Mxit - your best friend, or something you wish your family had never discovered? If you haven't heard of it yet, ask your kids. (Or use this Mxit link)
It surely has its blessings, but the dangers are any parent's nightmare.
I'm one of those people who wants my child to have a cell phone. I need to know that she has that contact with me whenever she needs it. (Or is it that I can have contact with her...?) Shopping malls are huge places to try to find a kid. In fact, many of the big stores like Pick 'n Pay seem to swallow up a child while you're trying to decide on which detergent you can't live without and she just knows that the cosmetic counter is more of a life and death issue. Or if I need her to bail me out when we're shopping for personal items and she goes scooting off to look at a pair of jeans, leaving me all alone in the ladies section with a bra in my hand, exploring its suitability. (As if I'd know the difference.)
Anyway, your child has a phone. Your child has friends. You have a fixed income. Which isn't so fixed the moment it hits your account - it shatters into fragments. And from those fragments you have to pay for your convenience - and your child's cool image. That's where Mxit comes in. SMS's may not be as expensive as calls, but they still get pretty pricey when they turn into teenage online discussions. When the kids are connected to each other via Mxit, it only costs a few cents for them to chat to their heart's delight.
However, that's where it should stop. (With me, anyway.) Monitored connection to known friends. Chat rooms are OUT for children. (And spouses, if you happen to have one of them.) We all know about the dangers to them, with some of the sewage we have in our society passing itself off as humanity.
Convenience: cost and social connectivity to friends. Danger: (apart from lethal sewage contamination) Addiction.
I was amazed to find how quickly Mxit becomes their master - and they are very willing slaves. Rush home from school to get onto Mxit (In the car: "Did you bring my phone? DID you bring my PHONE?!!!) Homework becomes an obstacle to Mxit. Late at night the blankets develop a strange pinging sound, which doesn't go away with tuning. (Or maybe it does : "I'm CHUNING you, my girl, give me that phone!)
The addiction factor is a very serious issue, as it is with any addiction. Undermine the effects of online addiction at your peril, especially for your children. Mxit needs to be monitored and some ground rules adhered to. And this is where I'd like to refer you to the guru of this subject, a guy called Ramon Thomas. Check out his Website on online safety, or his blogsite , and get a copy of his "Parents Guide to Mxit." You may also find it worthwhile to get his newsletter or to book him for a talk at your school or club.
Oh, in case you're wondering - no I don't use it personally. I may be all thumbs when it comes to DIY or fixing things, but I don't seem to have enough of them to cope with cell phone messaging!
2 comments:
Mxit and chatrooms (Ratendate).
Hi, I also wish to leave a comment about this mxit thing. I have met a girl while doing motocross. I thought "wow, at last!" She seemed beatiful and hardworking. I was 29 and only found out later on she was 18. 2 days after we met she moved to P.E. We still had conversations over the phone and I started hearing things I was not contempt with. I started to think about the age difference between us and my friends told me "Go for it - its not too big these days!". So I kept the flame alive from my side and was faithfull. In December I went down to P.E and visited her. I met her folks and took quite a liking to me. During that time I discovered what mxit does to a person! Here are the words of an 18 yr old (sorry this is very explicet.......: "Sometimes the guys tells me I'm going to come and F**** you hard! sometimes they come and sometimes they don't". I was devestated, I did not know what to say or think or feel! I prayed so hard to meet someone and now this - how could she! I really liked this girl and as much as I would try to see the beautiful person I saw when I first met her, I couldn't. I prayed and prayed and decided to break off the relationship. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life but sorry to say - aids is a reality today. It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make in my life. As much as she phoned me afterwards and pleaded with me I had to say no as she would not go off mxit. Parents - please tell your kids about this - but it's not only mxit that is dangerous but chatrooms too. Ratendate for example, I sometimes logon and read the suggestions people are making to each other - sorry for my language - perverts - thats all I can say! How can any women even with a little bit of selfrespect allow people to treat them this way. I have friends in the child protection devision of the police and know that predators use these services. Maybe mxit can bring two people together but after my experience - no way. I've had some more conversations on ratendate but as soon as they tell me they are on mxit I tell them sorry - that won't budge. I have a phone and I will call you like any normal person would do and if you wish to phone me - just give me a missed call. Please warn your kids about the dangers of mxit!
Thanks for that comment.
Thinking about what you've said made me think about the human condition. It's very sad, isn't it, that technolgy, or facilities associated with it, that could make our lives a much better place, so often seem to get dragged down to the lowest common denominator.
It's sad that so many people - so noticeable on forums like Mxit and chat rooms - feel the need to behave the way they do; or feel that these forums give them licence to behave that way.
The fact that so many people seem to enjoy dropping to that level is frightening in itself. It's a sad statement of mankind's condition.
I think it does force us to take a hard look at our personal values and to make a stand as to how we will choose to respond - as you have had to do.
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