Tracking Risky Teen Behavior Using Cell Phones
5/16/2008
"... the GPS data revealed that they were spending more time away from home, school and surrounding areas than anticipated. Learning that we were able to track their movement is important because previous studies which have looked at the effect of environment on teens have focused only on home, school and surrounding areas," said Sarah Wiehe, M.D., M.P.H.,
"A person's environment in some way influences or is at least associated with their health and health outcomes and in the case of adolescents their health behaviors."
FULL ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080324100045.htm |
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Marketing To Children
5/12/2008
A study released today from Consumer Reports Webwatch and the Mediatech Foundation, found that childrens’ websites are not doing a good enough job disclosing their advertising and marketing tactics to parents.
Parents involved in the study kept video journals which documented families’ frustrations with game websites and virtual worlds that draw kids into games and require a purchase to continue playing, among other things. I’d be surprised if some of those scenarios haven’t already been played out in your home.
Click here to read more. |
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Teens Trade Nude Photos Via Cell
4/14/2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Forget about passing notes in study hall; some teens are now using their cell phones to flirt and send nude pictures of themselves.
The instant text, picture and video messages have become part of some teens' courtship behavior, police and school officials said.
"I've seen everything from your basic striptease to sexual acts being performed," said Reynoldsburg police Detective Brian Marvin, a member of the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force of Central Ohio. "You name it, they will do it at their home under this perceived anonymity." |
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IKeepSafe.org
3/30/2008
IKeepSafe.org's mission is to give parents, educators, and policy makers the information and tools that empower them to teach children the safe and healthy use of technology and the Internet.
This is a great website that we recommend to help parents and kids.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT IKEEPSAFE.ORG |
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Miss Bimbo Internet Site
3/25/2008
A Web site that encourages girls as young as 9 to embrace plastic surgery and extreme dieting in the search for the perfect figure was condemned as lethal by British parents' groups.
The "Miss Bimbo" Internet game has attracted prepubescent girls who are told to buy their virtual characters breast-enlargement surgery and to keep them "waif thin" with diet pills.
The site is aimed at girls aged from 9 to 16, has attracted 200,000 members. |
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Good Time To Talk
3/8/2008
So when is a good time to talk to your child about porn and internet dangers? I found a great qoute from Mother Teresa that I think sums it up pretty well.
"Yesterday is gone. Tommorow has not yet come. We have only today. So let us begin."
Talk to your kids today.
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MySpace Doesn't Increase Victimization Risk?
3/2/2008
Here is a snippet from a new article.
Most Internet Sex Offenders Aim At Teens, Not Young Children, Study Shows
For example, in spite of public concern, the authors found that adolescents' use of popular social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook do not appear to increase their risk of being victimized by online predators. Rather, it is risky online interactions such as talking online about sex to unknown people that increases vulnerability, according to the researchers.
"Most Internet-initiated sex crimes involve adult men who are open about their interest in sex," Wolak said. "The offenders use instant messages, e-mail and chat rooms to meet and develop intimate relationships with their victims. In most of the cases, the victims are aware that they are talking online with adults."
Full Article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218185101.htm
This is good news! It indicates that teens are getting wiser about online safety, especially on the popular social networking websites. But teens can and do roam beyond these sites. The more a teen experiments with online porn, the more likely it is he or she will be exposed to online porn-centered communities, forums, and chat rooms. Logically, any teen involved in communities like these is engaging in "risky online interactions such as talking online about sex to unknown people" which the article concludes "increases vulnerability."
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Social Networks More Popular Than Porn
2/16/2008
New research from Hitwise has found that social networking sites dominate web traffic from college students. Blogs and email services also rank very high. Researchers found that traffic to porn sites from 18-24 year olds saw a 33% decline over the last two years.
The researchers concluded that as twenty somethings become more interested in social networking, they become less interested in online pornography.
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Cyber Bullying
2/8/2008
The charity Childnet International has recently produced a video on cyber-bullying to show how the internet and digital technology can take an existing problem and multiply it a hundred times.
Stephen Carrick-Davies, head of Childnet International, says: "It really does wreck children's lives.
"Bullying itself is bad enough. When you've got cyber-bullying, which actually extends because there is 24/7 [and'> lack of closure.
"With the tools that they now have - wonderful, engaging, creative tools like social networking, like mobile phone technology, like instant messaging - they can also hurt and cause distress and abuse other children and young people," he adds. |
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Online Parent-Child Gap Widens
2/5/2008
A new study by Dafna Lemish from the Department of Communication at Tel Aviv University has found that there is an enormous gap between what parents think their children are doing online and what is really happening. 'The data tell us that parents don't know what their kids are doing,' says Lemish.
The study found that 30% of children between the ages of 9 and 18 delete the search history from their browsers in an attempt to protect their privacy from their parents, that 73% of the children reported giving out personal information online while the parents of the same children believed that only 4% of their children did so, and that 36% of the children admitted to meeting with a stranger they had met online while fewer than 9% of the parents knew that their children had been engaging in such risky behavior. Lemish advises that parents should give their children the tools to be literate Internet users and most importantly, to talk to their children. 'The child needs similar tools that teach them to be wary of dangers in the park, the mall or wherever. The same rules in the real world apply online as well.'
Keep in mind the study was done by Tel Aviv University, therefore it is likely the parents and children surveyed were predominantly european and culture rules apply. For example, "In one part of the study, Prof. Lemish surveyed over 500 Jewish and Arab children from a variety of ages and socio-economic backgrounds." But it also states, "Prof. Lemish suspects that this gap is wider in the U.S., where children from middle-class backgrounds have more opportunity to surf online privately."
ARTICLE:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204143203.htm
HAT TIP:
http://slashdot.org/articles/08/02/05/0212254.shtml
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Students Play Video Games To Learn Safety
1/11/2008
Utah students will be playing video games to learn about Web safety. Students at 75 Utah public schools will be playing these video games to learn a thing or two about their own safety. Web Wise Kids, a new pilot program sponsored by the Entertainment Software Association will train teachers and hand out Internet safety computer games. ESA sponsored the $75,000 pilot. The games are targeted for junior and senior high schools. They include interactive simulations based on real criminal cases that students help solve. |
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New IPod Touch Has Internet
12/31/2007
First off, we hope you had a very Merry Christmas and perhaps Santa brought one of Apple's cool IPods. One feature that parents should be aware of with this next generation of IPod's is its ability to access the internet through Wi-Fi. It has a built in browser(Safari) and can connect to an open Wi-Fi network. This is a great feature but parents should be aware of this capability and take the wise steps to monitor and set expectations for this piece of technology.
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Airborne Internet May Cause Turbulence
12/29/2007
NEW YORK (AP) — Seat 17D is yapping endlessly on an Internet phone call. Seat 16F is flaming Seat 16D with expletive-laden chats. Seat 16E is too busy surfing porn sites to care. Seat 17C just wants to sleep.
Welcome to the promise of the Internet at 33,000 feet — and the questions of etiquette, openness and free speech that airlines and service providers will have to grapple with as they bring Internet access to the skies in the coming months. Vint Cerf says, "Airlines have to be sensitive to the fact that customers are (seated) close together and may be able to see each other's PC screens. More to the point, young people are often aboard the plane."
Steve Jones, a professor who specializes in Internet studies, said passengers and flight crews would need to undergo "the kinds of learning the ropes and learning the etiquette anytime we put new technology in new settings." |
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Sex Ed
11/27/2007
The Taipei Times reports that curious children and young adults can often be misguided by pornographic material if there is not enough adequate sex education to provide them with accurate information on the topic.
Through a survey of 3,614 children and young adults from elementary school to college age, 65.4 percent said they had viewed or read materials with sexual content, such as pornographic films, pictures, comics, computer games or Web sites.
"Most of the students surveyed cited curiosity as one of the reasons why they viewed such materials," Kao said. |
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Second Life: Wonderland
11/2/2007
Britain's Sky News TV channel on Tuesday uncovered a virtual playground hidden away behind a strip mall in "Second Life" — a playground where little girls who looked about 10 years old offered the Sky reporter's avatar, or virtual representative, a variety of sex acts.
Sky reported the playground, called "Wonderland" in possible reference to an Internet child-porn ring broken up in 1998, to British authorities.
But Linden Lab, the San Francisco-based creator and operator of "Second Life," doesn't plan to take any action for now against the non-age-specific sex playground.
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New Research on Parents Feelings About Web
10/27/2007
The Orlando Sentinel reports as kids spend more time online, doing everything from chatting with friends to researching homework, parents are struggling with how big a role the Internet should play in their children's lives.
A study released this week says the number of parents who think the Internet is beneficial for their children declined from 67% to 59% between 2004 and 2006, according to the study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. But most other parents don't see it as a bad influence, either: 30% say the Internet has no effect on their children, up from 25% in 2004.
"We have more of a gray view of technology than we did in the past," said Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist with Pew. "It's not this fabulous and wonderful thing that will make your child get straight A's and improve 16 different aspects of your life. As you grow to know it, you realize where its power lies and what its frustrations are."
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A Blog To Help Parents Understand Cells
9/12/2007
We here at The Porn Talk think one of the requirements of being an effective parent is to understand the technology that your child is using. We found a great blog that is dedicated to parenting and cell phones.
As mentioned before in previous posts, kids and teens are using cell phones for a lot of things these days. This blog will help just get all the necessary facts and trends on what is going on with this technology.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT WWW.KIDSANDMOBILEPHONES.COM
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New Updates
9/7/2007
We just made some new updates to the site today. Make sure to check out our new "porn in the pocket" section dealing with cell phones and porn.
A large proportion of new mobile phones have web access, and more recently - mobile TV has been launched. This means that young people can access content from the internet and TV wherever they are, and without parental or teacher supervision.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
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Teens Text. They Don't Email.
7/25/2007
Read this tonight on Yahoo. We've heard about how email is yesterday's communication for today's teens before, but here are some pretty compelling comments from young entrepreneurs at the center of teen online life about how teens use tech to communicate. They're from Cnet's Stephanie Olsen's report from the YPulse Mashup 2007 conference in San Francisco.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY |
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ThePornTalk In Atlanta And Denver
7/20/2007
This weekend Mike will be speaking at Stoncreek Church in Atlanta at their main services. We will be talking about porn, parenting, and how to have healthy conversations with your kids about pornography and the internet. It should be an amazing time. Mike will also be heading out to Denver to Southeast Christian Church to speak at their services the first weekend in August. For more information on ThePornTalk speakers, email us at Booking@ThePornTalk.com |
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"Friend Requests" In MySpace
7/17/2007
Makayla and Beryl have just requested to be my friend through my MySpace account. They have also requested that I look at their nude photos of them too. Out of the last 5 "friend" requests I have received through this MySpace account, 3 of them have been girls promoting their porn pictures and them wanting me to see them.
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Web Site for Teenagers Has X-Rated Link
7/11/2007
According to the New York Times, parent and child safety experts concerned about the online activities of teenagers have been particularly nervous about a Web site called Stickam, which allows its 600,000 registered users, age 14 and older, to participate in unfiltered live video chats using their Web cameras.
Alex Becker, a former vice president of Stickam.com, accuses the Web site of being a pornographic trap for teenage users. But those Internet safety advocates might be even more anxious if they knew of Stickam’s close ties to a large online pornography business.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE STORY |
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Porn And Pizza
7/2/2007
Well if getting porn wasn't easy enough, a new pizza joint is helping bring pornography to the masses. According to CNEWS, local entrepreneur Corey Wildeman has launched Porno Pizza, a delivery-only pizza business that places pornography where you would usually find only cardboard -- under the pizza.
Corey said when describing the photos, "It runs the full gamut. There are some that are very Playboy-esque and others which Larry Flynt would blush at."
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY.
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Glubble: A Safe Browser Plug In
6/25/2007
Chris sent this over and thought we would pass it along. A great program to have if you are using Firefox as your browser. Here is some info on it:
Glaxstar's new startup, Glubble, is making the internet kid friendly by child proofing the browser.
Glubble is a Firefox plugin (3.8 MB) that allows parents to control a white list of which domains their kids can visit. The service is seeded with a list of 350 approved properties for domains like Disney.com or Nickelodeon, but parents can add new domains or individual links and even combine their lists with those of other parents.
The service isn't meant for older kids who can just load up Internet Explorer or know how to edit Firefoxe's plugin folder. It's meant for children under 12 who are still at the "holding hands" phase.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE |
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Barbie Porn
6/13/2007
We got this email and wanted to share it with all of you. We responded to this email but do you have any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi there,
I have a 7 year old daughter who likes to play on Barbie.com. One day I had come back in and got on the computer after (child's name) had been playing on Barbie.com. There were tons of pop ups for sex/cartoon porn and other sorts. I talked to her about it and she said she had left the computer before that had popped up and she didn’t even notice it.
So maybe a couple of days later again, she was on the same site. I walked up on her and noticed she was watching cartoon porn. She didn’t know how she had got there, she couldn’t back track the steps, but I cannot believe what she saw. Even though I put on the parental control, because it was cartoons, it didn’t block it. So now I have to block every single site with a password and approve it as she plays. Do you have suggestions or know how/why the porn got there?
And why on Barbie.com? It just disgusts me.
I will read more on your website for suggestions on how to talk to her about this sort of thing. |
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Girls At Risk To Being Lured Online
5/30/2007
According to the Times Online, John Carr, an adviser on online safety said that girls are particulary at risk online. “The most vulnerable group are girls between the ages of 12 and 15 who are going through puberty and becoming interested in boys and relationships,” he said. “You only need to listen to the news to see how common it is for girls to be lured into meetings.”
Most recently Jade Powell, a 14-year-old girl from Chelten-ham, went missing with an 18-year-old man she met on the internet. She was found safe and well five days later. Another study, conducted last year by Webwise, found that 27 percent of teenagers had encountered someone online who asked for personal information, such as a telephone number, while 23 percent had received unwanted sexual advances. |
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MySpace Hands Over Sex Offender Info
5/28/2007
According to FOXNEWS, MySpace.com said Monday it will release data on registered sex offenders it has identified and removed from the popular social networking Web site.
The company, citing federal privacy laws, initially rebuffed a demand from North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and colleagues in seven other states who last week asked for data on how many registered sex offenders are using the site and where they live.
MySpace agreed Monday to provide the information to all states after some members of the group filed subpoenas or took other legal actions to demand it.
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Parents Taught About Online Safety At Work
5/17/2007
We thought this was a pretty cool thing. Apparently, working parents are being taught about kids and cyber safety at their workplace. According to CTV, this new program is giving busy parents a chance to pick up cyber-safety tools at the office to better understand what their kids are doing online and how to protect them from potential dangers.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM |
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Second Life Child Abuse Claim
5/17/2007
According to the BBC News Online, Second Life is being investigated by German police following allegations that some members are trading child abuse images in the online world. The investigation follows a report by a German TV news programme which uncovered the trading group and members who pay for sex with virtual children.
The police are now trying to identify the Second Life members involved. Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, said it would help identify users and pass on details to prosecutors. |
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Porn On The Disney Channel?
5/5/2007
It's hard to believe something like this could happen but it did. Chris sent this story over from FOXNEWS. They reported that cable giant Comcast is currently investigating how hardcore pornography was broadcast during a popular cartoon program on the Disney Channel.
Customer Paul Dunleavy would also like to know. He was stunned Tuesday morning to find his 5-year-old son watching porn on the channel that should have beein playing kids programs. "It was two people doing their thing, it was full-on and it was disgusting," the Middletown father of three told The New York Daily News for Wednesday newspapers.
Comcast has apologized and said the error was due to some technical problem.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY |
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A Good Dose Of Teen Reality
5/3/2007
The findings from a University of New Hampshire study are startling but true. They interviewed 1500 pre-teens and teens and found:
+71% reported receiving messages online from someone they don’t know.
+45% have been asked for personal information by someone they don’t know.
+By the age of 12 most boys and more than half of teenage girls have looked at pornography - with most admitting they got ideas from it.
+14% have actually met a person face-to-face they they’ve only spoken to over the Internet (9% of 13-15s; 22% of 16-17s)
+33% of 13- to- 17-year-olds reported that their parents or guardians know “very little” or “nothing” about what they do on the Internet.
+A third of girls and 40 per cent of boys had had phone sex, while 70 per cent of both had received sexual text messages.
So do you think its time to have a serious conversation with your child about these important issues? We think so. |
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The Porn Tax
4/24/2007
Porn star Marey Carey, who ran for governor in 2003, returned to Sacramento in opposition to the porn tax bill. The adult entertainment impact fund sponsored by Whittier Democratic Assemblyman Charles Calderon would increase the tax money from adult media and any live shows.
Carey argues that the tax will just push business away. Carey, while in opposition, makes several arguments that would benefit those against the bill.
"People are just going to get it from other places," Carey said. "If there is a tax here, they'll just order more online or from other countries and that's not going to benefit California in any way."
Calderon insists that the bill is targeted at balancing the state budget and not balancing morals. |
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ThePornTalk In Springfield,IL
4/21/2007
Mike will be headed to Springfield, IL this weekend to speak about porn, parenting, purity, and we are sure some other letter "P" words too. He will be at a church down there sharing insights on these important topics at their services.
And one final thought, isn't Springfield where Bart Simpson lives? Or maybe that's another place :)
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Easy Access To Mobile Web
4/18/2007
We got this email from Matt. We thought we would pass along this great information. Thanks Matt.
I was listening to a few of your podcasts and reading your section on "How Kids get Porn" and was reminded of the access that cell phones with mobile web can provide. While some parents may be aware of that, and believe they can prevent that by not subscribing to the web service for their child/young adult's cell phone, they may not be aware that is possible to gain access to the web without paying for it through the service carrier (verizon, cingular, etc).
There are providers that offer access to mobile web through their own proxy servers at a substantial discount (only $12/year, very affordable for young people.) Step-by-step instructions are provided in an email and takes very little technical know-how for programming the phone. The discounted service is merely provided as alternate to the "overpriced" service provider's pricing, but the possibility of gaining mobile web access is possible without a parent ever knowing would be easy to do. |
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Girls Gone Wild Goes To Jail
4/11/2007
According to the Smoking Gun Website, Joe Francis, the "Girls Gone Wild" founder, was indicted today on federal tax evasion charges for illegally deducting more than $20 million in phony business expenses from his 2002 and 2003 corporate tax returns. According to a two count indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Reno, Nevada, Francis, 34, sought to conceal income through the use of offshore companies and nominees. At one point, he transferred $15 million from one offshore bank account to a California brokerage account in the name of a Cayman Islands corporation he controlled.
Francis was arrested yesterday on an unrelated federal warrant stemming from a civil lawsuit brought against him by seven underage women who were filmed by "Girls Gone Wild" cameramen in Florida in 2003. The contempt citation was issued after Francis rebuffed a judge's order to settle the case with the aid of a mediator. |
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Child Online Protection Act Violates Free Speech?
4/6/2007
Marylee Shrider writes that "it happened again last week when a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled the 1998 Children's Online Protection Act -- a law that would impose prison time and fines on porn peddlers who don't require adult-access codes or credit cards to access their Web sites -- violates the pornographer's First Amendment right to free speech."
"Porn magazines sold in convenience stores are kept behind the counter, television networks aren't yet allowed to air graphic sex and violence during the dinner hour and Janet Jackson can't, without consequence, bare her breast during the Super Bowl.So what makes the Internet so sacred, porn so accepted?" The courts once again show their ignorance of the internet and what is really going on. |
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Interview With ThePornTalk.com
3/23/2007
We thought we would link an interview that we did for the Christian Standard. It covers a lot of the big questions of what were doing here and what we are trying to accomplish. Also, big thanks to Brad for conducting such a fine interview.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW |
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A Great Resource:TheFight.com.au
3/20/2007
We got this really kind email this morning from a ministry in Australia. It's called Roundabout Ministries and its about helping young people, youth ministries and churches talk and deal with issues related to sexuality in a healthy and positive way. They have a specific focus in areas of same-sex attraction, sexual addictions & pornography. Make sure to check it out.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT WWW.THEFIGHT.COM.AU
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Second Life Video Clip
3/17/2007
Kristen Powers from FoxNews did a great report exploring the world of Second Life. If you're a parent and don't know much about the world of Second Life this will be a great introduction to some of the potential dangers. We have included this news report in ThePornTalk Video Player located on the right. Just click on the video called "Fox News On Second Life" to hear her report. It's a real eye opener. |
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New PornTalk Graphic Downloads
3/16/2007
We just added some new graphics to ThePornTalk.com downloads page. Wallpapers, banner ads, and other goodies are now available. Put them on your computer screens and blog postings and help spread the love of ThePornTalk.com. Thanks.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE DOWNLOADS PAGE |
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Field Trip
3/12/2007
For those who believe that we may be alarmists concerning children and their exposure to explicit and very sexual material, listen up. This weekend I went on a field trip. This weekend I went into a chat room.
Getting into a chat room is easy enough. Most times a user name is all that is required and then you gain access to a multitude of chat rooms. And some require a little more involvement and request that you create an account, which usually requires an email account and a sex. Either way, both thresholds are easy enough to complete.
Once I chose my user name, a neutral spin-off of my favorite band, I then got to choose from a lengthy list of chat rooms. The names of the chat rooms encompassed everything from “Singles” to “The Back Seat,” and had up to a hundred people on it. The minute I entered the chat I noticed the unusual user names of the other people in the chat. Most everyone talking claimed to be anywhere between 13 and 20, and I realized that their user names where more of an advertisement than anything else, with many advertised their age, sex, sexual preference and their physical…attributes.
Within 2 minutes of entering the room, there was a couple who had just met having cyber sex. Cyber sex is virtual sex, which is essentially verbal sex. While this was going on I received several private messages, where a window pops up and allows users to talk to each other where nobody in the chat room can see. The customary greeting is asl (Age, Sex, Location), and after I replied, the immediate question from “DadsTastyGirl” was what I looked like. Feeling like this message was going south; I closed the window and was greeted by another one by another user shortly after.
This time they asked if I wanted to “cyber.”
When asked what chat rooms they go to, they swear they go to their school chat room or a Christian chat, all seemingly safe and innocent. The truth is there are no “School chats,” and if there are Christian chats, they are the black sheep of the rest of the chat rooms, usually containing few or no members while “The Back Seat” contains 140.
Please don’t take my word for it. Parents, this weekend go on a field trip. |
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Casual Sex Damage?
3/10/2007
"Unhooked" is a new book that is receiving quite a bit of attention and criticism. The book focuses on the changing perspectives and mores of young women towards casual sex or "hooking up". At the center of the buzz is author Laura Sessions Stepp's conclusion "that hookups can be damaging to young women, denying their emotional needs, putting them at risk of depression and even sexually transmitted disease, and making them ill-equipped for real relationships later on." Ms. Stepp's concern centers on the decrease among women in their teens and 20's of having meaningful connection rather than an exchange of sexual favors with men they barely know. Here at theporntalk.com an underlying premise is the importance of how intimacy is shared, learned, perceived and understood in child and teen development. I wonder how much of this decline in meaningful connection being the foundation of sexual intimacy is truly affected by our hesitancy or difficulty in talking with our kids about the aspects of dating, casual sex, porn, and broken hearts? Ms. Stepp may be onto something here.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
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Man Sues Over Porn Stash Security
3/6/2007
Over at Gizmodo, Louis Ramirez writes that a Connecticut man who was jailed on illegal gun possession is now suing Microsoft, HP, and Circuit City claiming all three companies failed to keep his computer safe from the Feds, who uncovered his porn collection after seizing and cracking into his password-protected PC. Michael Alan Crooker is seeking $200,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, saying MS' Internet Explorer failed to delete his browsing history, which was easily traced back to various porn sites.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE GIZMODO ARTICLE |
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ThePornTalk.com Website Wins Best In Show
3/2/2007
Tonight at the 2007 Addy Awards, ThePornTalk.com website took home the top honor of "Best In Show" for Web/Interactive Media. This is an amazing recognition as the Addys are the worlds largest and toughest advertising competition. A huge congratulations is due to the stellar web design team and the many volunteers who worked on ThePornTalk.com from Plain Joe Studios and Ethur. They have done an amazing job on this project.
Also, thanks to Randy, Paula, and Simon for voting for this work. O wait. Wrong show. |
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LifeHacker.com And ScrubIT
3/1/2007
Ferebee sent over a write up by Rick Broida over at LifeHacker.com. He reviews a new blocker called ScrubIT. Broida writes:
"Worried about unwanted porn in the home or workplace? ScrubIT promises to block that stuff (and more) at the server level. All you do is configure your router to use ScrubIT's DNS servers. Alternately, Windows 2000/XP users can download a utility that tweaks the networking settings accordingly. When you're done, any porn-ridden or potentially malicious sites, whether visited intentionally or accidentally, will be blocked."
READ THE LIFEHACKER.COM STORY BY CLICKING HERE.
VISIT SCRUBIT.COM BY CLICKING HERE. |
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Great Article At NintendoWiiFanBoy.com
2/28/2007
A great article at NintendoWiiFanBoy.com on tips for parents. It's very well written and addresses the key issues and sheds some light on the ins-and-outs of the Wii. Make sure to check it out.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE |
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Gamers: What Would You Tell Parents?
2/28/2007
Many gamers have been posting vigorously on our Wii blog posts. We appreciate your POV and enthusiasm for the issues. We've seen some great posts about tech and the internet and the Wii. Also, a lot of posts about us being religious whack jobs.
So what advice would you have for parents that don't understand technology? What advice would you give to Moms and Dads in regards to internet porn and Wi-Fi devices like the Wii? Is porn exposure to kids even an issue in your opinion?
Seriously curious about your thots.
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Filters And Integrity Online
2/27/2007
We read a great article today featuring Integrity Online, a filtered internet provider and good friends of this organization. Last year the filters of Integrity Online blocked more than 200 million pornography-laden web pages and e-mails. Dang that's a lot of porn.
If you're looking for a really great filter, check them out and click on the banner ad down on the left side of this page. |
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Wii Want To Hear From You On The Wii
2/27/2007
We've been talking about the Wii and Wi-Fi devices on the ThePornTalk blog. Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this issue and your suggestions on dealing with devices that come with internet capabilities.
We want to hear from you.
"WII TALK ABOUT PORN" BLOG POST
"WHERE THERE'S A WII, THERE'S A WAY" BLOG POST
"READ THEM AND WIIP" BLOG POST
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Chris Does The Porn Talk
2/26/2007
A cool email from a guy named Chris. Check it out.
This past week I had "The Porn Talk" with my 11 yr old nephew. You'd have thunk that since I run Teens Against Porn I'd have talked to him by now (single mom, no dad in the picture). But it went great and I totally used your site as a lead into the conversation. "So I was on this website last week that was for parents and it said I should talk to you about porn between the ages of 9 and 11. It made me curious to know if you know what porn is and if you've ever seen it?"
He had no idea what porn was... until I described it to him. "Oh yeah, I've seen that. I mis-typed " google.com" once and it came up." So I said "Really? How did it make you feel?" He said, "I felt like I was doing something wrong! So I closed it real quick!" Then I told him that he didn't do anything wrong because he didn't do it on purpose, and that the fact that he closed it quickly means that he has great instincts and he did the right thing."
I told him that the holy spirit talks to me that way all the time and the best thing to do is listen. Many more good things followed from there. The conversation **ROCKED**. We spent an hour hanging out working on a pine block car thing for his boyscout derby. Just goofin off, drilling/sawing/sanding, and talking about porn, love, girls, etc. Keep up the good work! Chris. |
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Sexy Ads May Harm Girls
2/23/2007
In an article by Lidia Wasowicz she writes advertising that looks at girls and young women through a sexual lens can do harm to their mental and physical health, states a report released by the American Psychological Association.
The members of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls decried the proliferation of such promotions in music videos and lyrics, magazines, movies and video games and on television and the Internet, deeming it a threat to girls' positive self-image and development.
Making women into sex objects or defining them by their sexual appeal or behavior -- a common trend in all the media forms studied -- can lead to disturbing consequences, they said.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE STORY. |
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Sex God: Rob Bell
2/22/2007
I've been reading the brand spankin new book by Rob Bell called "Sex God." Rob is an incredible guy with an incredible message. The book deals with spirituality, sexuality, relationships and the human soul. It is told in a very straightforward and accessible way. Rob has a great gift of making big ideas really simple and pure. A great read on relationships, sexuality, and spirituality. This book is must have and I'm commanding you to go buy it now!
CLICK HERE TO BUY AT AMAZON.COM |
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Tough Talks Podcast: 2 New Episodes
2/22/2007
Two new episodes of the Tough Talks Podcast will be available today in Itunes. Why two new episodes this week? Well we forgot to launch the podcast from last week. Ooops. So enjoy these new discussions on Nintendo's Wii and how much detail should I use when talking to my kids about porn. And thanks for the great feedback we have been getting on the show. We appreciate it.
Btw, if you subscribe to the podcast you get the shows before everyone else does. Just a fun little tidbit of info. |
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Good News For Porn?
2/19/2007
According to Business Wire Internet sales of adult content, which includes images, live-chat and live-streaming video, was a strong growth area in 2006. In fact, AVN reports that in 2006, Internet Sales became the second largest adult entertainment segment, with 22 percent of the market or $2.8 billion in sales.
“The adult customer today has more delivery options,” said Paul Fishbein, president, AVN Media Network. “They can watch content on the Internet, a DVD or order Pay-Per-View on cable. The market is robust and widening as adult entertainment is embraced more and more by the mainstream consumer.”
And guess what Paul Fishbein? Kids have just as many delivery options as adults. And please stop calling it adult entertainment. |
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Microsoft Vista And Filtering Falls Flat
2/9/2007
An interesting article in Red Herring. First, the good news. Microsoft’s new Vista operating system features parental controls, making it easier for moms and dads to decide the programs children can use. It also lets parents set time limits on how long children can use the computer.
Now on another topic and the bad news. Still, despite the massive surge in Internet porn, adoption of parental control software remains flat, standing at 32 percent of parents with teenagers at home, said Sally Cohen, an analyst at Forrester Research. More than half of those parents get the software from their Internet service provider.
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Chicago Porn Talk This Weekend
2/6/2007
This weekend I will be in Chicago speaking at a church for ThePornTalk.com. I will be sharing both Saturday night and Sunday morning about porn, how to talk to your kids about it, and some practical insights on how to positively deal with this issue in our society.
The only problem. Chicago's high today was 5 degrees and I was rooting for the Colts in the Super Bowl. Should still be fun. Mike. |
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Wii Talk About Porn
2/5/2007
We just added a new page dedicated to helping parents get all the information about Nintendo's Wii Gaming Console. Because of the Wii's wireless internet access, you are able to surf porn on the Wii. Good times.
Anyways, check out the page which has some help for parents and it dives into the parental controls that need be activated on the Wii.
YOU REALLY WANT TO CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE. |
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New Study Released Today: Kids & Rising Exposure
2/5/2007
A new study released today on kids and porn exposure. The research was done by the University of New Hampshire and here were some of their findings according to MSNBC.
Forty-two per cent of internet users aged 10 to 17 surveyed said they had seen online pornography in a recent 12-month span. Of those, 66 per cent said they did not want to view the images and had not sought them out.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE MSNBC STORY.
So what's lacking in the research and the story? A good solution. Well lucky for you, you're logged onto one of the solutions here at www.ThePornTalk.com
Please talk to your kids. It's so important that they have good information and direction from you.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
POST IN THE COMMENTS SECTION HERE
OR EMAIL US AT INFO@THEPORNTALK.COM |
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Podcast: I Think Little Johnny Is Looking At Porn!
2/3/2007
A new Tough Talks podcast is now available in Itunes. You can see all our podcasts by CLICKING HERE.
Dave, Mike, and Doug discuss the porn warnings signs that every parent should be looking for and what happens when spouses are on different pages on the porn issue. The guys also discuss how a school district will now be talking about internet dangers with their 5th and 6th graders.
Btw, thanks for all your wonderful comments and reviews we have been getting about the podcast. |
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Taped New Podcasts For Future Release
2/2/2007
Yesterday we got together and recorded some new tough talks podcasts. We had some great conversations on a variety of topics. David, Kyle, and myself talked a lot of porn in the studio lounge. We also have some interviews with some special guests including Randy Phillips from Passage.org who talked about how father's can connect better with their sons.
We also discussed freaky cult leaders, how ringtones say a lot about your personality, the Sundance Film Festival, Wii porn, and our love of Morgon Spurlocks 30 Days. The shows will be rolling out over the next weeks to come. Mike. |
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Are You A Teacher Or School Administrator?
1/31/2007
We're looking for teachers or school administrators to share with us their thoughts on porn on the school campus. We want to hear the stories that you have personally experienced with teens today. Have you caught kids looking at porn in the classroom? Do you think it is an issue? How does porn impact the learning environment at your school? Does your school campus have safegaurds to prevent online access?
We really want to hear from you for the next ThePornTalk.com campaign. Don't post here in the blog but please email us at Info@ThePornTalk.com if you're interested in sharing. |
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Read Them and Wiip
1/24/2007
With the majority of us still wading in the wake of the holiday season, many of us have at least heard of the new game consoles from eager children. Of the two consoles that have made their appearance at your local Best Buy, if not in your own home, is the Nintendo Wii. Aside from the cute name, the Wii packs a powerful punch to the gaming world. Nintendo has prided itself on its consoles and games being family friendly, and with the slew of games as wide ranging as Zelda and Mario, chances are the classic titles have caught someone’s eye in your house.
The Nintendo Wii contains a Menu, which upon start up, allows you to browse through a number of items such as the weather, a Nintendo store and even the internet. The internet option for the Wii is offered through a simple Wi-Fi connection, and it is only too simple to use the Wi-Fi connection of a neighbor or of your own house without anyone knowing it. And on top of that the internet option isn’t a restricted one, you can check your mail, search on Google, check your myspace, and even create your own blog much like the one I am writing now with my Wii.
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What Are My Values As A Parent?
1/23/2007
I'm wondering if you've ever thought about what your values are as a parent. I think too often we are teaching our kids values by default or we are very unclear. I think their are two very clear ways that parents teach values. First, is by modeling the values themselves. The way we act and conduct ourselves has great impact on our kids. Children are very observant. They watch us. They pay attention to what Mom and Dad do. They pick up a lot of cues on priorities and right v. wrong.
The other way that kids learn values is by clearly stating them. Do you tell your kids your expectations for them? Do you talk with them about what you approve of and what you don't approve of in your home? As a member of the family?
Figure out what your values are and then model them and talk to your kids about them. Both are critical in parenting.
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Is There One Porn Talk?
1/19/2007
I talked to a reporter the other day in an interview for this site and he asked me whether or not the "porn talk" was a single event. You know, we basically talk to our kids about porn one time and we're good to go. Our kids know about our feelings on the subject and are aware of porn's ramifications. We're set. Well, not exactly.
It is important to frame up this idea of the "porn talk" not as a single event but as an ongoing/recurring event. The first talk is critical and a huge deal. We definitely want to move you towards that first initial conversation if you have'nt done it already. But our bigger goal is for you to have established a safe place and a relationship for you and your child to talk about porn, sex, and difficult topics for a lifetime.
The initial "porn talk" is the start of the journey. Not the end.
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MySpace Hit With Online Predator Suit
1/18/2007
Jessican Mintz from the AP writes today about four families who have sued News Corp. and its MySpace social-networking site after their underage daughters were sexually abused by adults they met on the site.
Critics including parents, school officials and police have been increasingly warning of online predators at sites like MySpace, where youth-oriented visitors are encouraged to expand their circles of friends using free messaging tools and personal profile pages.
Last June, the mother of a 14-year-old who says she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old user sued MySpace and News Corp., seeking $30 million in damages. That lawsuit, pending in a Texas state court, claims the 19-year-old lied about being a senior in high school to gain her trust and phone number.
You can read the story by clicking here. |
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Oh No! Not Again!
1/16/2007
This is the second email that I have received through my MySpace account that wasn't about "making friends." Btw, don't they read in my profile that I'm married. I guess not. Mike.
Here is the email:
So, i guess the time has come for me to start using this site. I can hold back no more! I took a gander though your page and well, I liked what I saw.. ;p
So, my name is Anastasia. I think you and I should be friends, because you seem pretty cool, and maybe even cute! (it's everso hard to tell in this digital world :)
anyways, i'd go on all day, but I wanna get an answer from you.. You should check out my other page on this other site, I'm always on over there: (website address removed for this post) Then maybe we could chat sometime! you know what they say.. looks captures the eyes, but personality captures the heart.. haha..
take care,
Anastasia |
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Study On Teen Safety & MySpace
1/12/2007
Good news to report. It seems that teens are using a lot more discretion when it comes to putting personal information on social networking sites ie: MySpace, Xanga, Facebook, etc. A story in the Washington Times reports that more than half of teens who visit social-networking hubs have created an online personal profile. Of those, 66 percent say their profile is not open to all Internet users.
91 percent of teens rely on the sites to keep in touch with friends while forty-nine percent say they use the sites to make new friends. Older boys ages 15 to 17 are more than twice as likely as older girls to use social-networking sites to flirt with someone.
But the study also included a worrisome finding: Five percent of users with public profiles have pictures of themselves in bathing suits or underwear posted on their pages.
To read the article click here. |
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Podcasts Now Available
1/10/2007
We're really excited to add the Tough Talks podcast to the site. They are now available in Itunes or you can go to the "Watch and Listen" section. We will be releasing new podcasts about once a week and we encourage to subscribe to the podcast. We talk about different issues, news stories, answer questions, and provide helpful information on how to connect with your kid.
And a special thanks to all who participated and are currently helping to make the podcast a great resource. Check out the show by clicking here. |
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The Great Cell Phone Filter Challenge:Prt 4
1/9/2007
I was at the MTV offices today meeting with a good friend of mine named Owen. He is an incredible guy and is a news producer there and handles alot of their web and interactive stuff. Well Owen and I were talking about ThePornTalk.com and I told him I was searching for a filter for my phone. He is amazing with technology and has every app possible on his Treo. So he suggested a program called Opera which is a web browser that may have some of the functionality that I'm looking for. So I'm checking it out. You can check it out at www.Opera.com |
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The Great Cell Phone Filter Challenge:Prt 3
1/4/2007
So I talked with Kenneth today at Motorola. I wish I had something good to report but I don't. Apparently Motorola can only help me if I'm looking for "fun, ringtones, or a GPS program." Well I told Kenneth I wasn't looking for any of these items but for a filter or a porn blocker for my Motorola Q. He said they don't have anything like that and maybe I should try searching on Google or Yahoo for some help with that. Thanks a lot Kenneth. So off to search the internet for something that will help. |
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The Great Cell Phone Filter Challenge:Prt 2
1/3/2007
So I talked with Verizon Wireless today. After surfing through the different options on their automated answering system I finally just hit 0 so I could talk to someone about needing a porn blocker. A very nice lady named Jerry took my call. As I explained to her that I was looking for a filter or some software that blocks pornography on my cell phone she immediately started researching. I could hear her typing on the computer looking for info. She told me to keep holding while she looks around for some answers. "Their must be something we have" she said reassuringly. So I waited. And waited. She then told me that she typed in the word "filter" and "filtering" but nothing came up that would help me. She then asked me to hold while she checks with data support.
Data Support are the guys that handle all of the web stuff. In a few minutes Jerry was back with bad news. We don't have or provide anything like that through Verizon. This service would come through a 3rd party provider. She then gave me the number for Motorola(the maker of my phone) and told me Motorola would be the ones to talk to about this.
She then concluded our call by asking "Mike, have I provided good service for you today?" I answered, "I guess."
Now onto calling Motorola to see if I can get some type of filter for my phone. I will let you know what I find. Mike. |
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The Great Cell Phone Filter Challenge:Prt 1
1/2/2007
Can you filter/block/monitor adult content on a cell phone? That's the big question and the challenge for this week. I read an article yesterday that talked about how "some" cell phone services allow you to block and even monitor cell phone use. With cell phones being able to access the internet I wanted to find out if their was anything I could put on my phone or some service that would block/filter/monitor pornographic images/content. I do this on my computer so why not with my cell phone that has a great internet connection. If the article I read was correct then it sounds like this might be possible.
So here's the challenge: Find a filter/block/monitor or something like that for my Motorola Q.(which is a sweet phone btw) Is this even possible? What will I find? Will I hit a dead end? Do I have to move to Japan to get this type of cell service? We shall see.
My first call: Verizon Wireless who is my cell phone carrier. I will let you know what they say in Part 2. Mike. |
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2 New Videos In ThePornTalk Player
12/31/2006
We just added 2 new videos in the Porn Talk Video Player(look to your right on this page)One video is with Ken who is a Dad and how he talks and connects with his daughters. The other is with teens talking about MySpace and the issues/dangers that are a part of that online community. More to come.
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Tough Talks Podcast
12/29/2006
Yesterday we recorded some of the first segments for the official ThePornTalk.com podcast. The show is called "Tough Talks Podcast" and dives into all types of parenting issues related to porn, sex, and the internet.
We can almost gaurantee that after listening to these episodes you will be better prepared to sit down with your child and talk about these tough topics. The podcast hits on different news items, technology, panic button questions, and is filled with brutally honest and frank dialogue on porn. The team also talks about Cheech and Chong and one of Mike's favorite shows, Little People, Big World with Matt and Amy Roloff. Look for these to come online early January. |
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Merry Christmas From ThePornTalk.com
12/23/2006
Merry Christmas to everyone from ThePornTalk.com team. May the holiday be a wonderful time spent with your family and friends.
Btw, in January 2007 we will be adding some exciting new features to the site, additional videos, porn talk coaching service, and several "tough talks podcasts" with Mike, David, Tracy and Kyle.
So from all of us to all of you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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Surf Where It's Safe
12/18/2006
You have heard all the horror stories about MySpace, Facebook, and other social networking sites on the Web. Here is a site you can recommend to kids that let's them connect with others while safeguarding thier privacy and connections. At www.imbee.com kids age 8-14 have a place to blog, network, and share photos. Prents get tools to monitor thier kids' activity...including their messages, blogging, and photo sharing...for $4 month.
a step in the right direction! |
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6th Graders To Hear About Dangers
12/17/2006
Students in Connecticut will soon be taught about internet dangers at their schools. Plans are in the works to address this issue in the 6th(and possibly 5th) grade classes. This is in response to a local police detectives work that found that at least five children have met with Internet predators without ever being detected by parents. One of the youths reported to having sex with a 33-year-old male.
We think this is a great move and one that every school should look at. To read the full story click here. |
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Friend or Foe?
12/11/2006
To her shock and horror a young girl of 18 recently discovered she had a myspace account. The problem was she never created it? It was full of all her personal information, including many pictures and preferences.
After some research she found out, one of her "friends" created this myspace months ago in hopes to communicate with a boy she liked. She knew the boy was a friend of this young woman and knew he would talk to her honestly if he believed he was talking to his friend... so after hours of planning and creating... she became her friend! She assumed her name and identity to ask the boy delicate questions about herself to see if he liked her. She had been blogging for months under this identity all the while fooling the young man she hoped to hook up with.
When the identity stealer was confronted she said, "Sorry, I just wanted to see if he liked me"... Some friend!
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Teen Models or Teen porn?
12/11/2006
According to MSNBC... a mom recently answered an online advertisement for preteen models. She naively believed this may be the way to build her young daughters portfolio. She contacted the company and then proceeded to the photographer for pictures. The photographer asked her to wait outside while he photographed her daughter...(he said it made the kids nervous to have their parents watch the process.
Time went by so she thought she would pop her head in to see how her daughter was doing...When she did... she found her daughter in a thong and a halter top (visibly upset) getting her picture taken. Her daughter was scared and afraid to speak up. Mom went directly to the FBI. This company hosted 60 sites (Webeweb) and the sites were aimed at pedophiles. It was kind of a club for profit where they could pay money and look at porn.
This Florida's firm owners now face child porn charges for provacative photos of kids. The photographer was charged with 20 months in jail. This mom did not realize she was placing her child at risk until it was to late....Don't do the same! |
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