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| Yes | 48% | 679 votes | Total: 1406 votes | |
| No | 52% | 727 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesMySpace is only one among many sites that allow for easy networking online. If I had of written this 6 months ago my response would be very different and I can only agree that MySpace is a safe internet venue for teens, when the teens use this venue appropriately and safely. In other words the venue is only as safe as its user.
Once avidly opposed to teens having MySpace accounts, I have recently changed my view. In many ways it is not much different to how I used to chat to my girlfriends for hours after school over the old (none cordless) phone. The main difference, particulary when it comes to safety issues is the easy with which auido, visual and written information can be shared almost instantly.
I myself have previously set up a fake account to infiltrate my young nieces MySpace sites, pretending to be a young girl of much the same age. All of my nieces readily accepted my friends request and openly spoke to me as though I was just one of the gang. Shortly after I replaced the picture of the young girl on my profile with my own; It didn't happen overnight but eventually my point was proved to my nieces regarding internet safety and what I refer to as e'stranger danger.
This personal incident led me to the conclusion that it was not MySpaces' fault entirely, (although the ease of which it took to set up a fake account was frightening), it was in fact the fault of the account users for accepting a friend request from a person they had never even met or heard of.
I myself have a Facebook account and use it very carefully and have to date had no security worries, but I am a responsible user and only am networked with people that I personally know. I have had friend requests from people I do not know; however I politely inform them that I can not accept their request.
If you have a young person at home and they are wanting to or already have a MySpace account do not freak out, however, you need to be absolutely confident that your child is responsible and knowledgeable enough to be trusted with a MySpace account. Ensure that your child allows you access to their account in one way or another, it is when they don't allow you access that you may start being suspicious.
As a parent you need to be educated when it comes to the technical age. Most kids these day are able to run rings around their parents when it comes to technology, that combined with the saying where there is a will there is a way' is a potent mix ending in you being completely in the dark when it comes to your child's computer usage. They are smart enough to hide or delete things they don't want you to see before you see it, like their browsing history, IM conversations, file sharing history etc.
I am a firm believe that young persons should not have access to web cams unless they are fully supervised while using the web cam, as these tiny little seemingly harmless items are definitely not safe or appropriate for young computer users. I also believe that mobile phones pose much more of a risk to teens as there is virtually no way that parents are able to monitor mobile phones particularly with reference to pre paid mobile accounts.
In summation, MySpace is a safe internet venue for teens, IF, your teen uses it responsibly and you as a parent are able to properly monitor your teen's computer use.
Learn more about this author, Storm Sage.
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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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