Daddy, There is A Naked Man On My TV Screen...

I know everyone here agrees that the Internet is a wonderful tool, after all we use it everyday for a wide variety of things, but there is always a darkside. I am a gamer, I play online games on both my computer and my PS3, and I see nothing wrong with allowing children to do so as well. But with the ever changing fast pace of technology it is becoming more difficult for parents (or people in general) to protect themselves from harm.

Predators Use Gaming Systems' Live Video Features to Find Kids.
Systems like Xbox Kinect allow child predators confirm there's a child, and not a police officer, on the other side Source: www.nbcchicago.com...

Video games offer children the best of both worlds: Thrills which are very real, coupled with dangers which are supposed to only be an illusion. But a suburban Chicago father says he discovered his son’s video console had an unexpected and disturbing feature. “I bought something I thought was going to bring joy to my family,” he said. “And I brought a pedophile into my house.”

The man asked that we withhold his name, to protect his son. He told NBC Chicago that shortly after he bought the family a new Xbox Kinect, he heard a man’s voice coming from the game’s speakers while his son was playing a game in an adjoining room. When he rounded the corner, he said he was shocked at what had just appeared onscreen.

"There was an image of a man, a live image, of a man standing there naked," he said. "He was doing things to himself."

The story states that the boy received a "friend request" that simply stated that the user on the other end wanted to be his friend. Like any person would do automatically, and I am sure all gamers are guilty of this, the boy accepted the request.

Of course we have things like Parental Controls and ability to block internet access from consoles but online gaming is becoming something that for some games is the only real way to play the game. (I have noticed that some games have a very weak and small amount of single player options and most of the time and effort for the game was placed into its multi-player features.) Most of these new age consoles and hand held devices do come equipped with webcam capability so it is becoming increasingly difficult to monitor what is happening on the other side.

So I ask myself. Is it wrong to let our children play online games without Supervision? Should we just block all Internet access and multi-player functions out of fear that a pervert may be on the receiving end? Or, in the case specifically and I am sure many other cases, is it lack of Vigilance on a parents behalf to forget to teach their children that a "Friend request" doesn't always equal a friend.

Also, final note, as webcam tech becomes more prevalent will it become possible for pedophiles/perverts to find a way to bypass any parental controls placed on the system and continue to feed their sickest delusions?

please.. don't go blocking internet access at certain times or stay paranoid about this, the best you can do about pedos is report it to the police.

honestly though.. i've been using the internet since i was a kid and i've stumbled upon Goatse enough times to make looking at an anus a nostalgic experience. if you try to censor it they will just want to see what it is you don't want them seeing but in the end it is your decision.

reply to post by TheSparrowSings

Like any person would do automatically, and I am sure all gamers are guilty of this, the boy accepted the request.

Umm.. NO!

will it become possible for pedophiles/perverts to find a way to bypass any parental controls placed on the system and continue to feed their sickest delusions?

That won't be possible. Its up to the user on this side to go into "others" channels. If the mind their own business you could avoid it.

Im a gamer, and i never ever found anything like that. If you see a chat room named something sexual, you simply avoid. if a young kid is interested or curious , then its up to the parents to supervise them.

I can't blame everything on gaming, because parents buy kids game that i snot appropriate for them. Do you know how many 7-8 yrs old play Call OF Duty franchise... its crazy.

im sure you noticed the warning "game experience may change during online play".

reply to post by luciddream


I agree that alot of parents buy games that are not the appropriate age group for their children. But if a pervert wanted to he could pick up a game like, lets say, Little Big Planet (an E game) and do the same thing.

I probably should have reworded the other part you quoted. It is true, not ALL people automatically accept invites, but I have accepted invites from people I do not know before without first thinking who might be on the other side. Alot of people do.

Originally posted by christoph
if you try to censor it they will just want to see what it is you don't want them seeing but in the end it is your decision.

edit on 15-10-2012 by christoph because: (no reason given)

Its going to be awhile before I have to worry about my kids online gaming. They are young still. But I wouldn't go the root of censorship. I would go the route of educating them. Starting with, if you don't know someone in real life, don't add them as friends.

So I ask myself. Is it wrong to let our children play online games without Supervision? Should we just block all Internet access and multi-player functions out of fear that a pervert may be on the receiving end?

I think that really depends on how old/stupid your kid is. There are a number of videos on YouTube of people getting a kid to give them their home phone number and then trolling the parents/kid. Also maybe letting ten year olds play COD is a bad idea.

Some parents absolutely refuse to raise their kids. Giving a child a game that requires you to kill, blow up, or destroy people and places, should be a moment when you rethink your parenting skills. Parents want to complain when this is happening, but in all honesty if the father would not have happened to over hear or walk by (as most parent think their kids are just playing and ignore kids for hours), who knows how long that would have been happening before someone noticed.

We tend to blame the people on the other side of the screen, but in actuality parents have to take responsibility for what they allow their kids to do in the first place.

I am a mother, and believe me, my kids wouldn't even get their brains to conjure up something like "my friends are doing it, why cant I"? We let kids sit in front of the t.v, with some hot pockets, mountain dew, a giant bag of chips, and unlimited access to the internet.

Most of the time if you look at most cases that involved pedo's kids are looking for attention, and don't realize that some attention can be dangerous, some kids want attention so bad that they just want an adult to ask them how they are doing, or show some interest in their interests which then lead to unfortunate cases where kids end up hurt, and the parents ask, WHY?

Maybe at some point we can put these situations in the news, and make sure that we highlight the irresponsibility of the parents FIRST!!

Peace, NRE.

I'm a gamer and I'm a parent of a 5 year old mini gamer as well.
I turn on the parental controls on anything he touches although I probably wouldn't even have thought that someone would do this via a friend request.

Live and learn. My son likes to watch the home made kid thomas and angry bird videos that people put up. I learned my lesson really quick that it only takes 1 "suggested" click to turn something kid friendly to kid inappropriate.

I guess the bottom line is that none of us are perfect parents, but we sure do our best.
It's that fine line between letting your child be independent and suffocating them.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


I agree with your view that parents take a lack of responsibility when it comes to supervising their children's online activity sometimes, it is safe to say that there really is no safe haven. A pedophile is going to look at anyway to get into a child's life, and I would think will go after any online game that they think a child would be playing. From the "E" rated to the "T" Rated. Keeping children playing age appropriate games is a wise thing to do but doesn't help stop these people from finding them.

I do think that sometimes parents either forget, or are afraid to, educate their children on child predators and introduce them to a world where there is indeed a great sickness. Then again, if a kid is playing Modern Warfare I would assume the parents don't have a "sheltering" issue.

who the hell sits around friending random people on games to force them to watch them do nasty crap? I mean I doubt this is just pedophilia it is more like this person is severely mentally handicapped. sick stuff. How does one derive pleasure from such acts?

Originally posted by lobotomizemecapin
who the hell sits around friending random people on games to force them to watch them do nasty crap? I mean I doubt this is just pedophilia it is more like this person is severely mentally handicapped. sick stuff. How does one derive pleasure from such acts?

Is it lonely up their on your high horse?

I never got it either. I think it's a voyeur thing. People often have more than one sexual proclivity. So pedophile + voyeur folk troll the interwebs on sites like chatroulette or try to find kids in game. So yeah pretty much just sick ##### with too much time (and I see an opportunity for a joke here but will behave) on their hands.

reply to post by TheSparrowSings


These people need the worst possible things done to them. Medieval style, I tell you what.
And then...

reply to post by TheSparrowSings


Simple solution, don't get an your kid an xbox kinect. There are tons of online games for the xbox 360 that don't need the kinect at all to play.

Originally posted by GrimReaper86
reply to post by TheSparrowSings

 

Simple solution, don't get an your kid an xbox kinect. There are tons of online games for the xbox 360 that don't need the kinect at all to play.

I can agree with this. Except just because YOU are not using a webcam does not mean that THEY aren't, and if some forgetful or clueless parents does not disable web-chat on the system then the videos could still be received, just not sent. The father says in the article that he didn't have the Kinect set up on their side yet, just the console.

The more I think about it, the more I think it NEEDS to be awareness. When my kid is old enough I am going to sit her down and tell her the truth. That there are sick minded people who actually prey on children and when using ANY online functions one must remain as anonymous as possible. (And on Facebook, Mom is your number one friend.)

Originally posted by lobotomizemecapin
who the hell sits around friending random people on games to force them to watch them do nasty crap? I mean I doubt this is just pedophilia it is more like this person is severely mentally handicapped. sick stuff. How does one derive pleasure from such acts?

The creepiest thing is that some do it because they can clarify that there is a child on the other side, not the police. I guess that leads to a whole new problem with using headset devices as well. A voice can easily give away the age of a person.

Hi game fans.

WHY don't you send your kids play on
"responsible game makers" like:

mountainlake.org...
www.abcmouse.com.../classroom

or similars, and "age adjusted" ???

WHY?

Blue skies.

reply to post by C-JEAN


My 3 year old LOVES abcmouse.com
I think it becomes a little more difficult as kids get older and want to try something a little less "kiddie"
Thanks for posting the links.