Thank you for writing about internet safety for children (TMID, 5 February). Parents and children need to be educated and they need to know where to turn for help. I am passionate about this since my son became a victim of cyber bullying on MySpace. I want to share with you my story in a hope that it will help keep another child safe.
My son was the victim of an imposter profile on MySpace that accused him of illegal and obscene activity that was completely false. He was humiliated to the point of skipping school.
He was so desperate to clear his name; he went on the Dr Phil show. You can view that interview by visiting http://www.safewave.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=337&Itemid=57 and then clicking on Andrew’s Story.
Learning to navigate the system to have the imposter profile removed and finally stop three months of humiliation for my son was a tremendous task. I contacted SafeWave.org and they took the lead in helping me have the page removed. Even though the page was removed the lies posted about him are on the internet forever. My son has a GPA of 4.0 and is now concerned with college acceptance and obtaining a beneficial job since most companies and colleges check social networking sites to see how persons represent themselves. For the bully, if a charge of cyber bullying, identity theft or misuse of a computer is on their record, they will not be hired. It is a lose-lose situation for both victim and bully.
Since my son became a victim and having to watch him suffer at the hands of others needlessly, I have become an internet safety advocate. I want to bring awareness to the problem, not just for the victims’ sake, but for the bullies as well. Both become victims.
Education and a safe place to put kids on the internet is the key. I have become a volunteer Mom for SafeWave.org. SafeWave, creators of iLAND5, is a bully-free and predator-free website for a kid that’s free to use. This site requires a child’s school to verify his or her identification before they can become a member. Members must be ages 5-18. There are no predators, bullies, or imposter profiles on this site. They also have a free downloadable browser. iLAND5 is content monitored 24/7 with filters and actual ‘eyes on’.
If all social networking sites were like SafeWave and verified the user’s identification to gain access, things like what happened to my son would not happen. I hope schools and parents put their kids on iLAND5.com to prevent cyber bullies and predators from reaching our kids in the first place. No one understands the effects of cyber bullying on a child and the family until they endure it.
I hope you will join me in keeping kids safe online and let others know about these two sites.
Brenda Preston
St Pete Beach, Florida
USA