my daughter is 13 and wants myspace. should i let her? and what is the perfect age for my younger son to join?

Question

my son is 9 and i dont know......and should either of them have msn???

Answer 1

Go ahead.........the Predators are waiting 24/7.

Answer 2

If you're questioning it, then the answer is "no". Do you let your children use the internet unsupervised and go to sites without you first checking them out or being there when they log on? If no, then YOU are not ready for your children to have a myspace account. No matter how responsible your children are, if you don't feel comfortable with it then don't let them do it. It's not like they need a myspace account. At 13, your daughter may need an email account for school purposes and one day she is going to need a car. But her life will not be negatively affected if she can't have a myspace until she's sixteen or eighteen.
The thing with MSN is probably a "no" as well. This is different though. I say no, because I don't think that either one of them is going to be using it the way that you or I would (I'm 22). My sister is 12 and begged for AIM, but none of her friends are ever online and if she needs to talk to them immediately (which she always does, because everything at that age is a crisis) she just calls them.
The bottom line is that if you're not comfortable with it and feel like you'll have to monitor their every move, then just say no. Wait until you're comfortable letting them use the internet without supervision of any kind (so don't be asking for their passwords and such; if you feel a need to know it, then neither of you are ready). Good luck.

Answer 3

I'm pretty sure you have to be at least 14 to join myspace. Your daughter is probably too young to understand how to stay safe. And your son is definitely too young.

However, if you teach your child the dangers of giving out personal information on line (even phone numbers, not just addresses. Where you work and go to school, etc) and your child understands all this, I don't see a problem. Myspace is not the reason people are getting raped and murdered. It's the people who use myspace in an ignorant way. My friend had 1000 "friends" almost just for the simple fact that he wanted to have a popularity contest with me. See how many more friends he could get than me. He also gave everyone he thought was hot his address and phone number. He is highly ignorant.
I only add friends and family I know, with the exception of a few celebrities that have proof they are real. My account is set to private and my friends and I are not ignorant enough to login to myspace without making sure it's the actual site first.

I have had myspace for 3 years almost and have never been stalked, hacked, raped, murdered, etc.

The only people who blame myspace for the lack of parenting and ignorance is the ones who don't want to admit somewhere they went wrong. Myspace is no more loaded with sexual predators than anywhere else on the internet, or your neighborhood. The way I see it, you are never fully protected from predators. They are everywhere, and if you spend your life so worried about them and trying to be 100 percent secure and sheltered from life, then you are going to miss out on a lot of cool things that will happen in your life.

I do find it amusing that people blame myspace for their children being raped and murdered. Did myspace come to your house, tell your daughter to get in the car, drive her to the woods, rape, and murder her? no. Your daughter ignorantly talked to a random person she didn't know. Wanted to meet up with this person. Gave her address and phone number. The guy came and picked her up. she thought the world was rainbows and daisies all the time. He took her to the woods, had his way with her, and killed her. It's as simple as that.

When are parents and teenagers going to take their OWN responsibility for their actions instead of blaming an internet website and anything else you can possibly think of instead of blaming themselves like they should?

I was taught what to and not to do online before I even came 1 inch close to a computer. I know what is right and wrong and I have never been so much as stalked.

Answer 4

most 13 year olds really want a myspace because every one else has one. make a deal with her that she has to keep her grades up in school. also monitor the information shes gives out. dont hover over her or watch her every time she gets on the computer, that will just make her want to get on at school or do something on myspace you dont approve of. i've had a myspace since i was 9 ( im 12 now ) and my mom gives me my space. she checks up on my profile every once in a while and tells me if she doesn't approve of something. she trusts me enough to know i wont do something im not supposed too. and thats the way i like it. just make sure she doesn't get addicted.

It is Possible

Hope I Was A Help

Answer 5

I'm 18, and my advice is not to let your kids get a myspace.. at all untill 17 or 18. although many kids like them they can be very dangerous. for one, kids are put into a "pecking order" by choosing "top friends" this is where you put your favorite people on a list diplayed to everyone who sees your site. kids who are immature get very upset when they are not on someones top friends, low on the list, or if they are high on there and get moved down. It is not worth kids getting upset over. Also you have to think about internet perditors. someone who starts messsaging them who looks like an innocent 13 year old boy could be a 40 year old sex offender, or just a pervert, ect. another thing is kids get addicted to this. They will spend more time on the computer and thus become lazier, and with some children all physical activity is lost, and they become obeses. In my oppinion i think your daughter needs to enjoy being a kid, and not worry about the myspace fad right now. She may be upset upset at first but shell get over it. This is just my oppinion, but the bottom line is do what you feel is best for your child! =)

Answer 6

I believe that 16 is a good age.The internet can be dangerous when you are young.Plus there's a lot of things on myspace that's 18+.
It all really depends on the parent or child as to what seems like "the perfect age" for you as a family.
-Michelle

Answer 7

13 still probably too young, 9 for sure too young. Myspace is a fun site, you get to create your own look, but they can talk to anybody on that site. Who knows if some creep will try to pull a fast one on them. People are not only on there to chat with their friends, people also get on there to date, & for who knows what else. I would wait until they're older, they may be mad, but it's best to play it safe.
Her site can be set to private, but all a person has to do is ask to be her friend & if she says yes, then it's just like she's not set on private. Just because private is set doesn't mean it'll keep the bad people away. And if you don't know your daughters password etc or if she gets comfortable w/ the site, she could secretly create a new one that you won't beable to spy on. Play it safe, tell her no & keep an eye on her use of the computer.

Answer 8

depends. are u a lazy parent? i dont mean sitting on ur tail. but are u involved in ur childs life. my kids are 15 and 16... they have had a myspace account for about a year or so... i know there passwords, i have an account also and on their friends list. we together say who can be approved as friends, all their settings are set as private (so unless ur a friend u dont see it), i say what pictures can be on it, my children know the rules of safe internet... u never give out personal info, never allow someone u dont know to add u... if u can do all this and watch ur child then yes they can have one... if ur lazy and let the computer watch ur child then no... same rules for their msn...

Answer 9

13 is a good age for Myspace. The good thing about Myspace is that they have so many options for you the parent and your child can do to prevent anything from going wrong on there. First off, you can set their profile to private, and you can make sure that all comments are approved before being posted on their site. Mom, you can start you a profile first just to see how it can be worked and then let your daughter take over or start her own. I have a MySpace Profile and it is a lot of fun and I stay in contact with a lot of friends that I havent seen or talked to in person in a long time! I also can contact friends that I always see. It is safer than a chat room, I can promise you that. There is always Tom too. He is the creator of MySpace and you can voice any concerns or questions directly to you and he is always on top of getting them resolved for you! Just check it out for yourself mom.

Answer 10

Set the guidelines for your kids and if you are going to let your daughter have myspace just say fine but you have access to the site. THere is no reason not to let your kids have MSN. Again be a vigilant parent and check the friends list. If you trust your kids there is no reason to not let them do this. Just be present.

Answer 11

I believe that teaching kids how to deal with problems is better than shielding them from it all. So I say yes, let her join.

As long as she keeps her Myspace set to "private", only people that she adds as friends can view it. So, tell her only to add people that knows well in real life. This solves the "creepy predator guy" problem. Unless she goes and sets it to public, they can't and won't try to contact her.

And as for your son, as long as it is set to private and he understands he can only add people he knows, I'd say let him have one if he wants. Though, I'm not really sure why a 9 year old boy would want one...

Same thing goes for MSN, if you let them use it, make sure that they are only adding people that they know.