Is MySpace a safe Internet venue for teens?

No

7 of 45

by Nina Lyn

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As a teenager myself, I can honestly say that MySpace is not exactly a safe place. I've spent my fair share of afternoons browsing through pages in my ZIP code, searching for a friend's profile to see the new pictures she was so hyped about. This was a year ago, however, but I have a strong feeling that not much has changed since then. My main concern: lying about ages, frontal shots of a girls' breasts (only covered slightly), and plenty of personal information for anyone with ill-intent.

I will not claim to speak for all people of my age group or all parents of this age group, but for those of you with kids, how many of you truly, fully, absolutely know how to operate your computer? How many of you completely understand the Internet? Aside from setting up a few firewalls, you must ask yourself, how much do you know? Chances are, your kids know about three times as much as you do. My own parents cannot do more than set up an anti-virus and firewall themselves, both of which I could disable if I so chose to.

The Internet is something that erupted after the time of the parents, and thus, takes a lot of time and effort to comprehend. You parents are the first generation in a potentially long line of generations that will have to deal with the MySpace threat. You have no example, nothing to follow. What does that leave? It leaves it up to your knowledge and trust in the operators of MySpace, but most of all, trust that your kids are actually doing everything you tell them. How many teenagers do exactly as they are told? I'll admit, I do not. I do for the most part, but I've ignored my fair share of requests and rules. None of them extremely serious, but the point remains.

You can tell your teenager not to do things that may endanger them, but you would be hard-pressed to find any teen, or any individual regardless of age, that has never done something regrettable or hazardous. Of course, any teenager is going to say that nobody will harm them, no stalkers will affect anyone who is Internet-smart. I'm guilty of these claims, but that does not make them any more legit. I've met a stalker first-hand, and the only thing that separates me from many teens is I'm not looking for the sexual attention and recognition. I have no want to experiment with sex. Now think back - did you, as a teen, feel the same way? Not many did, and I can assure you, not many do now. I can't count on my fingers the number of people who have lost their virginity at 12. It's funny because you think I'm kidding.

It's fairly easy to become famous on the Internet, and MySpace is a fad that has yet to die. The staff at MySpace can impose all the limitations they want, but people will find way to dodge them. People will lie about their ages, post pictures, write about where they go to school and how 'this is a cool picture of us at the pool party, drunk'. Chances are, your kid can disable the settings you put up for them, because they may know more about your computer than you do! Look at any listing in MySpace - many of the ages will say '99,' or something outlandish like that. Some people use it wisely, keep private settings, and use it to just talk to friends at school or work, but many others talk to anyone and everyone just to have the largest friends list. People make contests about it, people make games about it. Do you think it's a gaming matter?

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