A weekly column dealing with national news issues
One of the most popular social networking services on the Internet today is MySpace.com. Many of my friends have a MySpace account and are constantly telling me I need to get one too. Even my not-so technologically savvy mom has heard of MySpace. According to msnbc.com, MySpace now has more than 50 million members, who range in age from young teenagers to adults. The site is free, and an easy way to stay in contact with friends through messages, photos and videos.
News of parents being upset with MySpace for what has happened to their children is something we seem to be hearing more of lately. Recently four different families sued MySpace because their underage daughters were sexually abused by adults they met through the website. Personally I think it is ridiculous that parents feel the need to blame someone else for their lack of parenting and for not keeping an eye on their children. Parents need to take control and watch what their children are doing on the Internet. With potential predators on MySpace, parents need to know if their kids have a MySpace account. Parents should not only know if their kids have one, but they should also know what is posted on it.
It is not MySpace’s job to keep an eye on your children, and they cannot control what age someone will say they are, who they will be friends with on the site or what will become of this friendship. For parents who blame MySpace, at MySpace.com the website has posted safety tips for members and here are a few:
Don’t forget your profile is a public space; don’t post anything you don’t want the world to know.
People aren’t always who they say they are. Be careful adding strangers to your friends list.
Don’t mislead people into thinking that you are older or younger.
These safety tips seem to me to be pretty much common sense. Obviously the profile is public. It’s on the Internet. You can’t trust just anybody, so watch out and choose friends carefully. Also, making someone think you are older or younger than you are just sounds like a bad idea. I feel these kids who actually believe they can trust all their MySpace friends and set up meetings with them have no common sense. I don’t understand how as a 14- or 15-year old, it would sound like a good idea to go meet a stranger. Especially since I imagine the meetings are usually kept secret from parents. I mean—duh!
Through this column I’ll be looking at a different news event each week, exploring many different areas of news, not just technology-related.
This week’s point: Parents, pay attention to what your kids do online. Kids, use some common sense and think when you are online (think offline too, please).
I agree! It’s not that difficult to monitor websites that kids visit with all the parenting software that is available today. Parents can monitor if not block those websites. Good stuff!