AOL internet service How safe does AOL make it for our children? DID YOU KNOW? Dulles Virginia
My son and his friend have been online under childrens CHAT for months now. At first it was cheat codes for their games, inquiring about singers they liked or just chatting in KIDS CHAT with "HOST's" keeping the room's clean.
From the story I got from my son, one day the rooms werent open so they went on the message boards for KIDS! Ages ranging from 6yrs. old to 13! What does my son find there?!?!?!
Listings of give us your email address and well send you pictures!!!! So not realizing what it was seeing he was so young, he gave his screen name and they sent in return you ask? HARD CORE PORN!!!! My son was so messed up by this he attempted to get them to stop sending but didnt know how!
He had no idea how I would react but finally told me what was going on! My son's friend told my son that those pictures have been on there all this time because hes been getting them on his home computer for 2 yrs. now. That means his friend has been exposed to this since he was 10 yrs. old!!!! I went to his house to talk to his dad about it and his dad sorta laughed it off as if he already knew!!!!
My post to EVERYONE that has AOL, if you have children that go online, go under their screen name in KIDS CHAT and click on post or message boards!!! I did and my mouth dropped from what I found! AOL has "HOST'S" in the chat rooms but nobody is monitoring the message boards?!?!?! WHY?
I have handled the situation at home, as far as AOL..........not sure what I will do!!!! I have a completely different story about AOL not keeping up to their word of making it safe for people on here! A WHOLE FILE that I printed out of being harrassed online to the point my personal info ( name,ss#,address,bank account ## etc was typed up in a chat room and knew the screen name that did this! AOL did NOTHING TO THAT PERSON, he is still online! So if any lawyers read my post and want to have a field day...... contact me!!!!!
Linda
Hickory, North Carolina
4 Updates & Rebuttals
christopher
Fairfax,Virginia,
who's responsible?
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, August 13, 2002
My question is, who is the parent? An online service provider can only do so much as far as keeping an eye on message boards. They cannot be expected to keep an eye on every post in every group, every second of the day. Besides, there are customers that enjoy "HARD CORE PORN!!!!" The best solution to this problem, in addition to taking the parental responsibilities onto your own shoulders, is to restrict your son's account. In "Preferences," you can choose which screen names can recieve file downloads, what message boards can be accessed, and with whom they have contact with online.
"A WHOLE FILE that I printed out of being harrassed online to the point my personal info (name, ss#, address, bank account ## etc was typed up in a chat room and knew the screen name that did this!"
Your personal info is not given out to anyone by AOL. This person either tricked you (or perhaps your son) into handing over your password, or is someone that is harrassing you in the "real world"
This is not an attempt at insults, but simply a question of accountability.
christopher
Fairfax,Virginia,
who's responsible?
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, August 13, 2002
My question is, who is the parent? An online service provider can only do so much as far as keeping an eye on message boards. They cannot be expected to keep an eye on every post in every group, every second of the day. Besides, there are customers that enjoy "HARD CORE PORN!!!!" The best solution to this problem, in addition to taking the parental responsibilities onto your own shoulders, is to restrict your son's account. In "Preferences," you can choose which screen names can recieve file downloads, what message boards can be accessed, and with whom they have contact with online.
"A WHOLE FILE that I printed out of being harrassed online to the point my personal info (name, ss#, address, bank account ## etc was typed up in a chat room and knew the screen name that did this!"
Your personal info is not given out to anyone by AOL. This person either tricked you (or perhaps your son) into handing over your password, or is someone that is harrassing you in the "real world"
This is not an attempt at insults, but simply a question of accountability.
christopher
Fairfax,Virginia,
who's responsible?
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, August 13, 2002
My question is, who is the parent? An online service provider can only do so much as far as keeping an eye on message boards. They cannot be expected to keep an eye on every post in every group, every second of the day. Besides, there are customers that enjoy "HARD CORE PORN!!!!" The best solution to this problem, in addition to taking the parental responsibilities onto your own shoulders, is to restrict your son's account. In "Preferences," you can choose which screen names can recieve file downloads, what message boards can be accessed, and with whom they have contact with online.
"A WHOLE FILE that I printed out of being harrassed online to the point my personal info (name, ss#, address, bank account ## etc was typed up in a chat room and knew the screen name that did this!"
Your personal info is not given out to anyone by AOL. This person either tricked you (or perhaps your son) into handing over your password, or is someone that is harrassing you in the "real world"
This is not an attempt at insults, but simply a question of accountability.
christopher
Fairfax,Virginia,
who's responsible?
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, August 13, 2002
My question is, who is the parent? An online service provider can only do so much as far as keeping an eye on message boards. They cannot be expected to keep an eye on every post in every group, every second of the day. Besides, there are customers that enjoy "HARD CORE PORN!!!!" The best solution to this problem, in addition to taking the parental responsibilities onto your own shoulders, is to restrict your son's account. In "Preferences," you can choose which screen names can recieve file downloads, what message boards can be accessed, and with whom they have contact with online.
"A WHOLE FILE that I printed out of being harrassed online to the point my personal info (name, ss#, address, bank account ## etc was typed up in a chat room and knew the screen name that did this!"
Your personal info is not given out to anyone by AOL. This person either tricked you (or perhaps your son) into handing over your password, or is someone that is harrassing you in the "real world"
This is not an attempt at insults, but simply a question of accountability.