How safe is moshimonsters?

Gingham_R

This has become a money saving issue for us as well as a concern about my children's wellbeing as the eldest wants an account with moshimonsters but I have some worries before shelling out.

I've had a look around, read up on it and made a monster to look around. Here's what I found on the forum around Christmas:

A 'child' claiming they were kidnapped, tied up, gagged and thrown into a van.

Various apparent 'cyber bullying' threads (don't talk to...I'm leaving because of... etc)

Someone claiming another member had died then them reappearing to laugh at their 'joke'.

Two threads from 'children' saying they'd just had sex.

Two 'dating' threads

A child saying an adult was stalking them and had their life details.

A google found a newspaper article saying this was the safest place for children on the internet.

The rest of the site seems fine but the forum is a nightmare. I've emailed the company but received nothing back. Is it possible to have an account that doesn't allow access to the forum?

Do you let your children use it and how do you avoid the above?

Thanks.

building_with_lego

I'll be watching for the replies too. DD (almost 8) has a monster and is only allowed to be 'friends' with two of her real life friends that I know. She just plays the games on there rather than anything else- I think they do a lot of work at school about safe internet use and that people may not be who they say- but from what you've just said I do not like the idea of her on the forum :eek:

I may make myself a monster and try to befriend her- see what she does.

emmylou83_2

My 2 DDs ( 6 and 9) have Moshi monsters and r members that they pay for themselves. They are only allowed on it if me or DH r in the room. They r also not allowed to add anyone other than real life friends that we know ourselves. They are NOT allowed onto the forums anyway. I think its a case of u have to trust them and set boundaries. The second they do something they shouldnt, the monster gets deleted. x

gingin_2

My DD is almost 8 and has a monster - she uses it to keep in touch with her cousin who lives the other side of the world. I know the password and can read all of the messages if I wanted to. I would just keep an eye on who she "friends" and make sure it's only children she knows in real life.

I don't let her use the forum, I don't see the need for it.

Kittendreich

You don't say how old your eldest is - but I'd advise against all unsupervised access to social networking type sites, whether aimed at children or not. Befriending actual real-world friends through the sites is ok, but they shouldn't be talking to 'strangers' as they have no idea who they are. In the vast majority of cases there will be no harm done - even if they are befriended by a dodgy adult posing as a child - but it isn't worth the risk as the rare negative consequences are too severe.

yummymummy79

My 7 year old son has a monster and has been a paid member for the last year. We have a rule that he only adds people as friends if they are 11 or under (unless he knows them in real life). I go on his account randomly to check all is ok. He has never used the forum and I've never looked at it either so wasn't aware of messages such as those OP mentioned. I've told him theres no need to use the forum and he doesn't seem interested in it. He's usually sat next to me on the sofa when he's on the laptop so I don't worry.

ziggy2004

DS1 (7) has an account. We have not paid for any extras and he is only allowed known friends. There was a group of mums with children who set up accounts at the same time and we exchanged log in names and used a password to identify ourselves.

DS1 does get other requests but knows he cannot accept and I check every other day to make double sure he has not accepted any others. He knows that if he does then his account will be deleted and so far so good .

gingin_2

Gingham R, I've just been on dd's Moshi page to double check and it is very transparent. They have one homepage with a message tree, where all the messages are stored ( although they can be deleted) a friend tree, where you can see all their friends and a profile page which gives away very little other than the country they are from and age.

Sparklyfairy

I have been struggling with this very topic for some time - thank you for asking this question! My dd is 8 & has been asking for a a Moshi Monster account for a couple of years now..we did sign up & we got the free monster, but I didn't feel comfortable with her "mingling" with strangers. I also researched it on Google & all there was was how safe it was & great for your children to learn to use social networking sites, etc etc - just a PR mission imo! We didn't go back - I felt it was still waay to easy for a wierdo to converse with her (although I'd like to be there 100% watching over her shoulder - in actual fact - it's unrealistic for me to be) so we decided against it. We didn't even venture into the forums, so what you said you found there makes me absolutely 100% certain that Moshi Monsters is NOT for us! If the company responds, please report back (although I suspect they won't!). X

emmylou83_2

Oh, forgot to add, DD1 stupidly told her friend her password last yr, so said friend and her older sister logged into DD1s account ( we were out at the farm all day so i KNOW it wasnt DD1) and wrote messages on her wall about a girl in their class. The language wasnt nice, said friends parents had a phone call from me 8.30am easter sunday last yr. So now, passwords are only known by myself and DH. No where on the internet is safe. Like i said, its a case of u have to trust ur child to use it sensibly, and only u know the answer as to if they can be trusted or not! x

Gingham_R

Kittendreich wrote: »

You don't say how old your eldest is - but I'd advise against all unsupervised access to social networking type sites, whether aimed at children or not. Befriending actual real-world friends through the sites is ok, but they shouldn't be talking to 'strangers' as they have no idea who they are. In the vast majority of cases there will be no harm done - even if they are befriended by a dodgy adult posing as a child - but it isn't worth the risk as the rare negative consequences are too severe.

I agree. This is why I have a problem with the forum aspect. The main site is easy enough for them to understand - only people we know in real life. I feel I can let the eldest do that while I'm in the room busying about doing something else. (He's a very sensible 8 years old and would follow my instructions to the letter.)

What I don't want is for them to be on a site with that content available to them, whether or not I've asked them not to use it. The forum is completely inappropriate for young children and could be very harmful in my opinion, given when i saw over the couple of days I kept an eye on it over Christmas.

If no-one knows a way of signing up for the main site without access to the forum, then it's going to be a no from me.