Posted on 12/27/2005 9:33:46 AM PST by sinanju
"...So began the secret life of a teenager who was lured into selling images of his body on the Internet over the course of five years. From the seduction that began that day, this soccer-playing honor roll student was drawn into performing in front of the Webcam--undressing, showering, masturbating and even having sex--for an audience of more than 1,500 people who paid him, over the years, hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Justin's dark coming-of-age story is a collateral effect of recent technological advances. Minors, often under the online tutelage of adults, are opening for-pay pornography sites featuring their own images sent onto the Internet by inexpensive Webcams. And they perform from the privacy of home, while parents are nearby, beyond their children's closed bedroom doors.
The business has created youthful Internet pornography stars--with nicknames like Riotboyy, Miss Honey and Gigglez--whose images are traded online long after their sites have vanished. In this world, adolescents announce schedules of their next masturbation for customers who pay fees for the performance or monthly subscription charges. Eager customers can even buy "private shows," in which teenagers sexually perform while following real-time instructions."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Do YOU know what your teenager might be doing online?
All the more reason why children shouldn't have computers in their rooms where parents cannot monitor what they are doing! I can't believe this story!
Why can't a parent monitor a computer in a child's room?
Who is paying the mortgage/rent?
and don't parents ever become suspicious of kids who sit in their rooms all day and end up rolling in cash?
I dont have kids. So take it for what it is worth. But if I did. The computer with internet access should be in the living room! No WAY should a kid have internet access in private. Period.
Forget monitoring programs. The best monitor is a parent in the room!
Nothing, because I don't allow them online unless I am right there behind their chair.
"Why can't a parent monitor a computer in a child's room?"
It's just a lot easier when the computer is in the living room.
Logistics.
The men also filled an emotional void in Justin's life. His relationship with his father, Knute Berry, was troubled. His parents divorced when he was young; afterward, police records show, there were instances of reported abuse. On one occasion the father was arrested and charged with slamming Justin's head into a wall, causing an injury that required seven staples in his scalp. Although Justin testified against him, Knute Berry said the injury was an accident and was acquitted. He declined to comment in a telephone interview.Of course, there are plenty of people (many so-called conservatives among them) who think family breakup is no big deal. I expect the New York Times writers who investigated this story are among them.The emotional turmoil left Justin longing for paternal affection, family members said. And the adult males he met online offered just that. "They complimented me all the time," Justin said. "They told me I was smart, they told me I was handsome."
How about at school, public library, friend's house?
Here is a link where this was discussed the other day. I was attacked for saying basically what you all are saying. I disagree with a kid being unsupervised on the net. This kid proved he CANNOT be trusted.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1543117/posts
The parent can then open the door.
Or when the child goes to bed, they could turn the computer on and do who knows what.
The parent could take the power cable for the computer, rendering it powerless or throw the breaker for the child's bedroom, sending no electricity up there.
The kind of excuses that people make for not parenting really amuse me.
"How about at school, public library, friend's house?'
School and library are public places. I dont think a kid is going to look at much porn in a public place. Or webcam. Chat could be a problem.
Hey, Im not a parent. But you keep kids away from bad things as best you can right? Do what you can. Instill in them what is right and wrong. Talk to the teachers, know the friends they hang with and what their home life is like. Dont be thier best friend. Be a parent.
Maybe Im nuts. I dont know anything, I dont have kids.
My bro does though. And I was a kid once, and I had parents who looked afer me.
If the facts are as alleged, we have something far worse than inattention:
In Mexico, Justin freely spent his cash, leading his father to ask where the money had come from. Justin said that he confessed the details of his lucrative Webcam business, and that the reunion soon became a collaboration.
I don't mean just that. I mean chatting and "looking up things". And are kids ever home alone? Maybe we should try teaching them right from wrong.
This rugrat made hundred of thousands of dollars and his parents didn't question the kid driving a new dodge viper to school ?:o) < /sarcasm>
Keyloggers are a parents friend.....
http://www.blazingtools.com/bpk.html
But then a smart kid can counter such efforts.....
http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/?ref=google_kl
As ya state....watch em like a kid till they are 18 and not living at home anymore. Called parenting still if I'm not mistaken....
Do you have a problem with me? I see you disagree with everything I've said not only on this thread but another, as well.
Yes, actually. Because the only computer in our home with internet access sits right in the family room, on the arm of the couch. And it will always be so.
Quit being paranoid, jeez.
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