Ok, so not quite so final post

I talked with my mom about internet safety. It was really interesting because my mom is pretty inexperienced with technology. I mean, all she uses the internet for is to check her email. Even then, she doesn't like it because she gets tons of spam. She knows that she needs a filter, but I don't think she knows how to do it. When I brought up the videos that I had watched and the articles I read for this class, she was really interested. We talked about the dangers of cyber chat rooms, which she thinks are a bad idea to begin with. She thinks that myspace should be done away with because its use drastically increases your chances of talking to someone you don't know or giving your information out unknowingly. She's right; it does increase your chances. However, there is a way to do it right so that dangerous things like what happened on the videos don't happen. She didn't know what cyberbullying was, so I told her. I think she assumed things like that happened, but didn't know what it was called.

I gave her some tips that we learned last week in class about things you should never do over the internet, and she completely agreed. She says that's why when we were kids, she kept the computer in the living room facing outward so she could always see what sites we were on. She also limited our time online (that I remember VERY clearly) so that we weren't tempted to get into things we weren't supposed to get into. Despite her lack of vast knowledge about the internet, my mom was a very smart parent. Her fear of internet dangers kept us safe. I think she did a great job! This conversation was a very positive experience for me because I was reassured that my mom knows what she's doing and that she is protected. :)