by skottie jay

Created on: June 15, 2011

Is Myspace a safe venue for teenagers?

No, I believe it isn't. It's incredibly easy for people to steal information about others in this day and age. And even easier for someone to impersonate someone they are not. A lot of teenagers without proper guidance and parental supervision get in trouble for a reason, and it's just that. There's no one around to watch them. I'm not saying that teenagers should be watched like a hawk, a lot of freedom needs to be expressed in those years. Despite that, Myspace makes it easy for people to be whoever they aren't when people are looking.

There should be stricter guidelines on who's allowed to join, just an age limit won't do it. I've personally witnessed kids as young as 11 making profiles. I think if their aren't age limits, then there should be age restrictions on who can and cannot see the profile and who a teenager can add. Messaging would be ok, but perhaps a copy of anything off kilter should be sent to the parents of the teen. Which is another point, a teenager should sign up WITH their parents in order to obtain a profile. No one teenager should be allowed to be on that site alone, or should be severally restricted to what they can do and how long they are on. 

Just watch shows like "How to catch a predator" and how insanely easy it is for people to "hook up" and exchange indecent pictures of each other. And how many people (of both sexes) feel it's ok to engage in that behavior. Myspace is a prime spot for people to be just whoever they decide they want to be. I don't believe in net neutrality, but I do believe in parents taking an active role in their teenagers online time. Giving a teen privacy for some things is alright but not online. In this day and age you have to be really careful of everything you say, and do because there are people out there with a vindictive nature that legitimately WANT to hurt others. Including impressionable teenagers who don't know any better. So I say no it's not, I say set some boundaries or don't let your children on the site in the first place. Just because their friends are on, doesn't make it any better you have to be firm and stand your ground or your child could end up getting into a world of trouble.

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