As More Children Use Blogs, Parents Struggle with Rules

Fourteen-year-old Ashlee Fukushi started a Web diary this year so she could keep up with the daily gossip and keep in touch with friends.

But the idea of blogging made the Woodbury teen's mother, Mindy Fukushi, a bit nervous. Mindy Fukushi accidentally found some of her daughter's posts one day, mostly entries about how school was and what she did that day.

"At this age, I know she needs her privacy," Mindy Fukushi said. "But this is totally new to me. I don't know how I should react."

Ashlee Fukushi is among a growing number of teens and preteens logging on to Web journals and social-networking sites to talk to friends. Experts say since kids are comfortable with technology, turning to the Web for social interaction is natural.

But some teens use the Internet to bully classmates. For example, last month, two eighth-graders from Lake Elmo's Oak-Land Junior High allegedly created an online "hit list" directed at a dozen peers. Other teen users innocently post information that could put them at risk to predators.

"This issue seems to be getting worse and worse," said Nancy Willard, director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use in Eugene, Ore. "Kids are using blogs that are damaging other kids and damaging themselves. And a significant amount of parents don't know what their kids are doing online."

Blogging is the posting of online journals or diaries for public consumption. The majority of bloggers are between the ages of 18 to 28. The trend caught on with adolescents over the past year and a half, said Parry Aftab, executive director of WiredSafety, an online safety group based in New Jersey.

Aftab said social networking sites are most popular with preteens through 15-year-olds. Some allow members to post entries or blogs to their own Web pages and also respond to entries on other pages.

Most teens innocently blog about bands or complain about getting detention. But sometimes they can put themselves at risk or outright bully some of their peers.

Willard said some kids feel they can say whatever they want online because there's no face-to-face interaction so it almost doesn't seem real, she said.

Willard said some young bloggers don't understand the public nature of online communications. Visitors who log on to some of the sites can find teenagers posting pictures or using their full name in their profiles or e-mail addresses.

But 13-year-old Kelsey Parnell, of St. Mary's Point, said teens aren't that naive, and some sites allow users to limit access so only their friends have access.

"When you make, design or create the blog site, you have an option of making it public or private," she said. "Everybody I know who has an online public blog knows that they are public."

Still, some say things on their sites only to be horrified when a parent or school administrator reads it.

"They'll ask, 'Why are you invading my privacy?"' Willard said. "It floors me -- you're publishing your whole life on the Internet for the whole public to see it. It's anything but private."

Mindy Fukushi said she had the same concerns.

"Some information shouldn't have been released, especially family issues," she said. Anyone --friends, family members, strangers -- could be reading, she said.

For parents, the first step is to find out if your child is blogging. If so, Aftab cautions parents not to be alarmed. Ask your children if you can read their postings. If they decline, find their page anyway, she said.

Aftab advises parents to create guidelines about what can stay on the site and what has to go. Periodically check the site, and if you need to, download filtering software. If they still don't follow the rules, some sites allow parents to take their kid's site down.

Parents could also keep the computer in a public place in the house and periodically check what your child is doing.

Mindy Fukushi has put her foot down on her daughter's blogging.

She said she thinks blogging is a waste of time, and if Ashlee wants to journal she should write about insightful things, not just communicate with her friends.

Ashlee Fukushi said she is going to stop updating her page because of her mother's wishes and because she doesn't have enough time.

Meanwhile, Aftab said parents should look at their children's site before making any judgments.

"They just might be writing poetry and not sharing personal information," she said. "Parents need to be vigilant, not freaked out," she added. "There's value to (teenagers) sharing things about their selves and about their interests."

Check out our KARE family of Web sites:
	takeKARE		Metromix
	Moms Like Me		Minnesota Bound
	Showcase Minnesota