denying their emotional needs, putting them at risk of depression and even sexually transmitted disease, and making them ill-equipped for real relationships later on." Ms. Stepp's concern centers on the decrease among women in their teens and 20's of having meaningful connection rather than an exchange of sexual favors with men they barely know. Here at theporntalk.com an underlying premise is the importance of how intimacy is shared, learned, perceived and understood in child and teen development. I wonder how much of this decline in meaningful connection being the foundation of sexual intimacy is truly affected by our hesitancy or difficulty in talking with our kids about the aspects of dating, casual sex, porn, and broken hearts? Ms. Stepp may be onto something here.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
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Man Sues Over Porn Stash Security
3/6/2007
Over at Gizmodo, Louis Ramirez writes that a Connecticut man who was jailed on illegal gun possession is now suing Microsoft, HP, and Circuit City claiming all three companies failed to keep his computer safe from the Feds, who uncovered his porn collection after seizing and cracking into his password-protected PC. Michael Alan Crooker is seeking $200,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, saying MS' Internet Explorer failed to delete his browsing history, which was easily traced back to various porn sites.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE GIZMODO ARTICLE | | | |
ThePornTalk.com Website Wins Best In Show
3/2/2007
Tonight at the 2007 Addy Awards, ThePornTalk.com website took home the top honor of "Best In Show" for Web/Interactive Media. This is an amazing recognition as the Addys are the worlds largest and toughest advertising competition. A huge congratulations is due to the stellar web design team and the many volunteers who worked on ThePornTalk.com from Plain Joe Studios and Ethur. They have done an amazing job on this project.
Also, thanks to Randy, Paula, and Simon for voting for this work. O wait. Wrong show. | | | |
LifeHacker.com And ScrubIT
3/1/2007
Ferebee sent over a write up by Rick Broida over at LifeHacker.com. He reviews a new blocker called ScrubIT. Broida writes:
"Worried about unwanted porn in the home or workplace? ScrubIT promises to block that stuff (and more) at the server level. All you do is configure your router to use ScrubIT's DNS servers. Alternately, Windows 2000/XP users can download a utility that tweaks the networking settings accordingly. When you're done, any porn-ridden or potentially malicious sites, whether visited intentionally or accidentally, will be blocked."
READ THE LIFEHACKER.COM STORY BY CLICKING HERE.
VISIT SCRUBIT.COM BY CLICKING HERE. | | | |
Great Article At NintendoWiiFanBoy.com
2/28/2007
A great article at NintendoWiiFanBoy.com on tips for parents. It's very well written and addresses the key issues and sheds some light on the ins-and-outs of the Wii. Make sure to check it out.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE | | | |
Gamers: What Would You Tell Parents?
2/28/2007
Many gamers have been posting vigorously on our Wii blog posts. We appreciate your POV and enthusiasm for the issues. We've seen some great posts about tech and the internet and the Wii. Also, a lot of posts about us being religious whack jobs.
So what advice would you have for parents that don't understand technology? What advice would you give to Moms and Dads in regards to internet porn and Wi-Fi devices like the Wii? Is porn exposure to kids even an issue in your opinion?
Seriously curious about your thots.
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Filters And Integrity Online
2/27/2007
We read a great article today featuring Integrity Online, a filtered internet provider and good friends of this organization. Last year the filters of Integrity Online blocked more than 200 million pornography-laden web pages and e-mails. Dang that's a lot of porn.
If you're looking for a really great filter, check them out and click on the banner ad down on the left side of this page. | | | |
Wii Want To Hear From You On The Wii
2/27/2007
We've been talking about the Wii and Wi-Fi devices on the ThePornTalk blog. Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this issue and your suggestions on dealing with devices that come with internet capabilities.
We want to hear from you.
"WII TALK ABOUT PORN" BLOG POST
"WHERE THERE'S A WII, THERE'S A WAY" BLOG POST
"READ THEM AND WIIP" BLOG POST
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Chris Does The Porn Talk
2/26/2007
A cool email from a guy named Chris. Check it out.
This past week I had "The Porn Talk" with my 11 yr old nephew. You'd have thunk that since I run Teens Against Porn I'd have talked to him by now (single mom, no dad in the picture). But it went great and I totally used your site as a lead into the conversation. "So I was on this website last week that was for parents and it said I should talk to you about porn between the ages of 9 and 11. It made me curious to know if you know what porn is and if you've ever seen it?"
He had no idea what porn was... until I described it to him. "Oh yeah, I've seen that. I mis-typed " google.com" once and it came up." So I said "Really? How did it make you feel?" He said, "I felt like I was doing something wrong! So I closed it real quick!" Then I told him that he didn't do anything wrong because he didn't do it on purpose, and that the fact that he closed it quickly means that he has great instincts and he did the right thing."
I told him that the holy spirit talks to me that way all the time and the best thing to do is listen. Many more good things followed from there. The conversation **ROCKED**. We spent an hour hanging out working on a pine block car thing for his boyscout derby. Just goofin off, drilling/sawing/sanding, and talking about porn, love, girls, etc. Keep up the good work! Chris. | | | |
Sexy Ads May Harm Girls
2/23/2007
In an article by Lidia Wasowicz she writes advertising that looks at girls and young women through a sexual lens can do harm to their mental and physical health, states a report released by the American Psychological Association.
The members of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls decried the proliferation of such promotions in music videos and lyrics, magazines, movies and video games and on television and the Internet, deeming it a threat to girls' positive self-image and development.
Making women into sex objects or defining them by their sexual appeal or behavior -- a common trend in all the media forms studied -- can lead to disturbing consequences, they said.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE STORY. | | | |
Sex God: Rob Bell
2/22/2007
I've been reading the brand spankin new book by Rob Bell called "Sex God." Rob is an incredible guy with an incredible message. The book deals with spirituality, sexuality, relationships and the human soul. It is told in a very straightforward and accessible way. Rob has a great gift of making big ideas really simple and pure. A great read on relationships, sexuality, and spirituality. This book is must have and I'm commanding you to go buy it now!
CLICK HERE TO BUY AT AMAZON.COM | | | |
Tough Talks Podcast: 2 New Episodes
2/22/2007
Two new episodes of the Tough Talks Podcast will be available today in Itunes. Why two new episodes this week? Well we forgot to launch the podcast from last week. Ooops. So enjoy these new discussions on Nintendo's Wii and how much detail should I use when talking to my kids about porn. And thanks for the great feedback we have been getting on the show. We appreciate it.
Btw, if you subscribe to the podcast you get the shows before everyone else does. Just a fun little tidbit of info. | | | |
Good News For Porn?
2/19/2007
According to Business Wire Internet sales of adult content, which includes images, live-chat and live-streaming video, was a strong growth area in 2006. In fact, AVN reports that in 2006, Internet Sales became the second largest adult entertainment segment, with 22 percent of the market or $2.8 billion in sales.
“The adult customer today has more delivery options,” said Paul Fishbein, president, AVN Media Network. “They can watch content on the Internet, a DVD or order Pay-Per-View on cable. The market is robust and widening as adult entertainment is embraced more and more by the mainstream consumer.”
And guess what Paul Fishbein? Kids have just as many delivery options as adults. And please stop calling it adult entertainment. | | | |
Microsoft Vista And Filtering Falls Flat
2/9/2007
An interesting article in Red Herring. First, the good news. Microsoft’s new Vista operating system features parental controls, making it easier for moms and dads to decide the programs children can use. It also lets parents set time limits on how long children can use the computer.
Now on another topic and the bad news. Still, despite the massive surge in Internet porn, adoption of parental control software remains flat, standing at 32 percent of parents with teenagers at home, said Sally Cohen, an analyst at Forrester Research. More than half of those parents get the software from their Internet service provider.
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Chicago Porn Talk This Weekend
2/6/2007
This weekend I will be in Chicago speaking at a church for ThePornTalk.com. I will be sharing both Saturday night and Sunday morning about porn, how to talk to your kids about it, and some practical insights on how to positively deal with this issue in our society.
The only problem. Chicago's high today was 5 degrees and I was rooting for the Colts in the Super Bowl. Should still be fun. Mike. | | | |
Wii Talk About Porn
2/5/2007
We just added a new page dedicated to helping parents get all the information about Nintendo's Wii Gaming Console. Because of the Wii's wireless internet access, you are able to surf porn on the Wii. Good times.
Anyways, check out the page which has some help for parents and it dives into the parental controls that need be activated on the Wii.
YOU REALLY WANT TO CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE. | | | |
New Study Released Today: Kids & Rising Exposure
2/5/2007
A new study released today on kids and porn exposure. The research was done by the University of New Hampshire and here were some of their findings according to MSNBC.
Forty-two per cent of internet users aged 10 to 17 surveyed said they had seen online pornography in a recent 12-month span. Of those, 66 per cent said they did not want to view the images and had not sought them out.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE MSNBC STORY.
So what's lacking in the research and the story? A good solution. Well lucky for you, you're logged onto one of the solutions here at www.ThePornTalk.com
Please talk to your kids. It's so important that they have good information and direction from you.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
POST IN THE COMMENTS SECTION HERE
OR EMAIL US AT INFO@THEPORNTALK.COM | | | |
Podcast: I Think Little Johnny Is Looking At Porn!
2/3/2007
A new Tough Talks podcast is now available in Itunes. You can see all our podcasts by CLICKING HERE.
Dave, Mike, and Doug discuss the porn warnings signs that every parent should be looking for and what happens when spouses are on different pages on the porn issue. The guys also discuss how a school district will now be talking about internet dangers with their 5th and 6th graders.
Btw, thanks for all your wonderful comments and reviews we have been getting about the podcast. | | | |
Taped New Podcasts For Future Release
2/2/2007
Yesterday we got together and recorded some new tough talks podcasts. We had some great conversations on a variety of topics. David, Kyle, and myself talked a lot of porn in the studio lounge. We also have some interviews with some special guests including Randy Phillips from Passage.org who talked about how father's can connect better with their sons.
We also discussed freaky cult leaders, how ringtones say a lot about your personality, the Sundance Film Festival, Wii porn, and our love of Morgon Spurlocks 30 Days. The shows will be rolling out over the next weeks to come. Mike. | | | |
Are You A Teacher Or School Administrator?
1/31/2007
We're looking for teachers or school administrators to share with us their thoughts on porn on the school campus. We want to hear the stories that you have personally experienced with teens today. Have you caught kids looking at porn in the classroom? Do you think it is an issue? How does porn impact the learning environment at your school? Does your school campus have safegaurds to prevent online access?
We really want to hear from you for the next ThePornTalk.com campaign. Don't post here in the blog but please email us at Info@ThePornTalk.com if you're interested in sharing. | | | |
Read Them and Wiip
1/24/2007
With the majority of us still wading in the wake of the holiday season, many of us have at least heard of the new game consoles from eager children. Of the two consoles that have made their appearance at your local Best Buy, if not in your own home, is the Nintendo Wii. Aside from the cute name, the Wii packs a powerful punch to the gaming world. Nintendo has prided itself on its consoles and games being family friendly, and with the slew of games as wide ranging as Zelda and Mario, chances are the classic titles have caught someone’s eye in your house.
The Nintendo Wii contains a Menu, which upon start up, allows you to browse through a number of items such as the weather, a Nintendo store and even the internet. The internet option for the Wii is offered through a simple Wi-Fi connection, and it is only too simple to use the Wi-Fi connection of a neighbor or of your own house without anyone knowing it. And on top of that the internet option isn’t a restricted one, you can check your mail, search on Google, check your myspace, and even create your own blog much like the one I am writing now with my Wii.
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What Are My Values As A Parent?
1/23/2007
I'm wondering if you've ever thought about what your values are as a parent. I think too often we are teaching our kids values by default or we are very unclear. I think their are two very clear ways that parents teach values. First, is by modeling the values themselves. The way we act and conduct ourselves has great impact on our kids. Children are very observant. They watch us. They pay attention to what Mom and Dad do. They pick up a lot of cues on priorities and right v. wrong.
The other way that kids learn values is by clearly stating them. Do you tell your kids your expectations for them? Do you talk with them about what you approve of and what you don't approve of in your home? As a member of the family?
Figure out what your values are and then model them and talk to your kids about them. Both are critical in parenting.
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Is There One Porn Talk?
1/19/2007
I talked to a reporter the other day in an interview for this site and he asked me whether or not the "porn talk" was a single event. You know, we basically talk to our kids about porn one time and we're good to go. Our kids know about our feelings on the subject and are aware of porn's ramifications. We're set. Well, not exactly.
It is important to frame up this idea of the "porn talk" not as a single event but as an ongoing/recurring event. The first talk is critical and a huge deal. We definitely want to move you towards that first initial conversation if you have'nt done it already. But our bigger goal is for you to have established a safe place and a relationship for you and your child to talk about porn, sex, and difficult topics for a lifetime.
The initial "porn talk" is the start of the journey. Not the end.
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