After Viewing the content of most of my Daughters MySpace friends pages,?

Question

and then looking at others as well to get a good ideal. Do you think that sites like MySpace and others like it should not allow childern under 18 on it? I know that I blocked it on my computers and my childern are no longer allowed on it.

Answer 1

I commend you on being an involved parent, but you may find that blocking the site backfires and your kids begin looking for ways around the blocks. Education is generally a better alternative than restriction.

Also, many parents are only concerned with the inappropriate content their child might see and never consider the safety aspects of those sites. A parent could help their child create a MySpace and think all is fine, but many predators use the fact that "real life" friends often reveal personal information. Your child's page may say nothing about what city or state you live in, what school they attend, etc, but if a friend's page has those details, your child's information is now just as exposed. As for the "only kids can view other kids' profiles" idea, please don't EVER assume that makes it safe, since predators create underage profiles and "befriend" children that way!

Personally, I don't think raising the age on MySpace or any other site of that type would make much difference. Kids sign up for things "on the sly" all the time, including MySpace. If the minimum age was raised to 18 or even 16, they would just lie about their age to use it. Some of the best ways to ensure your child's safety are to teach them how to be safe on the net, supervise their time online and regularly monitor not only their profiles, but those of all their friends as well.

Answer 2

yeah, there is a lot of garbage on myspace. There are also a lot of great people though.
It's a toss up really. If Myspace became exclusively 18+, then a lot of the negative content would probably get a lot worse, since people would think they had free reign.

I think parents should either limit their kids' computer access, or teach them how to spot nonintegrous stuff and to stay away from it.

If you're looking for a similar sort of site which is exponentially more positive, check out www.zaadz.com
There aren't too many young people there (yet) but it's a fantastic networking site that is more inclined toward cultivating awareness.

Peace,

-Rob

Answer 3

Actually they are working on making Myspace, Facebook and others only available to kids older then 18. If they are younger they will need a parents permission. I assume you would have to enter a credit card number or something to get to that point. If its set to private someone who really wants to get in will get in.

As for myself, I did have a myspace just to see what all the talk is. I never put anything on it and never check it. I feel its just as bad as talking to a stranger depending on how much you put on the space.

I think that teenage kids put a lot of content on myspace which is more then someone needs to know about them. Many teenage girls and guys who are 14 and older, have pictures that show a lot of skin and just a little amount of clothing where there private parts are.

Answer 4

As with most of the rest of cyber-space, MySpace has its good points and bad. You should monitor your daughter's usage and check her page (and her friends' pages periodically). If you see anything disturbing on it, talk to her about why you will not allow that type information or do not want her chatting with certain people. Her page should also be set to "private". If she cannot abide by the guidelines you set for it then by all means block it. Bottom line is it is your house and her computer usage is subject to your rules.

Answer 5

Personally, I don't use My Space...

But, kids will be kids, and as others have stated, even if you block it from your computer(s) the kids will find another puter to work from.

Better yet, request them to give you access to their "space" and monitor the site as you would a request for a sleep over at a friends.

Kids knowing you are going to see "their" space, will be more apt to keep it entertaining an on the up & up.

Remember, the people entering the work force in 2020 will have jobs that aren't even created yet.

People always say they will never be like their parents. Considering you are still alive, able to read these posts, and type in your questions, should in itself, tell you that "being like your parent" may not be a bad thing....

Answer 6

It makes me nervous to have my kids on myspace. However, I do not block it. I do try teach them to use the internet safely, and I hope they do what they are taught.

It is a tool, like any other website, and there is good and bad on it. I am trying to teach them to use common sense instead of blocking individual sites. They would always be finding ways around it, or using other similar sites. How many sites are you going to block?

They are not allowed to ramdomly surf on myspace, only to view their friends. Random surfing on myspace is a bad idea for anyone.

If you want to monitor their myspace page, set up your own account, and go on and post a comment here and there. Like I told my daughter, you never know who might be viewing what you put up. It could be a fat man in his basement with his hands in his pants. Or it could be your own mother.

The thought of her mother seeing it was more frightening to her.

Answer 7

Blocking it is only going to make them want go on it more. You can't tell, lets say, a 16-17 year old don't go on it. They're nearly 18.

How about teaching your kids how to go about MySpace safely instead of completely blocking it and saying NO!.
If you don't teach them, they'll come across it later and not know how to deal with it.

Answer 8

Not all websites like MySpace are bad, though. Facebook won't even let you look at another person's profile page unless you're friends with them, and you have to state how you know each person you add as a friend when you add them.

I do agree that MySpace really is not a save place for children (even teenagers my age!), and I discourage my younger brother and sister from using it (although my sister doesn't listen to me and posts EVERYTHING on MySpace) because there are so many scary stories about kids getting abducted by people they met on MySpace, or maybe not even met; someone might look at their pictures and gather enough information from them to locate you. And that excuse, "You can make it so that only your friends can see everything"? So incredibly easy to do on MySpace!! (a lot of my friends like to hack into websites, just to see if they can do it, and sometimes even get paid to find ways malevolent hackers can get in and tell them how to fix it)

Answer 9

I might be a little bias, seeing as I'm 16 myself, and I practically live off my myspace, but I really see nothing wrong with it. If you've ever been to your daughters high school, I can guarentee that she hear's more "unappropriate" things in 10 minutes than you could find on myspace in 10 hours. And blocking it is not going to stop your kids. If my parents blocked myspace, I would just use a different computer to get on it.

Have some faith in your kids. Trust them. Tell them right from wrong, but don't stop them completely. If you're smart about it, then myspace is just as safe as any other site around.

Answer 10

develop right into a hacker, or phish their account. it rather is the only way. that's seen a violation of privateness and a federal offense to hack into something, so i could overlook approximately it. in simple terms ask her to take it off inner maximum, tell her your no longer on myspace lots yet does no longer suggestions seeing her internet site.