Saturday, March 25, 2006

MySpace - Teens at Risk

Some parents use the internet as an electronic babysitter, while other parents are clueless to the dangers lurking on the internet.

Parent needs to realize that things happen, and it could very well happen to their child.

Educate yourself about safety on the internet.

In recent weeks, stories surrounding the popular networking site, "MySpace" have been the talk of many online blogs and news outlets .

In a press release, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called myspace "a parent’s worst nightmare."

I agree!

Quoting from an article by Susan Shultz.

In an interview with The Darien Times on Tuesday, Blumenthal said he was encouraged by the response of myspace.com executives. The executives initiated the meeting after Blumenthal issued a strongly worded press release on Feb. 2.“My office has received numerous complaints over the last month that minors can easily post and view inappropriate and sexually suggestive material on myspace.com, possibly in violation of state law,” Blumenthal’s statement said. He added that the site posts no warnings that pornography and adult content are present, and suggested that the site’s content could be criminal. Read More


In the latest news, surrounding MySpace:

Police Use 'MySpace' Site To Nab Rape And Robbery Suspects

Predators' Web expands, need for vigilance rises

Congressman Addresses Changes in MySpace for Minors' Safety

MySpace linked to Westford rape case

Connecticut Asks MySpace to Provide Blocking Software

MySpace Arrest: Woman Accused of Harboring Runaway

MySpace is a dangerous place.

Principal worries Web sites such as Myspace.com are dangerous

MySpace Shunned by Advertising Panel

Third man held in MySpace sex liaison


Authorities nationwide have expressed concern that MySpace places children at risk for abuse. Authorities say that many parents are clueless about their kids "MySpace profiles."


Furthermore, many kids know the safety rules, but they choose to ignore them, placing themselves at risk.


Parents need to ask questions and be more concerned about their children's online activity. The problem is now a days, teens are fearless. All to often teens look at warnings as "it won't happen to me."

A situation where teens think that they can gain popularity by networking with strangers has become a dangerous hobby.

Rose DesRochers


Tags: ,

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to tell you that the advancements in internet are really scary as parents and I only find comfort in the fact that I imagine there will have to be some strides taken toward protecting our children by the time mine are old enough to use computers. My sister in law just turned 13 and until recently her myspace profile said that she was 19. Clearly her pictures showed that she was a 12 year old girl. I can only imagine who was contacting her. It makes me sick. Scary world.

Anonymous said...

Well i have a profile with myspace which i created a long time ago, and since when has never been used again lol. when i first signed up i saw for myself some of the content on that website and it is not appropriate contentm, especialy not for children. and as Rose said it has no warnings about its content which is wrong.

Rose DesRochers said...

Momaholler thank you for posting. Your sister in law is just one example how girls are signing up at Myspace is lying about their age.

Peri good for you. Our computer is in our living room too and we know our children's passwords. We too don't have a web cam. I'm glad you've taken the steps to protect your child.

Cparker I know. You were added to my friends list when I signed up to see what myspace was about. I was only there a few moments and I was deleting my account.

Dear AL said...

You wont believe how much unappropriate stuff I find on Blogger in my Blogs Stat Counter!

My kids are young, but by the time they're teenagers, I'm gona make sure they know everything about this crap on the internet!

JMom said...

My daughter and her friends all had accounts on myspace for a while too, until I noticed that they all had to "adjust" their ages in order to get an account. My daughter shut hers down just a while before all the media stuff about myspace came out. Now she says that most of her friend's sites have been deleted by myspace administrators.

She is now back to blogging on blogger again, and still closely monitored by her nosy mommy.

I agree with peri, you really need to know all their passwords to all their accounts or they can't have them. I always tell my girls I trust them to do the right thing always, but I will still conduct surprise audits once in a while.