bebo?

[cameo]

Hi everyone.
My 14 year old daughter has just set up a Bebo 'thingy', (sorry i don't know the technical name!).
She says most of her friends have one.
Can anyone please tell me if this is safe for her to do? - you hear such horror stories about kids and the internet.
Is there anything i need to worry about or watch out for?

Any advice will be gratefully received xXx

[RATTER15]

Well she will almost certainly be right in saying that all her friends have an account with Bebo, it is very popular with that age group, unfortunately there has been a lot of incidents of paedophilia on Bebo, including a couple of murders I think.
I think the way I would react with this, is to permit her to use it on the condition you can view her account at anytime and inspect it at will or no deal. This is when it is a good idea to have the PC in the Lounge or a non private area.

[RATTER15]

Well she will almost certainly be right in saying that all her friends have an account with Bebo, it is very popular with that age group, unfortunately there has been a lot of incidents of paedophilia on Bebo, including a couple of murders I think.
I think the way I would react with this, is to permit her to use it on the condition you can view her account at anytime and inspect it at will or no deal. This is when it is a good idea to have the PC in the Lounge or a non private area.

A lot also depends on how sensible your Daughter is.

[RATTER15]

Sorry about the double post, I thought I stopped the first one!!

[cameo]

Thanks RATTER15.
Our PC is in the dining room so there's no problem there.

When she had finished setting it up she insisted on 'showing it off' to me so i think i'm alright on that score.

thanks again!

[Carakeel]

I agree with Ratter. My granddaughters are on Bebo and I regularly discuss this with them, as there has been a lot of bad press about this site and its possible link to a paedophile murdering a little girl. Bebo has actually been threatened with closure and as I understand it the verdict is still out. Just make sure she only uses it when you can supervise her and you should be fine. Tell her not to give out any details of her name or where you live to anyone, nor what school she goes to. Just be safe. :o)

[cameo]

Thanks as well Carakeel.

I'll keep an eye on it!!


Thank you both for the quick response xXx

[Whickerman]

My daughter has a site - make sure she knows the risks, and only allows known friends to chat. Tell her to treat it like she's out, and the whole 'not talking to strangers' thing still applies - more so in this case as she has no idea if a person she chats with online is genuine.

[DavidUK]

My 12 year old son has pestered me to let him go on Bebo (like all his friends!) but I have so far resisted. There are risks if they are not very careful and there is pornography on there - although that is the case if they are web surfing anyway. I dare say I might give in eventually but I will want to keep track of what he is doing.