Enter Chatroulette. Suddenly, this ancient Internet activity has been retooled for the social-media-obsessed 21st century.
Here's how it works:You don't need to sign on to anything, just go to the site with your webcam-equipped computer to find yourself face to face with a total stranger somewhere else in the world. You may be introduced to a yodeling soccer player in Russia, snowed in college students in Minnesota or a sexually deviant weird-o who asks, shows or demonstrates things you never imagined would come through your computer. You may be propositioned, insulted or merely clicked off by your internet contact. Voyeurs welcome.
This site is free. This site is easy to access. This site is totally uncensored. This site is probably not a positive place for your tweens and teens to visit. One commentator for a national news show went on the site. She reported out of every 25 contacts, 24 were either unusual, indecent, pornographic or illegal.
Ernie Allen, national director for the Center for Missing and Exploited Children strongly warns parents to make this site unavailable to their sons and daughters. Exposing kids to adults with such a variety of issues, problems and obsessions is not a good thing. Children begin to see these bizarre and outrageous individuals as accepted and normal. They desynthesize the language and the acts they see on their home screens. Plus, with the whole weird internet world out there, who wants what these perverts chose to say or do in the heads of our kids?
Some steps to take from Mr. Allen. 1. Children do not need a computer in their room. If they do have one, 2. make sure there is no web-cam accessory. 3. You can also lock the site on your web browser. Also, a discussion about the site and why you are opposed to it would be my suggestion. Discussions are always better than ultimatums.
If you want to check the site out to see what everyone is talking about, just use your search engine and type in chatroulette. Those of you who read us often know I am a a reality TV groupie. I, however, have no interest whatsoever in meeting any "real" person who is on this site. To be a little graphic- to me, it seems like chancing a run in with a flasher. Not that I haven't seen such "flash" before, but setting myself up for someone else's perverted and selfish satisfaction just isn't an option. It gives the creepy-crawlies. I can't control coming around a corner and be "surprised", but I can control turning my computer on to this site.
If you do go on the site, send your report to Care and Feeding. I may not look at this new form of communication (sic) but I would love to know what our readers think. I'm Thinking Spring! Chrissie
6 comments:
Whoa! There are some messed up people out there. That site is wideopen. Forget kids being on it, it could mess with anyone's mind.
HOLY MOLY.
Are you kidding me. Who would want to look at those people? Gotta go. Fellini in Balazar is wanting to demonstrate his rendition of the mating practices of the tree frog- in full costume!!!
OK Hooked ....very funny. c
This site really goes past kinky. Every 4th or 5th person I forwarded to was either scary weird or scary crazy. One guy was icing a cake, nude, not using a knife to put on the frosting-he was talking in a really bad Julia Child voice. Ugly visual.........JT
i actually had to google "tween" and then try 2 dictionary sites to find the meaning. grow up. get a life. your blogs are that of the typical old man shouting at the kids to get off his lawn. you act like you have the answer or some sort of authority to everything. you have no idea.
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