Proof That Evil Lurks On MySpace
New here? You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
If you need more proof that MySpace can be a risk to your kids, then you’ll be interested to learn that earlier this month the popular web community found more than 29,000 profiles of registered sex offenders on their site. Even with a community of over 180 million, 29,000 is still a dangerous slice by anyone’s standards.
And that’s just the ones who were — excuse me — stupid enough to put their name out there for the authorities to see. I would think it would be virtually impossible to discover the ones who were a little more discrete.
This should be a wake-up call to caring parents who need to know what danger lies within this community. I’m not making a blanket statement that MySpace is all bad, but if you spend a few moments browsing the profiles you see on there it wouldn’t be long before you come across something, shall we say, unsavory.
Just like cyberbullying, the Web offers a feeling of freedom not normally found in the offline world. Just as it’s easy to harass someone online using the Web and be anonymous, so too is the feeling one has when they are in the comfort of their own bedrooms providing all sorts of data for all the world to see.
What can you do?
- Ask your child if they have a profile on MySpace. If they do, try not to freak (again, I’m not saying everyone on MySpace is bad), but ask to see it and judge for yourself if it contains appropriate material.
- Set guidelines for what is appropriate and what is not appropriate to put on their profile.
- Have them require visitors to be part of their network, thus requiring a login. At least this way some control is involved with who can see the information. And have them connect with only friends they know in real life.
I’ve viewed profiles on MySpace and have witnessed first hand that kids can put content of themselves that they wouldn’t think of showing mom and dad in a million years. Provocative poses, shots of inappropriate behavior, information about where they go to school or live, their cell phone number, and lots more.
What I’m suggesting here is not to eliminate their freedom of expression. I don’t think that’s even possible with kids today even if we tried. But it’s more about teaching them the difference between right and wrong. So many times kids think it’s only their friends who are viewing their information on their profiles. Not so, unless they’ve only limited their profile to be viewed by their friends.
[tags]MySpace,sex offenders,pedophiles[/tags]
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
[…] Your browser does not support frames. Please click here http://www.familywebwatch.com/blog/proof-that-evil-lurks-on-myspace/. […]
It concerns me a great deal that when kids are trying to have fun, crims take advantage of it. We educate our children to learn and explore. Only to have that experience ruined by some half-wit. They do it because they think they can get away with it. Companies that supply our children with the means to communicate with the rest of the world from their bedrooms should do more to make their systems safe. It’s time they were held more accountable.
Our nine year old actually asked about myspace earlier today. Needless to say, it’s off limits to our kids, even when they get a bit older.
Hi raising4boys, good to hear from another who realizes the potential risks involved with MySpace. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope to see you return! 
[…] maturity and have yet to see the bigger picture on many topics. So when they visit places like MySpace or other online social communities, they don’t see beyond the relationship to think that […]
[…] Your page is on StumbleUpon […]