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| Yes | 48% | 680 votes | Total: 1411 votes | |
| No | 52% | 731 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesMyspace is a social networking site that allows people of most ages to connect with others, whether they are friends or strangers, to communicate and share their lives over the internet. Adults and teens alike can connect with others, post pictures, blog, discover new music, video, and people. Like most things in life, it is safe, fun, and beneficial to a certain extent. Also, like most things in life, it can be abused and used in an inappropriate manner.
Yes, social networking sites, like Myspace, can be frequented by internet predators. But so can shopping malls and playgrounds. Just like there is no reason to keep teens away from schools, malls, and playgrounds, there is no need to ban teens from myspace. The key is to exercise caution.
Myspace has privacy features when it comes to what information is displayed on profile, and who can see it. It is very, very easy to hide a profile from the public. Furthermore, photos can be hidden, and even the information that comes up in searches can be edited, if the user chooses to be searchable at all. There is no need for a teen to post their entire full name as display name, or even as their name on the account. Initials or a nickname should suffice. Simple steps can be taken to maximize privacy, and increase the safety of Myspace.
When it comes to the internet, teens need to be educated on internet safety. They should know that anything that has been posted to internet is there FOREVER. It does matter if you delete a post later, remove a photo album, or delete an entire profile. It is entirely possible that this information will resurface in the future. A future employer may be able to find a picture of you holding a joint, or in a provocative pose.
Because the internet is a public venue, it is important to behave as you would within any other public venue. Just because you can access the internet from your bedroom does not mean that is just as private as your bedroom. If you would not take off all of your clothes and pose provocatively in a shopping center, do not do it online. The same creeps that would approach you in the shopping center are the same exact creeps looking for those types of pictures on the internet.
Furthermore , in any instance that Myspace has hosted an inappropriate exchange, it was not the fault of the website, but rather the users. Users are completely in control of the information they make available, and the communication that they participate in online. Myspace is no more, and no less safe than any public venue, and should be treated as such.
Learn more about this author, SJX.
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No
Would it be safe to allow your teenager to go to a crowded bar alone and "make friends" with a masked person? The answer is a simple and resounding no. Why then is it okay for us to allow our children to execute the technological equivalent?
Without placing securities on a my space account, any person can find out a child's address, phone number, relationship status, and any other information placed on the page. This is a terrifying door to open. It is even more terrifying that the door is being opened by our children.
In order to understand why teenagers on MySpace is so dangerous it is first necessary to understand why teenagers alone are dangerous. Teenagers are not known for their sage like behavior, which is because they have yet to fully develop the "cause and affect" portion of the brain, the frontal lobe. It is because this portion of the brain is lacking that they have a difficult time considering the results of their actions before they take them.
According to Guttmacher institute, 750,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant every year. While this number is at its all time low in thirty years due to abstinence programs, the inability of the teenager to realize consequences puts them in unsafe and at times life threatening predicaments. Teenagers are also more likely to participate in dangerous activities such as drug and alcohol abuse than adults over the age of 25.
When one thinks of predators on MySpace they get an image of an over weight man in his forties living in his mothers basement, but the reality is that the teenagers on the site are far more dangerous to one another than the stereotypical "predator". Take for example the tragic case of Megan Meier. Megan had been previously diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, and depression so when she met Josh on MySpace she thought she had made a friend.
Josh and Megan had been corresponding for about a month when Josh ended the relationship abruptly. He told her that he had heard she was "cruel". Megan committed suicide shortly after the incident. After the suicide of their daughter, Megan's parents discovered Josh's profile had been fraudulent. Instead of a young man Josh was former friends of Megan who had created a false profile to "screw" with Megan.
This unfortunate incident is the exact reason that MySpace should not exist. However innocent the original intention of the site was the facts remain incontrovertible. Teenagers are not biologically mature enough to comprehend their actions. Children have a difficult time exercising empathy and sympathy when they can see people, it is nearly impossible for them to control their impulses when it all seems like a game.
There are some who would list the advantages of MySpace. These same people will dismiss the security risks, and dangers reminding us that danger is in the hand of the beholder. For the reasons that we do not allow our children to carry guns to school, drive cars, and drink we should not allow them to endanger themselves on a website.
Learn more about this author, Jordan Allen.
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