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What to do when your ds8 goes looking for "pictures" on Google


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I made a sad discovery this morning on my new Kindle Fire. There were a few "naked doody" Google searches listed from last week (I did verify there were no others). So I called in my two dc and gently probed. DD was clearly offended at the thought, ds8 however looked down with a mumbled answer. :sad:

 

As I probed, I sincerely believe it was a first-offense (hoping for ONLY offense). The internet history only shows this one occasion. It seems like he was curious about naked ladies. But if you know google, they are always so "kind" as to offer other selections you may be interested in. He apparently took a few of those offers to browse as well. Doesn't look like anything too terrible, but still... (Should I look at all of what he was seeing, as the parent, or do I know enough? Looking at those makes me feel ill, but if I need to know exactly what he saw then I'll do it. Better me than DH.)

 

I feel terrible. My sweet 8yr old boy. We did have our PC set to high for security as well as safety software, but hadn't thought to set the Google settings on my Kindle Fire as well. That has been remedied I can tell you. I know on one hand this is a big deal, on the other hand is doesn't have to be HUGE. But my heart feels like it's a huge deal. And talking to my dh, he wants to have "the talk" with our son this weekend. I had it with our dd at 8yo, but had thought to wait until closer to 10 for ds, based on maturity levels. But this event has taken that choice from us.

 

DH agrees that we need to make sure our son knows he is NOT in trouble. We just need to explain about the birds & the bees, remind him why our naked bodies are PRIVATE, etc. It's a fine line. He needs to know that it's not okay to search for pictures but that it IS okay to ask us questions, that sex is meant to be a private, beautiful thing between a married couple, etc.

 

But still my heart feels pain that he's now lost a little innocence. So I'll handle my emotions first, then move into the plan of action...

 

Anyone else been there and have some wisdom? :confused:

-Melissa

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I can't help you with the "moral" end of it but I believe that google has different levels of search security; at my office it's set so that nothing inappropriate comes through (although sometimes something slips through anyway).

 

I'm not sure, but I'd imagine it's in your google search settings.

 

eta: Sorry, just saw that you fixed google already.

 

Wondering, though, what a "naked doody" picture is.

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I'm a little confused. Your 8 y/o accidentally found nudity online? On purpose? What is "naked doody?"

 

As the others have mentioned, you can always adjust the filters on Google. Otherwise, I'm just not sure that I really understand what you're asking.

 

I'm guessing it means naked people. I just googled naked doody for clarity and that does she some stuff, so I don't know. :tongue_smilie:

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I caught DD and her cousin (also 7 yo) searching on my phone for funny words. Fart, poo, ect. They thought they were just looking up rude words and I caught it before they saw anything but after that there is no internet usage from them. It's too easy to stumble accross something way too old for them to see.

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He definitely needs a talk to explain what he saw, and if he's looking, it means he needs more information that what he has. If I were you, I'd look to see what he saw so that I'd know what I'm dealing then tell dh the extent. I'd make sure he understands that it's normal for him to curious and interested, but those pictures are not the way to find out. It's tough because I've been reading up on the P*rn industry over the last year and it's sickening how the women are treated. Nearly all of them were abused growing in some way. The "work" environment is awful. No other industry allows the kind of abuse that goes on in that industry.

I say all this to explain that I'd make this a VERY SERIOUS matter if there's a repeat offense. It's not something to wink at and look the other way if you know what I mean. :grouphug:

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My daughter was googling origami and stumbled onto a p0rn site. She was horrified and I was sad too upon realizing the loss of a bit of innocence. She had come across it innocently and wasn't in trouble. We took the time to explain about the internet and how it's best to not search terms without an adult nearby.

 

I also took the time to tell her that if an adult showed her those types of pictures, she should tell us.

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Sorry :001_wub:, "naked doody" is a family term. Almost 40 years ago, my older brother, then 3yo, saw a naked man running across a street and shouted, "Look Mom, there's a naked doody!" Meaning a naked person. It was so cute the phrase has stuck around all this time and now my kids use it.

 

FWIW...

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I'm passing over the moral teaching, discussions, etc. :) I'd recommend not allowing your kids on the internet, ever, unless it is with you or your husband. Up until a certain age, of course. Whether they do a purposeful search or not, anything and everything is on the internet, and can be found by accident or by clicking on a link from a friend. Another option is to allow them access only to a computer right in the kitchen (or other public room), and only when you or your husband are in the same room.

 

Even now with our high schoolers, we have (two) computers in public rooms only. We certainly trust them, but still -- I think it's just a good habit to get into.

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Here are my questions, after readying my explosion of thoughts earlier...

 

1. Should I look at all of what he was seeing, as the parent, or do I know enough from the few I saw? It looks like he just saw the thumbnails from the google search. Looking at those makes me feel ill, but if I need to know exactly what he saw then I'll do it. Better me than DH.

 

2. How do we approach this talk with our ds?

DH agrees that we need to make sure our son knows he is NOT in trouble. I'm thinking we need to explain:

a. about the birds & the bees

b. remind him that our naked bodies are PRIVATE

c. he needs to know that it's not okay to search for pictures

d. but that it IS okay to be curious as long as he asks US questions he has

e. that sex is meant to be a private, beautiful thing between a couple

f. should we bring up how those pictures disrepect women, and men really, too?

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Just me, but if it was my kid, I would tell him if he had any questions or wanted books too see what naked bodies (or "doody"!) look like, then I would happily get them for him, but that the Internet is full of confusing, sometimes incorrect information as well as jokes and meanness that he's just too young to understand, so I would make it clear it's not okay for him to go sorting through all that on his own at this age and there will be a negative consequence about using technology if he dd it again.

 

We're very open about bodies and s*x with our kids as they have questions and I don't personally feel like there's an innocence lost in the curiosity or even seeing a few naked ladies... Though, what actually comes up if you search that? I mean, it could be pretty weird!

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It sounds rather innocent honestly. I would probably try to find a way to set up a filter of some sort and make sure you are in the room when he is surfing the web.

 

I think making a big deal over it at this point is unwarranted and might cause problems that otherwise wouldn't have occurred.

 

Wendy, I agree. I believe he was innocently curious, though I would like to know if he heard or saw something that made him curious. We do have a filter on our computer, but he was on my Kindle that I hadn't locked down the filter yet (that's been fixed now).

 

I definitely don't want to tramatize him by our over reacting, at the same time I don't want to lose a good opportunity for discussion. At an age appropriate level of course. I don't believe he saw any videos, for example, so discussing p*rn is not necessary.

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Well, this thread caused me to go check what my google settings were on. They said moderate, I slid the slider thingie over to strict. :P

 

I think it sounds like you have a good plan as to how to handle this already (not freaking out, having a conversation with your son, fixing your settings and so on). It also sounds like your son didn't see anything too extreme, so I wouldn't lose TOO much sleep over it!

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We're very open about bodies and s*x with our kids as they have questions and I don't personally feel like there's an innocence lost in the curiosity or even seeing a few naked ladies... Though, what actually comes up if you search that? I mean, it could be pretty weird!

 

Hmm... While we try to be open, I still have delayed much depth on the s*x topic with him yet. Especially since he hasn't previously shown any curiosity. I hadn't considered that we could offer the boring yet educational anatomy pictures to help answer his questions. That would take it from the "exciting" box to the "scientific" box really quick. And believe me, I do want him to be educated, aware, etc. Not sheltered. I just wanted to chose the timing.

 

I also liked how you explained the internet:

"
Internet is full of confusing, sometimes incorrect information as well as jokes and meanness that he's just too young to understand, so I would make it clear it's not okay for him to go sorting through all that on his own at this age and there will be a negative consequence about using technology if he dd it again.
".

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Now that I'm thinking better, I should have checked more into what he saw instead of looking what terms he searched. But the few thumbnails I did see made me feel ill enough I deleted the search history. I hate that even the history has that in it. But I think I'd better see a little more to make sure nothing horrible was there, then delete it again. It makes me feel creepy.:ack2:

 

Ugh. I'd rather change 1,000 poopy diapers....

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We don't let our girls (ages 12 and down) google, especially image googles. I have gotten some of the nastiest, most lurid images you can imagine with innocent searches even WITH safe search on. It's just not worth it. Their only internet access is to a handful of pre-screened websites, with permission asked beforehand.

 

My teen son has unmonitored internet access but I trust him implicitly not to look at porn. He knows the day he tries it is the day the internet cables gets tossed in the trash.

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I agree, Spelling is the root of all evil LOL!:smilielol5:

 

Seriously, though, when I went it to my Google search settings again, I saw there was also a "Lock SafeSearch" link to the right. I clicked on that. If you have a Google account you can lock your SafeSearch settings so that no one can change it without your password. Then they have some balloons that are supposed to show up on the Google search page to show that it is locked down. If you don't see those balloons, it's not locked.

 

FYI...

 

Melissa

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I didn't allow my kids to search for images online at that age (ds9 still isn't allowed) because even on "Safe Search", age-inappropriate images can still pop up.

 

I also use a kid-safe browser on his computer so he can't browse online without my help. Only websites that I've pre approved and saved to his links can be accessed.

 

There's too much smut and graphic material out there to handle it any other way, IMO.

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We don't let our girls (ages 12 and down) google, especially image googles. I have gotten some of the nastiest, most lurid images you can imagine with innocent searches even WITH safe search on. It's just not worth it. Their only internet access is to a handful of pre-screened websites, with permission asked beforehand.

 

My teen son has unmonitored internet access but I trust him implicitly not to look at porn. He knows the day he tries it is the day the internet cables gets tossed in the trash.

 

Um, yes, I found this out the hard way when I googled "horses" for my daughter a few years back. Great pictures. Including a few of horses in compromising positions with females of the human variety. NOT cool. At all. A few of my brain cells died that day from the sheer trauma. And then there was the time I googled something having to do with mud (I can't remember the exact thing), but I had no IDEA so many people were "into" mud. :001_huh: Granted, my results were before I discovered Safe Search.

 

That's why my kids aren't allowed unfettered internet access, and I frankly don't understand any parent who does allow it. (unfettered)

 

As for trusting your teenage son--ehhhhh, okay. :D He is male, you know. I wouldn't fill my son's drawers with porn magazines, leave the drawers unlocked and then "trust" him not to open the drawers. LOL!!! That's essentially what unmonitored internet access gives you. Of course, I understand that at some point kids are going to come into contact with adult material and it's not the end of the world. Hopefully they will understand the cheap nature of it all and avoid it on their own.

Edited by Abigail4476
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Technologically speaking, I would suggest something more global than browser settings. We use OpenDNS (free) and have locked out adult sites for our router. Any computer on our wifi is therefore adult-site free, regardless of browsers or settings. It works better (fewer false positives) than Verizon parental controls on the DSL, and I am the only person in the house with the password to the online dashboard.

Edited by MyCrazyHouse
iThing makes random capitalization.
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Umm, will someone please refresh me on how to set/monitor Google settings? I think I've set things to safe search, but I want to be sure.

 

I should add that the girls are not allowed to Google, I just want to be a little safer.

 

To set up your Google settings you have to have a google account first. Then once you are logged in, go to the Google search page. There is a "sprocket" on your far right. Click on that. The drop down menu should say "search settings". Near the top it will let you choose "strict" filters for Google searches. Next to that is the link for "Lock SafeSearch" so only your password will allow someone to change the search settings.

 

HTH!

-Melissa

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He's curious. It's natural. Just talk to him and make sure he doesn't feel ashamed about it.

 

Celia, that is my goal for sure. I want him to know that it is not the right thing to do, but not feel ashamed about it. And I tried to make sure he knew he wasn't "in trouble" over it.

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That's why my kids aren't allowed unfettered internet access, and I frankly don't understand any parent who does allow it.

 

My son was researching state information on EnchantedLearning.com when his curiosity got the better of him. I don't usually let him surf. But I realize there are times when I have let my kids surf for specific things, which is how some of that junk gets through. Argh...

 

I will have to discuss with my dh (IT guy) how to best manage that one for our family...

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Wendy, I agree. I believe he was innocently curious, though I would like to know if he heard or saw something that made him curious. We do have a filter on our computer, but he was on my Kindle that I hadn't locked down the filter yet (that's been fixed now).

 

I definitely don't want to tramatize him by our over reacting, at the same time I don't want to lose a good opportunity for discussion. At an age appropriate level of course. I don't believe he saw any videos, for example, so discussing p*rn is not necessary.

 

The bolded would be my first concern--could a friend have talked about looking up such images online, or even shown him some?

 

In our family, we use the Safety Kids program to teach about avoiding p*rnography. (volume 3 deals with this issue)

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The bolded would be my first concern--could a friend have talked about looking up such images online, or even shown him some?

 

In our family, we use the Safety Kids program to teach about avoiding p*rnography. (volume 3 deals with this issue)

 

I'm trying to find that out. I couldn't get any info out of him (dh will check too). We hadn't been anywhere in days that I could foresee an opportunity for a buddy to introduce him. Though it could have been longer ago and just took this long to spur him to action. He is technically saavy enough to know how to Google search if he decided there was something to research... Kids these days!

 

Hmm....

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Technologically speaking, I would suggest something more global than browser settings. We use OpenDNS (free) and have locked out adult sites for our router. Any computer on our wifi is therefore adult-site free, regardless of browsers or settings. It works better (fewer false positives) than Verizon parental controls on the DSL, and I am the only person in the house with the password to the online dashboard.

:iagree:

This is what we use too. My DH (an IT guy) set it up. If you try to go to a blocked website at our house, a picture of my DH comes up on the screen. :tongue_smilie:

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Guest submarines

There's a site that shows photoshoped faces and bodies of celebreties vs. the actual ones. Well, there are many sites like this, but the one I have in mind is an educational site devoted to discussion of body image. I can't find it now, but I think this would be something good to look at together and discuss. I plan to do this with my kids.

 

theshapeofamother.com has many realistic images of women, both pregnant and postpartum.

 

There are also great anatomy sites.

 

There's nothing wrong with being curious about human body. You have a chance to guide him through his curiosity and demonstrate that "naked body" doesn't equte p*rn or shame.

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By coincidence, I took my 13 year old to the art museum today (could have been the 9 year old too, but he was busy). Lots of nudes, both male and female, sculpture and paintings. Not really a big deal to us because of the context. (I'm not saying we're totally sane about all these issues, but naked body stuff isn't a hot button for us.)

 

I hear you about graphic and degrading internet videos, but the irony is that if you want to see doody there are some highbrow ways to do it. :001_smile:

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By coincidence, I took my 13 year old to the art museum today (could have been the 9 year old too, but he was busy). Lots of nudes, both male and female, sculpture and paintings. Not really a big deal to us because of the context. (I'm not saying we're totally sane about all these issues, but naked body stuff isn't a hot button for us.)

 

I hear you about graphic and degrading internet videos, but the irony is that if you want to see doody there are some highbrow ways to do it. :001_smile:

:D

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So, you're able to set google settings on the Fire? How about the Nook color/tablet? However, that's just on google right? You can't set parental controls on these devices, right?

 

 

This is one of the main reasons I don't want my kids to have a Fire or other tablet type device. The fact that I can't set parental controls.

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So, you're able to set google settings on the Fire? How about the Nook color/tablet? However, that's just on google right? You can't set parental controls on these devices, right?

 

 

This is one of the main reasons I don't want my kids to have a Fire or other tablet type device. The fact that I can't set parental controls.

 

I don't know about other tablets, but on the Fire in the web settings you choose your default search engine. Then it only uses that engine. So you then go to that engine and set your safety controls. It seems to work now that I'm using it lol. I use google, but I assume yahoo and Bing work similarly. But no, the Fire itself doesn't have a safety feature, which shouldn't matter in web stuff as long as you've locked it down. Though I have not checked the Apps page; there might be stuff there to look out for.

 

@EmilyK: I don't mind naked bodies like in Art, etc. It's the naked bodies in sexual photos that I want to avoid... :-)

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My son first stumbled into naked people pictures (of them involved in acts we would not appropriate) when he was about 6 and figured out that he could put www and .com around words and find websites. He used innocent words like arm and leg but it still brought up those loss of innocence images.

 

Just recently he hit an advertisement on a free sports related app we put on his iPod touch, while in an area that had free wi-fi, and a p*rn site came up. And we have always been cautious so this was very frustrating and upsetting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just to follow up on this...

 

This last weekend we finally had a chance to talk to my son about sex. We have a great book called "The Wonderful Way That Babies Are Made". My husband took ds out to lunch (at Costco ... love dh!) and read the book out in the car afterward. DS got to ask questions, etc. It was a good time dh said. Later that day ds asked me some things, and we decided to do some sex-ed lessons during school time, at his request.

 

It was a great opportunity to open lines of communication with ds. We've done that well with our dd but not so much with ds before. So if for nothing else, this alone was worth it.

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Just to follow up on this...

 

This last weekend we finally had a chance to talk to my son about sex. We have a great book called "The Wonderful Way That Babies Are Made". My husband took ds out to lunch (at Costco ... love dh!) and read the book out in the car afterward. DS got to ask questions, etc. It was a good time dh said. Later that day ds asked me some things, and we decided to do some sex-ed lessons during school time, at his request.

 

It was a great opportunity to open lines of communication with ds. We've done that well with our dd but not so much with ds before. So if for nothing else, this alone was worth it.

 

Good.:001_smile:

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I don't have time to read through all the replies, so my suggestion may be redundant. I would recommend Open DNS for your home. It filters at the router level, so all computers, laptops, games, etc. are filtered. It's what most schools and companies use. We have that as well as another program on our son's mac when he's away from home. Here's the free version we use: http://www.opendns.com/parental-controls/

I may not be explaining this technically correct - but you get the idea :)

 

 

I made a sad discovery this morning on my new Kindle Fire. There were a few "naked doody" Google searches listed from last week (I did verify there were no others). So I called in my two dc and gently probed. DD was clearly offended at the thought, ds8 however looked down with a mumbled answer. :sad:

 

As I probed, I sincerely believe it was a first-offense (hoping for ONLY offense). The internet history only shows this one occasion. It seems like he was curious about naked ladies. But if you know google, they are always so "kind" as to offer other selections you may be interested in. He apparently took a few of those offers to browse as well. Doesn't look like anything too terrible, but still... (Should I look at all of what he was seeing, as the parent, or do I know enough? Looking at those makes me feel ill, but if I need to know exactly what he saw then I'll do it. Better me than DH.)

 

I feel terrible. My sweet 8yr old boy. We did have our PC set to high for security as well as safety software, but hadn't thought to set the Google settings on my Kindle Fire as well. That has been remedied I can tell you. I know on one hand this is a big deal, on the other hand is doesn't have to be HUGE. But my heart feels like it's a huge deal. And talking to my dh, he wants to have "the talk" with our son this weekend. I had it with our dd at 8yo, but had thought to wait until closer to 10 for ds, based on maturity levels. But this event has taken that choice from us.

 

DH agrees that we need to make sure our son knows he is NOT in trouble. We just need to explain about the birds & the bees, remind him why our naked bodies are PRIVATE, etc. It's a fine line. He needs to know that it's not okay to search for pictures but that it IS okay to ask us questions, that sex is meant to be a private, beautiful thing between a married couple, etc.

 

But still my heart feels pain that he's now lost a little innocence. So I'll handle my emotions first, then move into the plan of action...

 

Anyone else been there and have some wisdom? :confused:

-Melissa

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My 8yo DD did the same thing but was looking for " gestin bibers p3nis" on the IPad. The last word was spelled correctly but the name was wrong. She doesn't get to watch or listent to Justin B at our house but she has a teenage sister at her dad's house who has exposed her to the teen phenom! I told her that wasn't appropriate and looking at a man's parts was something for when she was an adult and preferrably married. I did show her anatomically correct drawn pictures in our body book. I also called my friend who is a psycologist to see if she needs counseling or if she thought she was molested or anything. She reassured me that it probably stems from her sister being infatuated by Justin B. She exibits no other signs of s3xualization and told me to not worry. (I still do!)

She no longer gets alone time with the IPad!

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