More on MySpace, "You can control [your child's] MySpace pages"
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive July 2006:
More on MySpace, "You can control [your child's] MySpace pages"
Here is a column by Jim Coates of the Chicago Tribune. I urge all parents to read it:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/reviews/chi-0605230236may23,1,2854842.column?coll=chi-technologyreviews-hed
Here is part of what Mr. Coates says:
"Put down your foot and demand that they give you the same access that they give to their friends and other MySpace members. Then add that MySpace page to the Favorites in your own browser and make a daily practice of checking things out.
Better yet, take a couple of minutes and set up your own MySpace account so you can watch your children's MySpace space as a logged-in user. Signup is quick and simple."
And, finally:
"As a parent, you even can order your children's accounts closed by going to www.myspace.com and clicking on the Safety item at the bottom of the page."
Ginny comment: I think all parents have to realize that once their children have access to the internet - at home, at school, at the library, at a friend's house - it is reasonable to assume they will set up a MySpace or Xanga or similar account. After all, "all my friends are doing it". As Mr. Coates says in his article, MySpace and similar sites have become the equivalent of the mall as a meeting place.
Something else for your kids (and any blogger) to think about is something I read in an article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer, which noted that colleges, potential employers and employers are, more and more often, going to the internet to see if a college or employment applicant or current employee has a blog (and MySpace is, essentially, a blog) and reading what the candidates or employees say about themselves. So if your child is thinking about college for the future, s/he needs to think about what a college admission board member would think about what your child says in MySpace or on any blog. Anyone who thinks that any part of the internet is really "private" is living in a fool's world.
I know my child's MySpace password.
Good advice, Ginny!
my child is too young he still goes on AOL and not often at that his control is set at kids only but i still monitor him = ) ..he's 11 the other one is 9 but they do get online at school he better not be unsupervised there that's for sure...
When my son gets on the internet, he is usually searching ebay for video games or he is searching for pictures of his favorite video game character or for cheats and hints for his video games. Other than that he has the Hot Wheels PC game he likes to play, but it's not an online game.
I finally read the article above (I have been meaning to for a few days now) and I agree with everything that he said. I also found out about something on the website for another computer guru that writes columns for USA Today and has a weekend talk radio show all about technology, gadgets, the internet, and computers. She has what she calls the Ten Commandments for Kids Online.
http://www.komando.com/kids/commandments.aspx
And she also has many articles on her website about the dangers of myspace and other computer tips for parents.
http://www.komando.com/kids/parent-tips.aspx
I just came across another article about MySpace: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/03/AR2006070300788_2.html
This is from the Washington Post, and notes that among other groups, MySpace has discussion groups called "Razorblade Kisses", about cutting, one called "Pill Poppers United", and one called "Druggies". It describes how a 14 year old boy (who lists himself on MySpace as being 19) describes his drug use in his MySpace blog, and his parents are apparently fairly clueless.
The article also notes that with all of the security features MySpace says it has initiated, it hasn't closed down these discussion groups or others that talk about or promote anorexia, the use of steroids (including a post offering the illegal sale of steroids and other drugs), sex parties, and so on.
The more I read about MySpace, the more I think that I would have had hysterical fits if my sons had been members of such a site. I am so very grateful that this is not an issue I had to deal with.
My sister had one and my mom just made her delete it and as of right now she's not allowed on the computer because of the things she was putting on her myspace.
It's addictive, she was literally on the computer all the time updating and browsing other's page. That was until we found out she wasn't being honest on her's and was acting like she was something she's not.
Here's another myspace story. My friend's 15-year-old son "met" a female on my space and it got pretty serious (for having never met in real life) and then he "dumped" her and she started stalking him. Then someone called and said the girl had tried to commit suicide. That's when my friend, the boy's mom, found out about the whole thing. She called the police of the town the girl said she lived in and learned, no, the girl hadn't tried to commit suicide and, by the way, the girl is 11 years old! ELEVEN!!
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