Almost 13 Year Old and Use of Internet

How great that she remembered to set up her blog as private! I know grownups who had no idea that they needed to do that!

Anything can get hacked, but I don't think it's likely that a private blog like hers would be. Safety measures they could take would be to not say their school name or where it's located, since they are friends, they already know that. Also not really using last names of people and just the last initial would be a good safety guard as well.

I really don't think you have anything to worry about since she is so cautious.

I would make sure that your computer is in a public area though, so you can see when she is on it and occasionally snoop and see what she is typing. We had an issue with my older son getting up later at night to get on the computer. Now it's right outside my bedroom, so no sneaking around!

I don't know the technical answer to your question, but I just wanted to comment that your daughter sounds extremely sensible for her age. I spent a couple of hours browsing livejournal blogs in my area and I was shocked by what kids these days publish for the world to see. (I sound like such a prude! But they definitely have a different view on things.)

Personally, I feel comfortable putting photos and child info on my own password-secured blog. I think the larger companies like livejournal, google (blogger) would have real PR problems if they were not careful about security. It's a lot more likely that your daughter or her friend will be careless with a password with their friends.

Anything is hackable. Why do you think they say never to use an unsecured site to pay bills. But even that is not 100% safe proof is the hackers who hacked into the credit card company and stole credit card numbers earlier this week.
I think one thing you could get is a some internet software to help monitor your family activities on the computer. A dear friend of mine had a husband the had an internet problem she got a service through focus on the family. Not sure if they still offer what she had.Check out this link http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/protecting_your...
Also here is another link that gives you numerous other links that can help answer questions.
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Good Luck, Teen years are often hard years.

S.

I think it sounds like you have been pretty practical about your daughter's internet use and despite the fact that she didn't share with you about the blog right away, she sounds responsible. All teenagers are going to be tempted to not share EVERYTHING with mom.

I don't think that means that just because she has a blog, she must be lying and switching over to MySpace everytime your back is turned.If you truly think that, you can contact either site, explain that you are the parent and your child is under 17, and get the account shut off. I know of other parents who have done so.

I consider myself to be very internet savvy- my ex, father of our son, is an internet programmer and my current fiancee is a graphic designer who works a lot online.I work for a parenting magazine and also work and blog online extensively.

Many of the concerns listed in posts below are a little unrealistic IMO, and I will tell you why.

1)Yes, ANYTHING can be hacked. But you have to look at WHAT the site is and is used for. There is a MUCH MUCH greater likelihood of a site being hacked if the hacker has something to gain financially. Or if the hack involves just setting a worm program loose to destroy computer info at random, just for the sake of destruction.

If a hacker is just trying to destroy random computers, emails are one of the most common ways to get the virus into your system. If he is looking for financial gain, a hacker is likely to try and break into shopping sites for credit card info, banks for social security numbers, etc.

In almost all blogs, there would be no way for a hacker to make money off of the hack, so there is a very very small chance of that happening.

2)Most online predators looking for child or young victims are NOT hackers. They don't know anything about computer coding or how to break into a closed or secure site.

They just log into a public site where kids or teens are known to log on, usually with a fake name, age, etc. and cruise around trying to start inappropriate friendships.

There is no 'hacking' involved at all, just lying and misrepresentation. Again, this is much much more likely to happen on Nickelodeon or MySpace or Facebook.

It is VERY UNLIKELY that your daughter's blog will attract the attention of a predator, especially if you and she and her friend and the friend's mom can agree to limit the access between yourselves. A internet predator has much easier places to find victims.

3)Some general info: If she is on Blogger.com (which I use) or a similar site, you can set it up specifically so that only people you allow to view it can see it. As long as your daughter and her friend do not open it up to the public or share the site with others, it's a pretty private, reliable way for them to 'talk' and write down their thoughts, etc.

My nine year old son wants to start a blog and I know several kids who have them and they are only open to family members, grandma and grandpa, etc.

I would allow her to keep it on the condition that you also ok it with her BFF's mom. Tell both girls that you guys will also have the password and will check it occasionally to be sure there are no additional users on it or open comments, etc.

That way it is mostly private between her and her friend, but you can keep an eye on things and have peace of mind. At 13 your daughter IS old enough to figure out how to get around you. I suggest you become more educated about the net- get her to show you how to navigate better, or take a class,etc. The more you know, the harder it would be for you to get fooled! She is going to be online more and more, in high school and college. Educate her about how to be SMART when she is online and you do the same! Good luck!

You may be a little naive when it comes o your daughter. She already proved that she can blog without your knowing. She can use a different password for facebook and never tell you what it is. She know what she's doing on the computor. Trust is a wonderful thing but she did break that already. You can let her use the computor only when you're in the same room with her. She can be in the middle of doing homework on it and you leave the room for 1 minute and she could change screens to facebook or other sites in seconds and pic up messages that you wouldn't know about. Remember that you have reason to check up on her; you're mom.

I have had to deal with this recently - and, like you, nothing inappropriate was listed. It was the mere fact that it was done without my knowledge. It still concerns me that this stuff is posted in a blog. Yes, I think anything can be hacked and I do not like for my own daughter to list school, location, age, ...because it can all be lead back to the child.

Facebook scares me, personally. I do not have one, and yet, I have a file folder set up with the 23 people who have invited me to theirs. You are wise to have all passwords and I would periodically check to make sure that everything is above board. I too, trust my children, however, I will be installing a parent software because even my "trusting children" have crossed that line and, although innocently, once invited someone on AIM that seemed like a nice person that they didn't know, and, once, made up a new e-mail account without my knowledge (it was easy for me to figure out the password, though). Also, my child's best friend put together a whole pictoral (about 20 photographs) , to music and posted it on You-tube. it was very tastefully done and no personal info. was listed, except a first name, but... I was still livid! I think the temptation is too great.