My Space Revisited
Our school had the local Attorney General's office and some programmers talk to us about My Space and the good and bad in it. I have had some interesting comments from my good friends here about it;pro and con.
My pro comments are very pro: young adults love to go here and talk to their friends and there are some creative photos of art and nice photos of friends. Those who know me here know I love poetry, art and music, hey I'm hip.That is very cool .OK.
It is listed as an adult forum and as such it is creative and the teens can go in and "meet up" with their friends, share ideas and talk about stuff and even arrange parties ,etc.You ask :" how can the teens get in? " They are lying about their age from New York to California!Ok so why do I worry? Are you guys great parents? Yes!!!!!! Well what about the lock key kids with indifferent parents? They are vulnerable! What about kids who are depressed or their parents are depressed and they are using the Internet as a babysitter?What about the extremely shy kids and the kids who have to move around the country every year or so?Wrong idea!!!!No pass go and No collect one hundred dollars!
Oh and get this: some kids are being stalked.Thirty percent of people in this space are 30 to 50 year old men who are pretending to be teens in your state!They can form link up with the help of stalkers and try to find your child! When you child thinks that they are not being viewed by millions of people they are mistaken! So Hey how about asking them to just post anonymous photos, with sunglasses and blouses; suitable for tv or something and how about no address and no formal name and telelphone numbers? I'm all for the kids going to have a beach party or a party in the Bronks but how about NOT posting that in the blog? Make a call..some of your kids' "Internet kids their age" are not kids their age;
they are predators!
OK so..what are your comments? Pro and Con?Please write some more thoughts!
5 comments:
well, of course they lie about their age because it is an adult forum. Of course children whose parents are not vigilant are likely to be victimized, they are also likely jto be picked up at the mall, are we thinking about shutting it down too?My child enjoys Myspace and I enjoy looking at her pictures and her friends' too.It is a good way tokeep up with what is going on with your teen & their friends.I pick my battles carefully with my child, just because they like something I dont' assume it's bad. There are lot worse things she could be doing
Marti
Well you know my feelings, but mainly it doesn't matter what it is, some parents just don't care about their kids, and sometimes bad things happen to good people. In the end only information and education about all the issues will help the problem.
Like anything else that starts out innocently and good for our teens, or even kids, there are those who would take advantage of their innocence. Without shame or guilt. I don't understand it, but it's true. There are predators, and they do stalk the kids, and the teens don't think it will happen to them. For parents who are aware of the danger, it is a very frightening enterprise. Do they forbid their kids from using the internet and risk alienating them (again!), or trust them to know when they are getting too close to going too far? It's a difficult situation, one that can only be solved by students understanding the dangers, and they won't unless someone tells them (like in school, where DARE teaches them about the dangers of using drugs, or other programs that enlighten the teens on protecting themselves in social situations. I would not want my kids to have access to such a place. I would be afraid that one of those predators would somehow charm her, fool her, and get involved with her emotionally when she is typically very vulnerable at that time in her life. I don't know what else to say. Most things that are started to help kids be more sociable are also exactly the things that predators of teens will seek out to find their victims. Bea
I guess we can't fight this "public" forum, but access to the internet is extremely limited in our house. I have to approve every site visited and My Space is not on my list. Even if they get on while I am not here, they can't go to the internet without my approval. Blessings, Penny http://journals.aol.com/firestormkids04/FromHeretoThere
i sat Meg, 17, down and had a long talk about her myspace area. Told her what she could and couldnt say and do. I sat with her today as she reviewed her notices and all were from school mates. She loves myspace like i love J Land.
Love,lisa jo
Post a Comment