On another forum I post at, a political forum, one member wrote in and was freaked out to discover her 12-year-old daughter was talking to adult men while playing World of Warcraft.
She was about ready to call the police on the guy... I convinced her first to view the chat logs if she could to see if anything improper was being discussed.
Turns out it was nothing but purely discussing the game. She IMed the guy to let him know the girl he was talking to was 12, and that she was now closely monitoring her online activity.
Why do I bring this up?
Because internet security goes both ways.
If you're a minor, please make sure your parents are aware of your activities on this forum (and any other online activities.)
Please make sure your parents are OK with your giving out your address before arranging trades.
Please make sure your parents know who your trading partners are, both screennames and real names/addresses.
I, for one, would feel more comfortable (if my trading partner were a minor) KNOWING the parents were watching over his shoulder, and knew what was going on.
Even if you trust the adults here, think of this as protection for THEM, as well. As a fellow parent, if i discovered, with no warning, my daughter were talking to strange men online on some forum, I might be inclined to assume nefarious intentions.
She was about ready to call the police on the guy... I convinced her first to view the chat logs if she could to see if anything improper was being discussed.
Turns out it was nothing but purely discussing the game. She IMed the guy to let him know the girl he was talking to was 12, and that she was now closely monitoring her online activity.
Why do I bring this up?
Because internet security goes both ways.
If you're a minor, please make sure your parents are aware of your activities on this forum (and any other online activities.)
Please make sure your parents are OK with your giving out your address before arranging trades.
Please make sure your parents know who your trading partners are, both screennames and real names/addresses.
I, for one, would feel more comfortable (if my trading partner were a minor) KNOWING the parents were watching over his shoulder, and knew what was going on.
Even if you trust the adults here, think of this as protection for THEM, as well. As a fellow parent, if i discovered, with no warning, my daughter were talking to strange men online on some forum, I might be inclined to assume nefarious intentions.