A Nutty Mom

With the internet taking over more and more of our lives, it becomes worrying as a parent as our children grow up and look to the web for not only homework and entertainment, but also communication. Email with friends and family is one thing, but with kids getting evermore tech-savvy these days, many children are figuring out how to contact strangers, penpals, and online friends at younger ages.

Enter JuJu, a new penpals oriented online network that allows all ages to connect with foreign (or American) friends without divulging any secrets. Rather than forcing users to post their email addresses or names publicly, the system allows members to go by a username, and only communicate with people they have approved as friends after checking out their profiles. At this point, many sites would then encourage users to exchange addresses or email addresses. JuJu, however, allows users to interact on their forum boards or way of the system’s private chat or messaging tools so that users, especially younger members, can remain as anonymous as possible until they decide to share more information with each other.

In this age, parents can’t be too careful with their child’s online endeavors. Predators and criminals have become increasingly clever in the way they change their ip address and pretend to be someone they are not (i.e. a 10 year old girl from Australia). Stealing kids’ photos and making fake online profiles is easier than ever, so when your kids decide they want to find an international penpal, don’t refuse – instead, try setting up account together at JuJu.cc and have safe, educational, fun.