i think it happened before but the internet has made it easier. you also hear more about it because the media is can now get stories from the world at instant speed. tonight at 11, why your kids are in danger!

This child porn thing pisses off everyone, but there are many things that are dangerous to kids being domestic violence just one of them, not letting them make up their own minds, wars that turn them into orphans, religion, television, etc. The whole thing is a hysteria bluff. Too much concern for the safety of the kid but not for their own right to enjoy their childhood.

And yes, I have a sister. I live in a violent city and I wouldn't mind to hit a stranger. One thing is the police force working to remedy it and another is the media.

Harishankar,

What happens if you accuse the wrong person for a crime they do not commit?

What about false witnesses?

The problem with vigilante justice is that a lot of innocent people can be accused of crimes they did not commit and punished for them.

Then there is the problem of vengence. If the system of justice that you propose punishes an "innocent" person for a "crime" they may or may not have commited, then the family and friends of the accused my decide to render some form justice of their own against the Authorities that punished their friend or relative.

One thing leads to another and you find yourself in the middle of a civil war.

Plenty of pervs in the world and the internet gives them a nice domain. I have never been much of a 'chatter' myself but I know friends (read acquaintances) who used to act as young girls in chat rooms to see where the discussion would go!!!

I chat quite often but I have never run into this kind of stuff. I've been chatting online since I was 8 and I am now 16 and when I was younger and our family's first ISP was AOL (we were noobs), I would chat in the AOL rooms and occasionally run across people doing the whole a/s/l thing and acted stupid. Saying things like "I so horny" and such, but I was always under the impression that they were 12 year old kids trying to be funny. I've never run into anyone who tried to ask any personal information of me or anything remotely close to meeting up in person. The worst that it got was people saying perverted things, but it always seemed in a joking context and they never seemed to stay long term or try to chat with anyone.

After we went with a more respectable ISP (with broadband) I started using IRC and everyone on IRC seems like top class citizens. I've almost never run into a problem and unlike AOL, I don't see "a/s/l" every 30 seconds. Not only that but AOL chats now have bots that advertise for dating services and penis enlargement all the time. Infact no one can even hold a conversation because there is so much bloat from ads that the messages scroll up too fast to read.

I've only been on Yahoo chats a couple times before they were shut down. The thing about Yahoo chats was that it varried from room to room. In some rooms people were very professional in their conduct online. In others it was just as bad as the trolls on AOL.

Whats really sad is the parents and children. Like I said, I've been using chat rooms since I was 8 and my parents never monitored me. Not because they were bad parents, but because they under stood my own personal privacy and they talked to me many times about giving personal information online. I was a very smart child and was very mature for my age. I never gave away any personal information online. Not just for fear of child preditors but because they don't need to know that information in the first place no matter who it is.

Parents need to let the kids know about this kind of stuff. The children hold some responsibility too. I honestly don't see how some of these kids could be stupid enough to meet a complete stranger in person. Whats even worse is that most of them probebly didn't even tell their parents and they didn't meet up in a public place which is rule #1.

People do need to understand that pediophilia is no different from homosexuality. Most of these pediphiles have been that way there whole life and have been "checking out" class mates when they were in school. That is no excuse for their actions though. Its not any different than raping a full grown adult. I do believe however that these people should be encouraged to seek treatment from a theropist who can help them, because obviously, there are more of these people than we imagined.

teach the kids how to protect themselves, thats' the best practice. we big ones can make the effort to make such offenders life a hell whenever we can with whatever way we can, whereever we can. i think thats the most i can do to help.

In this day in age danager is everywhere. You could be killed going to work by a pissed off employee, you could become victim to a neighbor who has lost his/her mind and wants to kill, your child can be shot be a student, your child could be molested by a teacher, the list could go on. I think we just need to make our children aware of the dangers they face. We also need to make them aware of the dangers people in general face reguardless of age.

They are different. They're a crime only when they are mixed, because of the former. Homosexuality isn't a disease per se. It's just an aspect of personality that is not even permanent in some. It's even present in animals.

I don't think we're threatened in any way by them. Maybe homophobia is natural too anyway, but there's people condemning it publicly in order to push down their own unconscious impulses.

There are people that condemns every form of sexuality, even porn, which is the most safe way:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...64#post2076364

God save us from moralists, the so-called puritans and catholic bishops.


P.S: Sexual abstinence is something that Abrahamanic religions poisoned and the benefits of which they failed to grasp. They use it in order to mortify and punish themselves and later, others... It's used very differently by yogis and shamans to move this energy to raise it to the higher chakras of our bodies.

A program so parents can monitor their children's chat would be useful.
Perhaps a future version of gaim will have it.

Some people like to take this ave. I don't think taking the right of my childs privacy will fix the problem. Teaching them is the best method I believe. Or just block chat all together on the computer would be good.

I'm new to these forums, and what a way to begin!! I'd like to say how nice it is to see a discussion in an open forum that hasn't devolved into name calling and threats. It's amazing how expressing an opinion can rile some people. As far as this discussion, I am the father of four children, 3 girls and one boy. I have always been very honest and open with my two older ones and explained what can happen in the real world. I have explained that there are just some people out there that are wired wrong and you just need to be aware of who you are talking to, hanging out with and always, ALWAYS be aware of your surroundings. There are no surefire ways to keep your kids safe. If you ban them from the 'net, they'll only see it as taboo and use it at their friends' or the library or even school to do the very things that you are banning them from. We all remember what it's like to be a kid and be told no. Education is the best weapon in just about every facet of your children's lives. To mold them into better people, keep them safe and drug and alcohol free and get them to appreciate a better education. As far as the convicted molesters, they should be given the option of drug therapy and psychological counseling in addition to their prison time. If they choose to go on and remain on their meds (part of their terms of incarceration and them parole if allowed out) then they can possibly be rehabilitated. A second offense should bring with it castration. This should be an option for all sex offenders. Some people really can't help their urges. Castration removes these urges. Whether chemical or surgical, it has been proven effective to combat sexual predators.

Obviously, if it happened to my kid, I would go to the ends of the earth to see that the person that did it suffered a very long and painful death. That's just my Dad genes though. If you can't help but touch my child, I can't help but beat you senseless.

So their right to privacy is important but not letting them have freedom to chat is unimportant ?

I believe so. If they don't have something, then they are unlikely to miss it. But I believe taking privacy is wrong. I would rather simply not let them chat, then take away there privacy. I remember being a kid and my mother comming in my room and finding something private to me and reading it (like a letter from a girl), I was embarrassed. I belive kids should have the right to have there own private life. If the chat system creates such a big problem by the time my kids get old enough to use it (they are young now), I will simply block it. It weighs better on my conscience then spying I guess.

The thing about this whole child's right to privacy, is that it can interfere with the parent's ability to monitor the child. And monitoring is part of parental care is'nt it? How can you be effective on this part if your child is allowed to keep secrets from you? Should your guilt keep you from keeping a close eye on your children? Keep in mind, for the most part, its difficult to NOT 'spy' particulary given how active you are in their lives.

Monitor and spy have two separate definitions in my book. To monitor in my eyes would be to make sure they are doing things they are told, like homework, chores and whatnot and they are healthy. For me to spy takes away all my childs rights to anything. I don't believe it is important for me to know who they have as friends at school, or for me to know if they call a boy, or if they get lust letters from a boy the same age at school. I believe it is my job to make sure they are safe, fed, clothed, healthy, educated, clean, the list could go on. But I don't believe it is my job to take away the privacy of my kids. And as far as secrets, we all have them, and I believe my kids have just as much right to have them as anyone else.

It will become my problem when things can cause danger for my kids. But I still will not spy, I will resolve.