[Howdy]

My kid has a Kajeet phone, but I don't see any way to disable texting on their website, though I guess if I put no money in her account and only bought her a talk minutes package that would essentially disable texting.

I like that with Kajeet I can use their website to block the phone from working at chosen hours of the day, and can set it so that calling me or my mom is allowed at any time regardless of whether she has any money in her account. Also I can block specific phone numbers I don't want her to communicate with.

Now I guess I will have to look at her text messages. I called her in to read your messages about reviewing text messages (so she wouldn't accuse me of being the meanest mom in the world). She let me look at them just now and I about died of boredom.

[my someone]

Originally Posted by kretzklan

BUT - the new big thing is "sexting" - where you send dirty pictures of yourself to other kids - back and forth. Apparently bigger for girls than boys. The boys can be charged with child pornography is they are over 12 for having that on their phone!

I don't get this...why would boys only be charged? Can you elaborate?

A boy with a dirty picture on his phone is subject to child porn charges...a girl with dirty pictures on her phone isn't? Why?

[KatiesEd-dad]

Originally Posted by my someone

I don't get this...why would boys only be charged? Can you elaborate?

A boy with a dirty picture on his phone is subject to child porn charges...a girl with dirty pictures on her phone isn't? Why?

Here in Michigan a 16 y/o girl was recently charged for taking a nude picture of herself and sending it to 200 of her friends. They've charged her with possession and distribution of child pornography. So it's not just the boys. Apparently this is the latest fad with the kids.

[lovemy2boys]

Originally Posted by KatiesEd-dad

Here in Michigan a 16 y/o girl was recently charged for taking a nude picture of herself and sending it to 200 of her friends. They've charged her with possession and distribution of child pornography. So it's not just the boys. Apparently this is the latest fad with the kids.

I saw that, Ed...and it's really sad and REALLY scary what kids are doing because they can't see the long term consequences of poor decisions...

[my someone]

Thanks, Ed. I know you weren't the original poster, but I was taken aback by the implication that there would be a double standard regarding the possession of questionable images for boys vs girls.

Gosh, what a complicated world we live in now adays. Back in my time, finding a "dirty magazine" in your dad's dresser drawer was scandalous. And we didn't know who those girls were! Now, thanks to modern technology, just about any silly, immature kid can post themselves in the all-together to an audience of friends...and who knows WHO else. INSTANT Playboy model!

Shudder.

[binkybear]

Originally Posted by lovemy2boys

I saw that, Ed...and it's really sad and REALLY scary what kids are doing because they can't see the long term consequences of poor decisions...

It's so beyond sad. Even sadder are these kids fending for themselves in a overly sexed out society after parents dropped the ball with instilling self respect, a little bit of class and boundaries.

Where was it in the last decade / decade and a half that it became "cute n trendy" to be a total skeevatz? When did parents start ignoring the trend?

[vegaschristina]

That's one reason why my girls aren't allowed to play with Bratz dolls. They're far to sexualized for me to feel comfortable with my kids playing with them.

[lovemy2boys]

Originally Posted by binkybear

It's so beyond sad. Even sadder are these kids fending for themselves in a overly sexed out society after parents dropped the ball with instilling self respect, a little bit of class and boundaries.

Where was it in the last decade / decade and a half that it became "cute n trendy" to be a total skeevatz? When did parents start ignoring the trend?

Oh don't EVEN get me started!!!

I can't even believe the things I see and hear in regards to neighborhood kids, etc.

My friend hired a girl to babysit. She was 14...the kids said all this girl did was talk about boys and text her friends when she was supposed to babysit...

I checked out her myspace, and was disgusted by what I saw...14 years old talking about sex, drugs, etc...Hoping to get pregnant...Things that I wouldn't even say to my closest friends, let alone the millions of people surfing the net...

I look at these kids, girls in particular, and think "Don't you know you are worth more than that?" I wish the 35 year old version of these kids, the adults who KNOW better, could come back and knock some sense into them.

[kretzklan]

I didn't mean to make it sound like a double standard - the officer that was talking about it here was making the point that it's "usually" girls who take the pictures of themselves and send them out. The boys then have the pictures on their phones and save them - the girl deletes them from her phone and there you have it - the boy is stuck with the "evidence"...
He did point out that if the boy (or girl) deletes the pictures immediately, it would be impossible to charge them with anything!

[GoddessDanu]

I just don't think kids should have cell phones. My child will not have one until he/she is old enough to have a job, car, and need for a cell phone. Maybe I'm just old fashioned...

[my someone]

Originally Posted by kretzklan

I didn't mean to make it sound like a double standard - the officer that was talking about it here was making the point that it's "usually" girls who take the pictures of themselves and send them out. The boys then have the pictures on their phones and save them - the girl deletes them from her phone and there you have it - the boy is stuck with the "evidence"...
He did point out that if the boy (or girl) deletes the pictures immediately, it would be impossible to charge them with anything!

Got it. Makes sense now. Thank you for clarifying!

Now, lets go back to all being scared TOGETHER......!!!!!!

It's my youngest's third birthday today. I can't help but think what the world will be like in 10 yrs, when he is 13, or 15 yrs, when he's 18 and I have I'll be forced to treat him as a LEGAL adult, whether he's emotionally ready or not.

[devildogwife]

Originally Posted by GoddessDanu

I just don't think kids should have cell phones. My child will not have one until he/she is old enough to have a job, car, and need for a cell phone. Maybe I'm just old fashioned...

I don't think you're old fashioned. I'm in my mid-twenties and that's how it was for me. I got a cell phone as a junior in high school and paid for it myself with my job. I also bought my own car and paid my own insurance.

[akcskye]

To an extent, I wholeheartedly agree.

My situation, however, gives me such a huge measure of peace of mind because my kids are basketball players, and on the road 3 to 4 nights a week between their school ball and their weekend leagues.

Sometimes it's perfect and things work around my work schedule, and other times it's not...hence the cell phone.

I like knowing my kid has access to call me or text me with "mom, the bus broke down" or "mom, I left one of my nikes at home, can you bring it?".

Also, my boss pays my kids $1.00 each per bundle of boxes they fold at my pizza shop cause he loves my kids. It benefits the kids cause they earn "real" money like a "real" job, and we just don't have enough dependable drivers at the shop that are able to fold boxes in between runs, so before my kids, we ran out ALL the time.

So, if they fold 22 bundles of boxes over the month ($22.00 each), which is EASY to do with the volume our store has, they will use that money to pay me for the additional lines (theirs) on my contract.

So, even though only 11 and 12, they're learning early to work for priviledges.

Also...thanks to the person who posted about "sexting"...I had a long talk with my kids about what I had learned, and what to do if they receive such a thing, and of course, to NEVER do that themselves because it puts them down so badly.

Originally Posted by GoddessDanu

I just don't think kids should have cell phones. My child will not have one until he/she is old enough to have a job, car, and need for a cell phone. Maybe I'm just old fashioned...

[millie58]

the ability to take the text messaging off the cell phone: is that all cell phones??

[aclee]

I was behind a group of three youngish girls at the mall on Saturday night and they were looking at pictures on their cell phones that it appeared they had just been taking. Picture of them lickin each others faces and pretend kissing each other.

One girl showed another a pictures and she says...OH text me that right now I want it for facebook! and the other girl stamped her foot and was like...I CAN'T TEXT! the first girl responded oh yeah I forgot! Well put it on face book and I'll share it. To which the first girl responded..."No, way I'm deleting this in like 2 minutes. My Mom would kill me."

I snorted cause I was trying so hard not to laugh, and she looked back at me and said, "She totally would. She doesn't even know where I am right now."

How do you start legislation to make it legal to lock your children in their rooms till they are say 30?