To: jvncnet!aol.com!LRMarsh@dowv
cc: dowjone!rexb@dowv
In-Reply-To: <941021232732352540@aol.com>
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On Fri, 21 Oct 1994 jvncnet!aol.com!LRMarsh@dowv wrote:

> > 12 year olds cruising the boards
> 
> Word of advice: watch what they are doing.  Know lots of 12 year olds logging
> on to sex boards or general chat boards that tend to get quite raunchy.  Had
Interesting isn't it? 12 year olds are naturally curious about sex, the
internet is one of the few places they can get information.  They are
usually getting their information from other kids.  My sister got pregnant
because Mom and Dad never told her about effective birth control, she was
14 at the time.  The young man involved told her she only needed it during
her period.  We try to idealize a world where kids don't want to have sex
until they are 30.  The reality is that many kids are incested by the time
they are 10 or 12, and begin teaching these games to friends by the time
they are 12 or 14.  By 16, there are very few virgins left.  But we'll
keep them ignorant until they are 21.
(End of sermon)

It is a good idea to set up their .newsrc file (what controls which
newsgroups are accessed) and to check it regularly.  The same problem
occurs with Dial-Up boards.  Some boards require that you send in a
photocopy of your driver's license.  Even then, many of the terminal
programs include the login/password script capabilities which means that a
kid can use dad's computer and read raunch-bbs.

> a case not too long ago where a young girl represnted herself as being older
> and convinced some older guy to travel from out of state to meet her. They
> met in a motel and ..well, I don't remember the rest but the ramifications
> were not fun.

I have met dates via internet and bbs.  I only go out for coffee as a
first date. If we hit it off, there is much more caution because we have
only the electronic relationship.  I don't know her friends, she doesn't
know mine.  The internet is the safest place because geography, anonymity,
and reality tend to restrict relationships to the exchange of fantasies.

> And I thought getting the kids set up with a computer and modem would open up
> an intellectual world for them.  Like TV, it needs to somehow be supervised.

Mostly, going on-line does open up an intellectual world.  Certainly I'd
rather have my son on a bbs reading and asking questions than out on the
street learning first hand from the drug pushers and prostitutes.
Besides, once they get some basic exposure, they usually move on to other
areas like the alt.fan.* groups.  Kids are much more interested in the
grateful dead and how to MEET appropriate partners and impress their
friends than about some ol' geezers fantasies.

	Rex B.



From rexb Thu Oct 27 13:07:19 1994