A Little Off Topic
Today's entry isn't my usual topic, but it's what's on my mind tonight. A friend that my husband works with told him about a new thing that's going on on the internet and wanted to pass it on so we could be aware.
So... apparently some hacker is out there that is targeting children. Hoax or not it sounds like something right out of a horror movie. I guess it started on some social media apps and has spread now to the Kid's version of YouTube.
It honestly creeps me out and makes me glad that I never set up the filter for my kids and have just casually monitored some of the content they watch. If they're watching how-to art videos maybe they'll be less likely to run across the actual hacker than if they are watching some home-made cartoon that seems to be where it is coming up.
Granted the idea behind the filter is good, but since there doesn't seem to be a full screening of content that is filtered out as kid friendly it becomes something that less savory people will take advantage of, knowing that kids will be their audience. People that hide content toward the middle of the videos so that it's not immediately suspect. Content that an adult is less likely to see so they can do something about it.
This creep has decided to play on the popular challenge theme and starts out benign enough. Challenging the kid to wake up at odd hours, make a mess of their room or break a toy and gradually escalates to something farm more sinister. Turn the stove on in the kitchen while your parents are sleeping, take any random medications you can find, jump off a roof and don't tell your parents about the challenge or the challenger will kill their parents.
Older kids would likely be less susceptible (I would hope), but when they are young enough that they don't know any better it can have very tragic results, and apparently has though I'm not keen on looking into it further to find out all the details.
The persona is freaking scary looking as it is (nightmare material), but they do more than just communicate through one way videos. They communicate through instant messaging/texts.
My kids have been warned that if it ever does come up, turn it off, come tell us and don't communicate back, but it's still unsettling.
I could ban them from the internet all together, and I know a lot of parents that do that anyway and that's fine. I just don't feel the need to go that far. There is enough good content out there that it's just a matter of paying attention to the type of content that they are into and steering them away from anything that doesn't seem appropriate.
I may have to ban my youngest though because I don't know that she won't seek it out now that she knows it's out there just because she's curious. She'd already heard of the name because the character is an actual artist's piece that's been adopted by the hacker and someone made a polymer figure of it in one of the art video's she watched.
Regardless. There are some sickos out there that really just make you wish you could put a force field around your kids and protect them 24/7, but you can't protect them from knowing scary things are out there. You can't keep them from being exposed to at least a few things even if you wish you could.
You don't want them to be too naive and trusting either. You just hope that your best is enough and that the choices you make have enough balance between protection and helping them know how to make the right decisions on their own I guess.
So... apparently some hacker is out there that is targeting children. Hoax or not it sounds like something right out of a horror movie. I guess it started on some social media apps and has spread now to the Kid's version of YouTube.
It honestly creeps me out and makes me glad that I never set up the filter for my kids and have just casually monitored some of the content they watch. If they're watching how-to art videos maybe they'll be less likely to run across the actual hacker than if they are watching some home-made cartoon that seems to be where it is coming up.
Granted the idea behind the filter is good, but since there doesn't seem to be a full screening of content that is filtered out as kid friendly it becomes something that less savory people will take advantage of, knowing that kids will be their audience. People that hide content toward the middle of the videos so that it's not immediately suspect. Content that an adult is less likely to see so they can do something about it.
This creep has decided to play on the popular challenge theme and starts out benign enough. Challenging the kid to wake up at odd hours, make a mess of their room or break a toy and gradually escalates to something farm more sinister. Turn the stove on in the kitchen while your parents are sleeping, take any random medications you can find, jump off a roof and don't tell your parents about the challenge or the challenger will kill their parents.
Older kids would likely be less susceptible (I would hope), but when they are young enough that they don't know any better it can have very tragic results, and apparently has though I'm not keen on looking into it further to find out all the details.
The persona is freaking scary looking as it is (nightmare material), but they do more than just communicate through one way videos. They communicate through instant messaging/texts.
My kids have been warned that if it ever does come up, turn it off, come tell us and don't communicate back, but it's still unsettling.
I could ban them from the internet all together, and I know a lot of parents that do that anyway and that's fine. I just don't feel the need to go that far. There is enough good content out there that it's just a matter of paying attention to the type of content that they are into and steering them away from anything that doesn't seem appropriate.
I may have to ban my youngest though because I don't know that she won't seek it out now that she knows it's out there just because she's curious. She'd already heard of the name because the character is an actual artist's piece that's been adopted by the hacker and someone made a polymer figure of it in one of the art video's she watched.
Regardless. There are some sickos out there that really just make you wish you could put a force field around your kids and protect them 24/7, but you can't protect them from knowing scary things are out there. You can't keep them from being exposed to at least a few things even if you wish you could.
You don't want them to be too naive and trusting either. You just hope that your best is enough and that the choices you make have enough balance between protection and helping them know how to make the right decisions on their own I guess.
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