Off-Topic Question

[Watchwolf]

Seriously. This is, I think, completely different.

Here's the thing, straight to the point. I am asking if any of you have a son or daughter, grandson, grand-daughter, etc, around 12-years-old who might be interested in an over-seas pen-pal friendship with my grandson. What with face-book and myspace, twitter etc, pen-pals might just be a thing of the ancient past. Well, in fact, Darren just got his first laptop for his birthday and is just venturing out into the virtual universe. He's just started playing his first few games and has pretty much no on-line experience. So I want him to have a start that will be safe and a positive experience.

Darren is 12 and rather shy. Very quiet and reserved and very smart. We were talking tonight and found he's interested in possibly doing something like this. Maybe I'm old-fashioned but "back in my day" having an overseas pen-pal could be a very interesting, educational and socially broadening experience. And,frankly, something that I think can go a long way in helping young people strengthen their self-image and confidence. As we talked about it he said the problem is, he has no way of starting something like this. Well I told him I have an idea and here it is. I know lots of my friends here have family who might be appropriate and willing to give this a go. In fact, maybe even one of our players here. I know several of you are near Darren's age.

Anyway, I'm tossing this out here to see how viable this idea might be. For all I know the idea is so out-dated that half of the young people will have no idea what I'm on about.

[[X]Thorn[X]]

its a great idea m8, i dont have anyone his age, but ya its a great idea. i only have nephews and one of them is 5 or 6 the rest or 1 and younger lol

good luck!

[Travesty]

Fantastic idea! Sorry but my girls are only 5 and 8

[McViper]

Excellent idea !
I'd like to suggest him msn, or some sites that regroups teenagers like him.
I clearly disadvise u facebook or myspace, i saw some bad things that can be a negative experience for him.
So i advise u :
find a site for teenagers, then he demands the msn of his pen friend there, then it will be a safe experience.
i disadvise u facebook or myspace coz :
1-there is many adult discussions there
2-soemtimes they can send potential trojans or viruses to ur pc, as ur son has not pc experience.
3-after all this it can results as a negative experience.

My advice : Tell him to choose his pen friend after knowing him some time

as for me , i am interested ^^

-also Xfire, the msn of gamers, u can have lots lots lots of players in one day, but u cant choose their age.

Regards
McViper

[mightybean]

[quote="McViper";p="212402"]I clearly disadvise u facebook or myspace, i saw some bad things that can be a negative experience for him.[/quote]

I don't agree. Facebook is 100 percent safe, the only way it can be unsafe is if you make it unsafe by allowing people you don't know to have access to your info and profile. If you get scammed or contacted by anyone that is out to hurt you it's your own damn fault. Don't blame the site, blame the user!

[McViper]

[quote="PAXILON";p="212410"][quote="McViper";p="212402"]I clearly disadvise u facebook or myspace, i saw some bad things that can be a negative experience for him.[/quote]

I don't agree. Facebook is 100 percent safe, the only way it can be unsafe is if you make it unsafe by allowing people you don't know to have access to your info and profile. If you get scammed or contacted by anyone that is out to hurt you it's your own darn fault. Don't blame the site, blame the user![/quote]
as for me, i never used facebook or myspace, but i say what i've seen in medias....and true, from which times we trust medias :-w  

[Travesty]

What ever happened to good ol pen & paper?

[edam]

god i remember my penpal when i was younger she was from japan i used to love getting letters from her.  hmmmm i wonder if i could get in touch again.

[CheshireCat]

That's a great idea.  :D  And it would be very interesting for him to be in touch with someone from some place different. ^^


@PAXILON Aye, you're right, but in this case the user would be mostly a 12-years-old,

so I suppose I agree about Myspace and Facebook not being the right place to start, or any other penpal sites for that matter. A more controled environment with someone who's not a complete stranger would be safer, I guess, not only because he's young but so he isn't disappointed in his first contact.

I was about 14 when I had my first penpal friend and we had a mutual friend, only that we decided to write each other e-mails instead of MSNing because we both liked the idea.  It was actually excellent.
I miss my penpal days  8->


Unfortunately, I don't know anyone his age either. I myself am 19 y.o., so don't know how comfortable he'd be with that.
Either way, I'm up for it. ^^

[TheLaughingMan]

Damn pretty hard to keep childrens away from any infection
Currently is funny for me the XFIRE with sexual commercials like Viagra
but if we speak about kidds that not acceptable
Sorry im not helpfull in this
the only source for You if ur kidds can thrust You 100%
otherwise u don't have a chance to defend them

Wish You Luck

[Watchwolf]

These are the two main reasons that I asked this here...

One is I really don't like the facebook etc. ideas. There are too many weird adults posing as young people just for their bizarre gratification. And the idea of going to unknown sites for the same reason. You really just don't know what you get and what you think you're getting often isn't real. I've been on-line pretty much since the internet became a public venue in the 90's. (yeah I know the internet's been around a lot longer than that but I mean since when it began to become something the general public was easily able to access) I've seen all sorts of weird stuff. Darren's rather innocent and I would hate for him to fall victim to some predator.

The other is that I trust my friends here. You all have great advice. And I figure, correctly, that some of you might be up for this.

Aye, pen and paper is probably the best idea and for many reasons. It makes the penpal experience personal and gives you something to hold in your hand and keep long after you've grown up. And you get a much richer interaction when you write and read another person's writing. It's just more... personal. I like that idea. That's why I offered this idea to him rather than going through some on-line thing.

Thanks for your thoughts and offers. Keep 'em coming.

[McViper]

yup, pen and paper is rather a better choice so far
facebook is for adults
msn can do wierd stuff as well
xifre too
ICQ too
Skype too
myspace too
so pen and paper's better

[edam]

well as i say when im away at war "mail is morale" and even back home there aint nowt like getting a personal letter as it leads for a big smile and its amazing how a few words can have that effect.

[anoyingnomad]

My Penpal friends are the people here on void

Let him play FL lol.

[Ruggs]

nomad sorta took the words right out of my mouth why not ask if he would want to come an play on the Void mind you theres a few people here who dont abide by the Rules of keeping this place clean and fun for all players