Networking sites and little children

I know some on SI use the different networking sites to share the Lord with others. I have a question that has been on my heart and would love to hear what the Lord is showing you. I was wondering about the safety of some of these sites. I know I have family and they openly post very private information. They talk about their children and post pictures of them with out regard to who might be reading it. I have one relative who has a lot of pictures up of their young daughter, they talk about the school she attends, the church, things she is doing and its all for public view. I just wonder is this really wise? I mean as parents we are to be our children cover and protection, is it wise to openly share so much about them for any stranger to read and use for ????? Doesn't the Lord want us to use more wisdom with these precious little ones He gives us to care for? I think that this is another of the real possible dangers that the internet can pose to people with out them even knowing. We talk with people through forums, blogs, and twitter and we think we know them, but can you really know all these people in such a way that you expose your child like that??
God Bless
mj

Great point MaryJane.

I would agree that to place any children and information about them on a site can be dangerous and should be talked/prayed about.

In saying that, most of these sites give an option to not allow certain folks to get at your information. Take Facebook. It is set up that you can restrict who see's any of your information, or make it a "friends only" sharing. Which in turn places the burdon of responsibility back on the parents. It is then the parents responsibility to monitor who they allow in as a friend.

Good topic. Thank you.

U never know.... too many perverts roamin the net because they're hidden in the dark thereby. Would a police officer or a politician post pics of their kids & their addresses on the net to be easily targets for predators? Be wise as serpents, but innocent as doves. Too many nuts camouflaged as angels of light.

You are absolutely correct in being cautious, and as Miccah said on sites such as Facebook you can set your privacy to friends only, but even then people accept friend invitations from people they have never met, for me only friends that I know personally have access and my two teens do the same.
Some sites though don't have these restrictions and are open to the public and mistakes are made by us all.

You should never give your full name - full date of birth- just either the day or the year never both together and never give your address. Identity theft is a problem fast on the increase and we have to be wise and take steps to protect ourselves.

When placing photos on the web be careful that you don't show door numbers, landmarks that could pinpoint your house and names of schools along with childrens names. Paedophiles are known to approach children using their name, these children are then confused because this stranger must know them, because they know their name and maybe even the mum's name.
You also are supposed to ask permission of any person who appears on photos if they mind you uploading the picture.

I don't know about America but in Britain you can be sued under the data protection act for giving out another person's personal information, now even if a friend asks me for someones phone number I will ask the person wanted to ring them back with it!

It is surprising how much information we do volunteer about ourselves that if we are not wise can be used by the wrong people.
I was shocked once when just messing about I did a google search of my name to find sites that had copied my testimony that I'd written out for a lady!

The sites to be very aware of are open chat rooms and on-line gaming, these are a playing field for paedophile activity and people can be someone they are not, even my husband has had men coming onto him thinking he's a young woman! If they go too far he will report them, you have to stay close and monitor children who go on these. My husband sat with our daughter and was horrified at how quickly the questioning by people online turned dangerous, as soon as she mentioned her dad was with her they immediately went off line - it goes to show you cannot trust everyone online!
We tell our children not to talk to strangers and then let them do exactly that while sitting in the comfort of their own home, which lulls them into a false sense of security and everyone is their 'friend'!

I would recommend that you obtain leaflets from your local police on internet safety guidelines, also I would strongly recommend the 'Churches child protection advisory service' known as C.C.P.A.S They have a new leaflet of advice for parents.
C.C.P.A.S have a website you can check out and information that you can view on line. This site is run by dedicated Christian staff.
I hope this helps and please advise your family to think about what she is doing, we always have to be on guard.

Ceri, very informative...now I will have to my FB profile and scratch a few dates...

Thanks for posting....

ginnyrose

Thanks for the information. I want to share some of these thoughts with my family. I know that in the case of my little niece not only are pictures there, but lots of personal info. They have well over 800 friends on one of their blogs. Maybe they do know all those people personally but it just seems that they need to be more careful. I am not against blogs or twitter, I know many use them to keep in touch I just wonder why it is we forget all those things we were taught about safety when it comes to the internet.

Thanks again

God Bless
maryjane

Now I have a few more minutes....

As I think of modern technology and how we are all swallowed up in it, we are also aware that somewhere, somehow it is not all it is cranked up to be. It does make life simpler but is it for the best?

The things that really irks me is how the phone companies have recordings of all our cell phone conversations! Our friend's son worked for a phone company and he told his parents this company has two people hired who do nothing but retrieve phone conversations for people who request them, people like law officers.

And to add insult to injury, if someone has a scanner they can also pick up your phone conversations if you are using a cordless phone. I feel certain we have been spied on by a neighbor this way.

And then you have Facebook. If any gov agency would want to get inside info, all they would have to do is hack your site. If the internet would have been invented many years ago it certainly would have helped the Russian KGB spy on Christians!

Blessings,
ginnyrose

greetings ginnyrose

I did not think about the fact that phone calls are recorded. Its amazing how easy it is to get information any more.

We have a friend whose identity was stolen. This lady took my friends name and opened up credit cards and bought furniture. What was really the most frustrating thing about it all was that my friend had to prove she was not the one doing these charges and she had to clean up her credit score. She was the victim and yet she was the one treated as if she had done something wrong.

My son was telling me that advertising companies use facebook, myspace and twitter for data mining so they can find out what kinds of products to sell you. My husband said there was a news article about potential employers that are beginning to read peoples blogs and accounts as a tool for deciding whether to higher a person or not.

with so many crazy things going on in this world I just think as parents we need to be really careful with our children, both young and old. God gave them to us for a time to care for, there well being should be a priority to us.

God Bless
mj

Sometimes I become very saddened when I see how we can become so worked up over things that we forget the protection and ability of our great King.

I have never and would never purposely put myself or the safety of my children or grandchildren in danger, but I know in whom I believe and that safety is of Him and that reguardless of "evil men" and "big brother", I have a God that protects me from these things.

All of our information is public whether or not it is posted on facebook, the telephone book,social security, the IRS etc. It is a fact and we need to see that we musn't be caught in the same fear that grips the world.

It is very easy for we ladies to become afraid and fret concerning the possibility of harm, and so we have a sort of paranoia that hits which is exactly what Satan desires.

We need to become more encouraged in God's ability to hide and protect as He did with Corrie Ten Boom. This woman was the picture of peace and grace,and if we are not careful, fear will become more of an enemy than any internet site.

All of the promises of God are yea and amen to him that believeth, and I believe that if and when someone gains access to my personal info, they will get a full dose of what I am all about. This is ultimately my desire. I will continue to let my life be a testimony, and know that my family is safe despite the increase of evil present in all aspects of the media.

May you all be encouraged in this. We must desire that others would see a difference in us and that we would have more confidence and peace than those that are in the world and without hope.

God Bless, Kathleen

It is very easy for we ladies to become afraid and fret concerning the possibility of harm, and so we have a sort of paranoia that hits which is exactly what Satan desires.

I agree.

But caution is still essential. To live carelessly and then expect God to override the consequences of our foolishness is tempting God.

Twelve years ago we had a shipment of checks stolen at a FedEx facility in Memphis. My husband had ordered them and but they did not come in the expected time. He called and yes, they were shipped on...A few days later the bookkeeper from our bank called and asked if we authorized one of our boys to write a check on our account and it was written to Target in Memphis? Long story short: we made a police report, got one from the bank, had many copies made to send to collection agencies...It took me at least a year of dealing with collection agencies until I got them satisfied although I got a dunning call several years after this happened. I talked with the police in Memphis, called stores where these checks were written...I spent a lot of time on the phone!

Trust me! this was a harrowing experience. I documented every call made to whom and what was said by whom in case the thief ever got caught. To add insult to injury, even after we opened up a new account at this bank, some businesses would refuse to take a check my husband wrote even though the forger used my name.

Oh, BTW, the police in Memphis were not helpful at all..

SIGH.

I will work to take precautions to prevent another episode.

Now you all have a good day!

ginnyrose

Greetings Kathleen

I agree that God does care for and protect us and that we are not to live by fear, however I also believe we as parents/grandparents are instructed to care for and be a covering to our children. To me watching how much information is posted especially about little children is not any different then locking the front door at night. God does give us wisdom to use and I do not believe this makes me fearful at all. As in the case of my relative, she has pictures(even ones of her young daughter in bathing suits posted) she talks about her daughters school activity and has mentioned the schools name several times, she talks about her schedule, her friends, her pets, she talks about the city and state they live in by name and it is all for public view. To me this is just asking for trouble. I am not saying she should never share, just maybe she should do so in such a way that is not so public and not giving away so much information about her child. I spoke with a police officer and he said that actually there are many children of all ages that are targeted because of over exposure on the internet by loving parents who just don't think about the dangers that are out there.

I was talking over this subject with my husband and he was saying how ironic it is that we tell little ones not to talk to strangers and not to give out personal information about themselves and then as parents we turn around and do the exact opposite. We tell the whole world all kinds of stuff about them.

Again let me say that I do trust in the Lord in all things, including protecting my family. I know that many do share their life via these different networking sites with family and friends. I am not telling anyone that they should not do that or to stop using them. I just think that there is room for wisdom especially when young children are involved in how they are used:)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this though
God Bless
mj

Exactly my point MaryJane, I used to work on a community police team which is why I gave out the information I did. You really do have cause for concern with your relative - it's too much information going out! she needs to pull back and do some deleting!! We have to have wisdom.