Kids Are Landing on Porn Sites
Ilker at the thinking blog asked me to post about this. Little did Ilker know that earlier this week, I got an email from Germany. A young woman, Mihaela Lica asked me to visit Blogger Power: Safeguard the Web for Children. I clicked through. I read the title and the list of three bullets.
Would you do that? It’s four sentences. I’ll wait.
Four sentences was all that it took. I wrote Mihaela back — three more sentences, two names, and some smiles.
Mihaela
Hi Where are you located?
Do you skype? lizstrauss
I talk faster than I type.
Smiles,
liz
We Skyped for 26 minutes and 29 seconds.
One email, seven sentences, two names, three words, some smiles, and a less than 30 minute skype call led to this blog post and the four-question interview below.
This is real way to keep a child safe, the same way parents put a gate at the top of s stairway so that a toddler doesn’t fall. Will you help? Will you write a comment or a blog post about Blogger Power: Safeguard the Web for Children. so that the folks who can make the gate will hear that we need one?
After all, Mihaela got my attention with three sentences. I’m not going to tag you. I know that I don’t need to when the issue is as straightforeard as this.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related
12: Mihaela Lica on Safeguarding the Web for Children
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If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.
. Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.
I originally found the site under a month ago. I’ve got four children myself in our one computer household.
Parenting is parenting. If this choice were established into a law, then the rest of the bloggers using advertising and revenue generating would be next on the hit lists.
That’s an unbiased statement, as I refuse to enter the ‘blog and pay’ or ‘click advertising’ realm. I don’t look at it negatively, I simply don’t do it myself.
Porn sites make money off teasing viewers into their ‘pay’ sections. It’s no different than what revenue generating blogs do to make a buck. The fact that a child is able to access and see the initial site that provides the ‘ad’…again…is based on the parent permitting through action or inaction.
We’re dealing with impressionable minds. Impress on the kids it’s not appropriate to visit these sites, and offer alternatives…if you’re a mentor to kids. If a person is a parent, then either get more involved or disconnect from the internet if it’s not possible to redirect the kid(s).
I think the project site is well intentioned, and the authors intents were admireable. I simply feel that until this point it was poorly thought out. If they want to effect change, they need to brainstorm and get their heads together for version X.1, or whatever it’ll be called.
It’d be nice to put up a badge stating ‘Do not let kids surf porn free’, but it’s useless unless someone counts the number of people self policing the blogosphere to an elected official for introduction into law.
But again…about kids who aren’t being supervised by parents…the project is powerless in that regard.
Well intentioned, yes. Heartfelt, definately. Effective, doubtful. Money will block the ears of the porn sites. Legal changes in law will bring into question anything on anyone’s site that can be clicked on.
Parents having internet access in homes without monitoring their children are the problem.
That’s just my opinion.
Hi JohnC.
I understand what you’re saying and it’s a worry. It’s one I’ve given thought to. Here in the USA we have free speech. and I don’t support for regulating that. All I want is a gate, like a captcha or a thing on cigarette lighter that makes hard for kids to get the thing to work.
We’ve been able to filter spammers with some success. I would think that we could do the same with children and not have to regulate free commerce. Don’t you?
Not every parent has the luxury of watching their kids every time their kids are near a computer everywhere around the world. We’re lucky here that most of us do. Even then, I would have serious reservations about letting my child be blogger because of the spam I clean out every day.
I’m with you, John, in that what you say needs to be kept on the radar — so that folks don’t take things further than they need to go. With you all the way, I still have to let people know.
I think the kids with the bad parents deserve protection too.
They key is to be sure that the solution isn’t larger than it needs to be.
Hey Liz,
A very important initiative.
I just posted about it.
I am also giving away links to the nimble bloggers that will follow suit.
Hi Yoav,
It’s an issue that we all should be aware of. It could easily get out of control in either direction. So let’s keep an eye for the kids and the other eye for those folks who think WE need watching over. 🙂
Just a quick note, Liz. I’m really happy about any kind of support, but promissing links from high PR sites might make people think we do this for SEO or other unrelated reasons. I think people should do this from the heart. I’ll comment on Yoav’s blog about this as well. I think is a good motivation for many bloggers looking for some “link juice”. But our efforts will not really matter if we leave room for misinterpretations. What do you think?
Mihaela,
You’re good to say so. Yoav has made his generous offer from his heart and you have to trust him now. I think you can trust him to know who’s a link digger and who’s not.
I understand your concern. Good intentions get misconstrued or even turned easily. You can’t control a wave on ocean. It moves by itself.
Yes, you are right! I do trust his judgement and generosity and I was happy to see his idea. There are no other ways to say “thank you” if we don’t give recognition to the bloggers that support the cause. And a link back is a thank you. 🙂 I know that bloggers will come with other ideas to help us well. But it is important for peole to know that Blogger Power does not aim SEO (or other similar) advantages with this.
Hi M!
Exactly, the grace is good. 🙂