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| Yes | 48% | 680 votes | Total: 1411 votes | |
| No | 52% | 731 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesWe've all heard of MySpace. It's one of the most popular blogging webpages around. Not only teens, but people of all different ages are using it. The Internet is one of the most popular ways to keep in contact with friends and family because it's quick, convenient, and easy to use. But we all know that this world we live in isn't perfect and there are going to be people out there that only pose as 'friends'. There is no way to completely rid the world of online predators, murderers, pedophiles, etc, and shutting down a single web page isn't going to help much.
Besides, how can you blame a website for teens being raped and killed? The only people you can blame in a situation like this is the person using MySpace, and their parents. The parents know what has happened to teens in the past and yet they still allow their children to access MySpace. Also, how would they not know where they are headed when they go to meet these online 'friends'? Letting your child run out of the house without knowing where they are going shows a lack of parenting. Plus, the teen using MySpace should have enough common sense to know they shouldn't run off to meet people they've never seen in real life before.
MySpace is a very secure website and it's constantly improving. The user has the option to accept, deny, or even block the other people from adding and communicating with them. It also allows you to set your profile and pictures to private, as where only the people you want can see them.
In addition to MySpace's security, teens should take some precautions themselves. For instance,they shouldn't give out any personal information. Also, no one should post pictures of themselves half naked because that's only going to attract the wrong crowd. MySpace can be a very safe and fun website to check out as long as you just use your common sense and think about who you are talking to.
Learn more about this author, G..
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No
As a mom of two teenagers I feel that protecting them in this age of technology is becoming more difficult by the year; it is almost as if the world is shrinking. I felt that I monitored the internet usage well, putting safeguards into place to protect them from predators and from the adult content. My oldest had a My Space account, and I was her "friend" on there - and had access to all people she chose to communicate with on a regular basis. We had a reminder that our information is never completely private through my own teenagers my Space account.
My daughter's account was hacked and her password was changed as was her email account. Several friends in her school also had similar circumstance, with pictures put onto their accounts that were similar to the ones posted onto my daughters account. She never gave out her password, so we are not sure how it happened, but My Space was not helpful in eliminating the disgusting items put onto her account for all to see. She could not even close the account because she did not have her password, as the hacker had changed it. The background on her My Space was changed to parts of dead people from crime scenes. There were what appeared to be male anatomy parts - torn into pieces in one area of the page. Due to the fact that My space management would not communicate with her or with me for several weeks, she simply told her friends not to go to her My space account any more. This was two years ago. The account is still open for anyone to see and set on public. My space management never took the pages down. The support systems within My Space are not going to protect children or teenagers from those who want to take advantage of youthful naivety. In this particular instance the negative content was simply ignored by the teens that were victims.
Communication within a family can diminish the effects of the internet predators, routinely checking on your teenagers knowledge of potential predators is also a deterant. Teens are not able to understand the full consequences of making information available to the public, and often want to have as many friends on My Space or Face Book as possible; leaving them at risk for approving people into their circle that have potential for negative impact on personal lives. Our family experience with My Space left me feeling that it was not the appropriate venue for teens to communicate with one another on the net.
Learn more about this author, Lisa Phillips.
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