by Dennis Thompson

Created on: September 26, 2007

Safe as long as you keep a CLOSE eye of your kids. Unsafe, otherwise. I have a fourteen year old daughter, and for her, MySpace is an outlet for her emotions and creativity, as she designs her own websites. Can I ban her from all the pervs leaching info off the internet? No. Can I tell her to quit using MySpace? No. It's her spot on the internet, and she has her friends yammering back and forth, and I feel that is harmless.

However, if she talks to someone she doesn't know at school, a new friend who "she doesn't know", she won't talk to them. They get banned. My daughter is wise to the pervs, but not everyone's are. Some teens are searching for friendship, and online they would talk to anyone else who could type. That is the danger. You can't determine who you are talking to, and therefore they could be anyone. That, in my opinion, is a serious danger.

You must give your kids freedom, but they are naive, so too much freedom leads to trouble. Parental monitoring is the key to seeing whats going on, but after the teens know you are watching them, they will find a way to sneak around, setup a new account, whatever. The key is to not ever encroach on their personal stuff while keeping an eye on it. Impossible, so therefore MySpace will not be safe until they incorporate a Parental Monitor System, whatever that is.

MySpace is too huge to ever be safe. Any perv can create a new account once he/she is found out. Anyone can create a MySpace account, and several if they wish, to do whatever they want with. It has the potential to make a perv out of any of us, luring teenage boys or girls into our own twisted ideals. Sad, but true.

Just make sure your kids ONLY talk to their friends at school, people they meet in real life. Ask to see their friends list. A teen "chats" all the time, so watch who they talk to, and if they want you to leave the room before they talk, be suspicious. Be cautious to protect your teen from the internet, and if they refuse any of your reasonable requests to check the friend list, then unplug their computer. It's just not worth the risk. They might hate you for a bit, but you are keeping them safe. You as an adult set the rules.

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