How to: Stay safe when using Bebo or MySpace
Tags: age, children, profile, child
There has been intense publicity over recent weeks about the dangers of social networking sites such as Bebo and MySpace. In response to these concerns, UK watchdog the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) is running workshops next week where parents, teachers, young people and the industry will discuss the issues and how to make these sites safer.
The risk that attracts most of the press attention is that of paedophiles using the site to meet children. But cyber-bullying can also be a problem and there's the more ordinary risk that a potential employer could find your child's profile and decide against hiring them due to what they've posted.
Here are a few safety pointers to make sure your kids stay safe online:
1) Most social networking sites have a minimum age for users -- for Bebo it is 13, for MySpace it is 14. But as the sites do not ask for proof of age, it's worth making sure your younger children aren't using it. If they are, report it to the site and they will take down their profile.
2) Make sure your children aren't giving out private information such as their full name, age, address, email address or phone number. It may be worth getting them to use a separate email address for their Bebo account -- that way if they do have problems they can simply ditch that email address and continue using their main one. Photos can also be a bad idea -- particularly as they can easily be downloaded or edited by other people.
3) Make your children aware that people are not always who they seem online, so if it's not a real-life friend then they shouldn't give out personal information or accept them as a friend on their contact list. You should also make them aware of the dangers of meeting someone they've met online in person. If they're determined to meet them, make sure you or someone else goes along with them.
4) If someone has behaved strangely or is bullying your child you can report it to the site itself -- click on 'Report Abuse' on the members' profile in Bebo, or click on the 'Contact MySpace' on the bottom of each page. Or you can report it on the CEOP's Think U Know Web site.
5) Make your children aware that anything they write may come back to bite them. Employers often Google prospective employees nowadays and if your child has set their homepage to be public then it's likely to be picked up by search engines. If your child has used their full name on their profile (rather than their nickname), any employer searching on their name will probably get their Bebo homepage as the first link coming up.
For more information on safety, check out the safety information on Bebo, MySpace and the CEOP's Think U Know site. -Ingrid Marson
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leah Tue 3 July, 2007 3:08pm
can any 1 get bebo unblocked plzz :(:( if u can write bck plzz ;)
AimeeWed 30 May, 2007 10:23am
when i try 2 get on 2 bebo it comes up the same error 504 gateway. wat dose that mean
AnonymousWed 4 July, 2007 7:55am
I LOVE BEBO it is soooooooooo cool ya no
marcMon 16 July, 2007 2:49pm
Helllo do u no a web site to unblock bebo form our school were Looking for proxy websites someone help pleasee we need bebo back
07djdjkskjs
kyle bakerTue 20 November, 2007 4:42pm
if u havent already got kproxy then typ in kproxy go to page 2 and it will say free anoymas web somin klik on it and typ in www.bebo.com
AnonymousThu 19 July, 2007 1:27pm
on my school comp i cant get on bebo and i reli need to get on lol!
it says access denied!
d u kno a way i can get on?
AnonymousMon 27 August, 2007 2:13am
use a proxy
gosh ive been thorugh about 100
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see you sooon
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hello lol yhoo okies i dunno wa put wa is this site n e way please t6ell me
AnonymousTue 15 January, 2008 12:32pm
Erm You Can Try
www.hiding.in
Its Bloked At My Skool But It Does Workk :)
AnonymousFri 18 January, 2008 1:41pm
hiya
peepz
AnonymousMon 4 February, 2008 3:02pm
can sum1 tell me how t get on bebo man everything is blockd at my skkl :(:( x
AnonymousWed 6 February, 2008 2:22pm
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AnonymousFri 8 February, 2008 5:05pm
I realy do need to get on bebo....but it won
t work at all, and it's startin' to (P!SSMEOFF)...Ya KNo'.....
and PLZ Help Me.....Dis Be Sissy Brave, From St. Francis Indian School.....Laderz, halla back when u can get down da new website that u can get on bebo with aight well check it out.
AnonymousTue 12 February, 2008 3:52pm
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AnonymousMon 3 March, 2008 10:39pm
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AnonymousFri 14 March, 2008 11:06am
Stop spending so much time on Bebo and learn to spell PLZZZZZZZ lol
AnonymousTue 15 April, 2008 11:50am
we need bebo bk in our skuls so does any1 knw any websites cuz im f***in bored u dont undastand! i neva do any work in it cuz its sh*t help me plz:D:D tapp bakk x
AnonymousWed 23 April, 2008 9:52am
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AnonymousThu 8 May, 2008 2:13pm
hey peoples wot u up 2
AnonymousTue 13 May, 2008 12:54am
You all smell like fishy .
AnonymousTue 13 May, 2008 12:56am
Keriana go clean your teeth .
AnonymousThu 5 June, 2008 12:12pm
bebo is crap i h8t it tbh :L:L:):D
AnonymousTue 8 July, 2008 10:18am
wooow, why do u have to write a comment on here likke ankyone can help, im jokin ur computer is brokin, or bebo aint workin properly on ur computer!!!
AnonymousTue 8 July, 2008 10:19am
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joikkaa
x
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thanks if it os really possible!!
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=]
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Ex `
Oh `
Ex `
Oh `
Ex `
. . . Ox . X
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AnonymousSun 22 October, 2006 3:30pm
my bebo has blanked out every time i put www.bebo.com it says Error 504" Gateway timeout