Jon Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I have just been Reading about 12 year old Shevaun Pennington her who went off with the U.S Marine she would spend up to 11 hours a day on the internet in chatrooms i was appalled her parents didn't do anything to stop this. I can understand why so many people get into trouble in chatrooms its not only the men lying about their ages the girls do it too Shevaun said she was 19. What do you lot think about chatrooms, have you come across someone pretending to be younger or older then they say? Would you meet someone off a chatroom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPG Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Chatrooms are total crap, simple as that. Forums on the other hand are good, mainly because its more of a community Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robh Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Originally posted by Jon What do you lot think about chatrooms, have you come across someone pretending to be younger or older then they say? Yes. The lying cow said she was 50 and petite, turned out to be 53 and size 26. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elf Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I think chat rooms for children are stupid and totally unecessary.They see their friends at school, they can telephone them and there are plenty of safe places for interaction with other people. I can see how chat rooms may be a social life line for people who can not get out or who have trouble with socialising, such as people who are ill or house bound for whatever reason. Why parents allow their children to go chat rooms when they know the potential risks from paedophiles is beyond me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I've met a few squadmates from my Aces High Squadron - all reasonable beer drinking blokes (although one of them was under 18 ). Parents need to be more computer savvy than they currently are, and to keep well abreast of new technology. Listening to the news it would seem that Shevaun (Siobahn?) Pennington was using an instant messaging services rather than IRC, but IRC, IM and MUD/MOO are all still very popular - especially with people who like to reinvent themselves - i.e young adolescents trying out new personalities (and predatorial older paedophiles pretending to be younger boys). The question for parents is how much privacy do they allow their children on the internet, and how much they open channels of communication with their children about the internet and people that they meet there. I'm sure Shevaun will be more circumspect about making contact IRL with people she has met. I'm very pleased that this potentially awful situation has been resolved quite happily and without (ostensibly) injury to anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBouncer Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I don't agree with chatrroms for kids. When I finally have children, if the internet is STILL the way it is today. He/She will NOT be allowed on the internet without my supervision... besides I'll probably hog the PC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZZO Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Hi there girls I'm sixteen and looking to meet a friend so we can play our Max Bygraves discs together ..and who knows Er 61 actually -I just got those pesky numbers transposed like Marine Studebaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Maiden Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 When I first came online back in 2000 I was ALWAYS in the chat room. In fact if I hadn't have been in the chat room all the time, then I would never have met my husband and subsequently moved to Sheffield. It generally isn't difficult to spot a child either on forum or in chat. As to the situation with the 12 year old - what the hell was her mother doing? I watched the news last night and am convinced we have found the missing link!!! Moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kittykat Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 When i was a (younger) youngster and i first got the net (at about 11) my mum and dad didnt know much about it or chatrooms and thought i was doing homework but i was actually on chatrooms. I still went out with friends and stuff and they'd even come round sometimes and go on the chatrooms with me and laugh at what people said. I found that if i told people i was 14 i would get most private messages and the questions men would ask were disgusting. (I wont go into detail) At the time i didnt realise how dangerous it was and just found it novel that so many people were interested in such things and found it quite funny. Whenever you saw pics of people off the net it was so obvious it was someone cut out of a magazine or a really old pic (probably them or a relative from 30 years ago.) At the time i went on MS chat and it wasnt monitored at all, so anyone could say anything and you could set up your own rooms and invite anyone in. Its scary to think that this happens and if id have been any desperate or alone i could have met up with these men. It was probably only the fact that i used to laugh about it with my friends that kept me from being sad enough to meet them. Lots of kids wouldnt see it like this and curiousity could result in them wanting to meet up with people off the net. Parents really should be very careful when it comes to kids on the net. If theres a way i think chatrooms should be blocked to kids and if you have messenger services like MSN, only allow listed people (friends/family etc.) to send IMs, otherwise youre risking children being subjected to such things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_W Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 The danger of meeting people from Internet chatrooms has had plenty of media coverage in recent years, at 12 years old the girl should have more common sense, the parents obviously didn't have much either and as for the alleged abductor....one very sad man ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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