Re: MSN/Windows messenger: safe for 13 year old?

In article <3m6cftF157322U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, tickettyboo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
breezed in and declared:
> In news:xn0e5y5n1brgge005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
> Jeff Gaines whispered softly in my ear...:
> > On 13/08/2005 Webrex wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> I have been asked by a relative about MSN messenger. The person in
> >> question has a 13 year old daughter who wants to use MSN (all her
> >> friends use it). The parent has banned MSN after a letter from the
> >> girl's school saying "we don't encourage the use of MSN Messenger".
>
> > It's just another means of communicating so if she is allowed to use a
> > 'phone or the Internet un-supervised then in *theory* it's little
> > different.
> >
> > The problems can arise I think when your 'address' becomes public,
> > perhaps passed around amongst friends and then passed on to others who
> > may not be friends. Eventually she may get inappropriate calls,
> > although there are facilities to block calls.
>
> Well, I think its still possible to get onto someones contact list if
> you are chatting and they invite someone else into the conversation. I
> know I got quite a few extra contacts that way , years ago. Now ,
> whereas one particular friend may be ok by the parents, a friend of a
> friend of a friend is an unknown quantity. Which is why
> supervision..that translates to noseying over the shoulder while msn is
> being used to see who they are talking to LOL would be, to me, very
> important.

I agree that supervision for a 13 year old on Mesenger woud be
desirable. It might be worth bearing in mind that Messenger can be set
up to log all conversations so if parents were reluctant or unable to
'nosey over the shoulder' then they could use the logs to monitor
conversations. Naturally, they should point out to said child that this
would be happening.

Logging has to be turned on if you want it. It can be found under Tools>
Options - click on 'Messages' and tick 'Automatically Keep a Record of
My Conversations' The logs will be found in My Documents>My Received
Files where Messenger wil set up a folder. I guess the average PC-wise
13 year old will soon find how to turn the logging option off so there
needs to be a clear understanding from the start that missing logs will
result in missing MSN Messenger (I'm assuming that the 13year old will
not have administrative rights and would not be able to re-install
Messenger if it were uninstalled by some spoilsport administrator).


--
Michaelangelo
www.mikenagel.co.uk

Accessible, self-catering, holiday
accommodation for physically disabled people
www.woodhead-cottage.co.uk
.

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