MySpace

[jmeyer3131]

Do you believe all the stuff you read about studies showing that MySpace is safer than it used to be? They're saying that kids are better educated and many have security settings that only allow friends to view their profile.

What the studies didn't take into account is that lots of these kids want lots of "friends", and they allow just about anybody as a friend. If you want to browse underage kids, just register yourself as underage. Then become "friends" with those you're interested in.

I've looked at a few MySpace sites of my daughter's friends. I've found that even those who don't give their location can be "found" easily enough. All a potential "stalker" has to do is look at some of your friends. Many of them will, in fact, give the right location.

I'm also alarmed at the incredibly personal information they give. I know more about what many of those kids are doing than their parents know. How sad.

Do you keep track of your children's computer use? Do you think MySpace is really safe?

[happy2bg33k]

My husband worked as the computer technology coordinator for a high school a year or two ago when myspace was just starting to take off. Part of his job was to keep the content filters in place which in itself was very difficult because kids were constantly finding proxies to get their way around the filters.

However, the point I wanted to make was that he saw some very disturbing things on MySpace and not necessarily just from the "other" people out there. The types of details and pictures that kids were putting on their own sites were extremely inappropriate and provocative.

I don't know whether or no you can make a site like that "safer" until are able to realize that even though they expect only their friends to view the information they post, the whole world can access it and not everyone is good at heart. WE trust our oldest completely but we still only have Internet access in our living room where everyone can sort of monitor what's going on. The world can be a very scary place.

[mamab]

I haven't been on the myspace website until today, when I was trying to find pictures of a friend's newborns. They ask for more information than I would personally feel comfortable giving out. Hometown, where you work, age, etc. I wouldn't let my child put anything on there for all the money in the world. It's just NOT safe, I don't care what "safeguards" they put on them.

[Sam]

I really do not like the idea of myspace, the kids are too much out there and its not safe at all, they may try to put scurity settings that the parents can see what their kids are up to, but there are ways around those.

[Teresa]

My 17 yr old daughter has a MySpace account, but I know her login information, and can go on and delete anything that I find objectionable there. She had to accept that condition before we created the account...and she knows that if I have to delete too much stuff, she will lose the privilege. All of her friends are kids she actually knows from school, and as far as I can tell, the majority of them have their privacy settings on "friends only"

[yoobritt]

I don't think Myspace is that safe. If your kid is smart I think they will know what they are doing. Just talk to you kid about it. I do think a lot of children put a lot of there information on there but maybe you should talk to them about it.. them or there parents.

[Stephanie2377]

I am *really* not comfortable with MySpace. I think kids are too carefree with the information they post, which can be dangerous. My son is still very young, so I don't have to worry about this for a few years. But, we would have a couple of safeguards:
1) Internet will only be in public areas of the house, and I can look over his shoulder at any time.
2) If he had a MySpace, we would know login name and password so I could view it at any time. I would have the ability to delete, and he could lose MySpace access for any reason.
3) We would have limited time allowed on the computer.

I just think the internet can be SO dangerous for kids and teens. I want to protect my son and other children!

[trick-r-treat]

I think that a big ordeal is made about MySpace in particular. There are several other sites similar to this, and just because this is run by Fox and is bigger than others, it gets a bad rap. We do need to tell our children not to give out any of their information.

[jmeyer3131]

You're right, trick-r-treat. The only reason I brought up MySpace is because their have been studies recently that supposedly show that kids are acting more responsibly than they used to on MySpace. Having looked through a bunch of local kids that I know there, I find it hard to believe. I think the study was flawed.

[violet1]

I think MySpace is probably a pretty scary things for parents with kids that age. I only have a 3 year old now, but I am really dreading the time when I will have to worry about the same sort of things. It's like a whole new set of issues for parents to deal with than our's had.

I don't think MySpace is a safe place for kids. In general, it's probably harmless. But I think that every parent should pay close attention to what their children are putting out on the web about themselves. Parents should always be involved in one way or another.

My gut reaction is to not let my child post on MySpace (if I were in the position) but I know that is an unrealistic idea, of course. It's important to set boundaries. I don't necessarily think my kids will ever have a "right to privacy" that supercedes my better judgement. If I have concerns, then they will know that I will be involved in looking at their pages, their friends and anything else I need to do (that is normal) in order to keep my kids safe.