MySpace: Right of Passage or Danger For Kids

A lot of kids on the Net are finding their identity by posting their identity online. They create personal Web sites and add their most personal information. Their friends can find them, but so can the predators.

"The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has received at least 288 MySpace-related complaints, according to U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan in Pittsburgh."

That's enough to make you think, isn't it? That's possibly 288 kids that have had trouble with strangers because of their personal Web sites.

There's mention of a 16 year old who was sexually assulted by a 37 year old man outside her work, in this article. She had her place of work posted on her personal Web site, he found her.

This happened to her, it can happen to your child. Kids are not stranger savvy. They think they know what a stranger is by the time they are teens but "stranger" has a whole new meaning now.

We tell our kids that a stranger is someone they don't know. My one son says, "I introduced myself, now he's not a stranger." I started telling them a stranger is someone "I" don't know.

Now a stranger becomes anyone on the Internet you don't already know from school or work. Then you have to tell them to come to you and tell you if online conversations get out of hand.

I guess the best thing you can do is make sure you and your kids can communicate with each other. If your kids are not afraid to talk to you, about anything, then they will be more comfortable talking with you when chatting or emails get out of control.

Read This Article: As teens flock to MySpace, parents worry that personal data posted will lure predators