Teens & MySpace.com

This week, we feel it is of note to mention the dangers of a site called "MySpace.com".  Many youth are using MySpace to create personal web pages and there are substantial concerns about children's safety. 

The site is made up of millions of individual websites created by members and are not controlled for content.  This is a place where children talking about drugs, alcohol, sex, venting about their parents, and other negative talk.  There are member sites on MySpace.com that are intended to lure adolescents into unsafe relationships online.  It is important that you consider the content to be adult oriented and filter this site off your computer.

Recently, there were 7 reported assaults in Connecticut (Click for another report).  The young women were assaulted by men they met online, through their MySpace.com pages.  Another article in Meridian magazine addresses MySpace and similar sites.  It is critical that parents be aware of what their children are doing online:

• Keep your computer in a family place.  No Internet in children's bedrooms or secluded parts of the house.
• Do not allow your kids to post personal information or pictures on their web pages. There are ways to publish pictures in password secured sites so that friends can get in, but the general public (and pedophiles) can't.
• Know what your kids are doing and who they're chatting with online.
• It is critical to follow-up and monitor your children's activities closely.
• Be aware that this is not the only service like this.  There are many similar sites that allow kids to publish information.
• More information on keeping kids safe is found on our site