Teens these days are familiar with the Internet, they use it to buy gifts, do research, and also find friends. That is where the problem lies. Many teens reveal personal information like their name, address, school, age, phone number, photographs, and other personal details. While the Internet is an incredible tool, if used wisely, it is also a breeding ground for child predators, who frequent sites primarily focused towards teens and children.
But the greatest danger doesn’t lie in the child predators but in the peer groups that teenagers and tweens are finding on-line. Peer groups that support drug use, suicide, the choking game, sniffing, pre-marital sex, eating disorders, cutting, dress and behavior extremes, and other destructive behaviors. Teens can find an instant support group for any behavior that they are interested in or already participating in. When parents see their child’s friends it gives them an idea of the behaviors they might be involved in, but having an on-line support group makes it harder for parents to realize what their child is involved in.
A few months ago Nikki Bradley, a parenting blogger, wrote about the dangers of teen blogging. She focused on a web site called MySpace.com. In her blog she says, “Some statistics suggest that children ages 13 – 17 make up over half of all internet bloggers today! Children as young as 9 and 10 years old are making themselves at home on these free blog websites, creating homepages filled with every personal detail including photos, lists of hobbies and interests, family details, location and income details and, frequently, blogs containing up to date information about what is going on in their lives.”
Wired magazine’s web site has a “MySpace Cheat Sheet for Parents.” This allows parents to keep an eye on their kid’s online activity. To access the information visit the site www.wired.com and put “MySpace” in the search box.
Recognizing the dangers of child predators, MySpace has created a set of safety tips for teens and parents, it also includes a link that can remove a child’s profile from the site. Although these are specific to MySpace they apply to general internet usage as well.
- Remember, members’ profiles and MySpace forums are public spaces. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want the world to know (for example, your phone number, address, IM screen names or specific whereabouts). Avoid posting anything that would make it easy for a stranger to find you, such as where you hang out every day after school.
- Be careful about adding strangers to your friends list. People aren’t always who they say they are. It’s fun to connect with new MySpace friends from all over the world, but avoid meeting people in person whom you do not fully know. Parents, encourage your kids to talk to you if they want to meet an online friend in person, and if you think it’s safe, any meeting should take place in public and with friends or a trusted adult present.
- Harassment, hate speech and inappropriate content should be reported. Parents, if your kids encounter inappropriate behavior, let them know that they can let you know, or they should report it to MySpace or the authorities.
- Don’t post anything that would embarrass you later. Think twice before posting a photo or info you wouldn’t want your parents or boss to see.
- Members should not mislead people into thinking they are older or younger. If members lie about their age, MySpace will delete their profiles.
- Parents, talk to your kids about why they use MySpace, how they communicate with others and how they represent themselves on MySpace.
Most importantly parents need to be aware of what their kids are doing on-line. Monitoring on-line behavior is not “spying” it is being a responsible parent.