Jan 24, 2008 8:23 pm US/Central
Kids' Online Posts Getting Parents In Trouble
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Kids are prone to spilling secrets on the internet. But now some are paying a high price for their children's online posts, losing their jobs and even getting arrested.
Shannon Sullivan knows anything she posts on social networking sites, like Facebook and MySpace, can come back to hurt her when she applies for college or a job.
But what she didn't know may surprise some.
"I had no idea that things I post on the Internet could come back to hurt my family, not just me," Sullivan said.
Parry Aftab of Wired Safety said the problem is much bigger than many think.
"I've represented a lot of parents who've come to me when they have been fired, they've been demoted or they've been called on the carpet because of what their kids posted online," Aftab said.
Internet safety experts warn many teens still don't understand that their posts on networking and blogging sites are not private.
Sgt. Corey MacDonald tours the country speaking about Internet safety and said police and employers are watching. He demonstrated just how easy it is to find incriminating posts.
"We're talking about dad's work secrets or problems between mom and dad" he said.
Sgt. Corey MacDonald showed just how easy it is to find incriminating posts.
One post said, "Not only do I have to live with my nagging mom, my dad does drugs."
Another person named "Tara" posted that her parents "are lazy alcoholics."
It's not hard for police or bosses to uncover the identities of those parents.
"All they have to do is narrow down who this person is that's posting this, and then it's relatively easy to search their name on one of the online search sites and find out who their family is," MacDonald said.
Some posts are leading to arrests, like in the case of a boy who boasted online about his mother buying a keg for his underage friends.
"They may be talking about how their father is losing a job and perhaps a neighbor who's the mortgage broker for the father isn't aware that the father's job is in jeopardy," Aftab said.
More than 12 million kids ages 12 to 17 were using those social networking sites in August alone. That's up 15 percent from the same time last year.
That's why parents like Margaret Sullivan check their children's posts.
"It's important to know what they're doing and to be able to help them if they get into trouble and to keep them safe. And, apparently, now we have to have them keep us safe as well," said Sullivan.
One more note to parents: Your kids might set their profiles to private.
But when they send messages and pictures to friends, you have no control over whether those friends keep their page private. So remind them to keep family news in the family.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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