Yet another reason to keep your kids off myspace

[Who Knows]

Indiana man tries to take Michigan girl after meeting on myspace

 

[21]

Every time I see a story about myspace's commitment to keeping kids safe, I want to throw up.

If they're serious about protecting minors, they'd require a valid credit card for registration.

 

[Who Knows]

When I read that one graf in the story about how there are guidelines in place to protect minors, I just rolled my eyes.

 

[Pastor]

21, as ****ty as this gets at times, I don't see how a credit card for registration would help.

 

[21]

21, as ****ty as this gets at times, I don't see how a credit card for registration would help.

Most 13 year olds don't have credit cards.

I just have a hard time blaming the parents for this---the mother in the story says her kid got so good at sneaking onto the internet, they finally disconnected the whole thing, including cable TV.

So they go to their friends' houses, and do it there.

What makes me nuts are my idiot friends who go for the 'it must be ok, everyone else is doing it' deal....and have no idea how to get around the internet. I'm convinced that parents have to be the greatest hackers in the world---there should be a class on this.

 

[Who Knows]

Does anyone on here with teenagers let their kids use it unsupervised?

Man, this **** is just scary...

That's the problem though. Even if you block that site on your home computer, a teen can go to their friends' house, a library, etc, etc.

 

[Point of Order]

Or another good reason not to have kids.

 

[Ace]

I would really like MySpace to spell out its stricy policy to enure that kids under 14 don't use the site.

 

[Platyrhynchos]

Can't some computer geek hack into that site and **** it up beyond usability?

 

[Dan Hickling]

Or another good reason not to have kids.

A little late for me, the father of six...

 

[Ace]

Or another good reason not to have kids.

You can have kids. Amish kids.

 

[spnited]

To me, this goes far beyond MySpace and it's lack of security for minors.
A 13-year-old who does this obviously has problems that are being ignored at home. This is first and foremost a parental issue, as is the behavior of virtually all kids this age.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

I would really like MySpace to spell out its stricy policy to enure that kids under 14 don't use the site.

And how do you propose to enforce that? According to the story, she put in her profile that she was 18.

 

[Pastor]

21, as ****ty as this gets at times, I don't see how a credit card for registration would help.

Most 13 year olds don't have credit cards.

I just have a hard time blaming the parents for this---the mother in the story says her kid got so good at sneaking onto the internet, they finally disconnected the whole thing, including cable TV.

So they go to their friends' houses, and do it there.

What makes me nuts are my idiot friends who go for the 'it must be ok, everyone else is doing it' deal....and have no idea how to get around the internet. I'm convinced that parents have to be the greatest hackers in the world---there should be a class on this.

When my family first got a computer it went in the living room. If I was going to look up porn on the 14.4 modem, I better be willing to do it in front everybody else there.

And giong to a friend's house should be no different. Except, well, most parents seem to be gullible or foolish because they allow the kids to have computers in their bedrooms.

Now, you say use a credit card to register. Well, the parent has already buckled under the pressure of needing "privacy" and allowed the kid to have a computer in their room. Why would the parent refuse to take part in step one of the registration process?

 

[Lugnuts]

What ever happened to teenaged girls being interested in the guys they go to school with?

We had a pretty frank SportsJournalists.com thread on pedophiles awhile back.... We discussed if this was a growing problem-- or whether the internet is just bringing out what was already there.

I raised the idea that perhaps it's a growing problem-- a terrifying thought.  I was shot down (in a nice way.)

Since then, the US AG has called the problem an "epidemic."

I know my station did a sweeps story on local law enforcement's efforts to flush these creeps out-- who isn't doing this during sweeps?  The reporter sat with undercover officer as she went online pretending to be a 14-year-old girl.  The photog on the story told me that within 5 minutes of logging on, she had nasty e-mails from about 20 guys.  It's like shooting fish in a barrel.

I want to hope it's just that it's getting more media attention than ever... my instincts tell me differently.

 

[Appgrad05]

Does anyone on here with teenagers let their kids use it unsupervised?

Man, this **** is just scary...

I know in my parent's house they are using the "Oh, well she's probably lying" excuse to not do anything about it.
My sister's myspace profile features references to sex, drugs and alcohol. And not just one of each, but multiple.
Her boyfriend's background is a smurf smoking pot and has something like 25 references to it (I counted).
My parent's response: "We know what's going on with our daughter. Don't tell us how to parent."
But these are the same parents who were "shocked" to find her grades dropping, only to discover it was because she was on the cellphone each night until 3 a.m. with boyfriend. When I said, "Gee, maybe you should take her cell phone away from her before you go to bed," I was met with disdain.

Long story short, parents don't want to parent when it comes to these "new" things like the internet and cell phones.

 

[Ace]

I would really like MySpace to spell out its stricy policy to enure that kids under 14 don't use the site.

And how do you propose to enforce that? According to the story, she put in her profile that she was 18.

Below is what the story says. I am not proposing anything, but if the company considers typing in a number higher than 13 as a "safeguard" I strongly disagree. If they said, "Hey, we ask that kids under 14 stay off the site but they lie and come on anyway. What are you gonna do?" I would at least have a smidgen of respect for them.

A MySpace representative said that the Web site doesn't comment on individual cases, but added that safeguards are in place to make sure children are old enough to use the site.

MySpace members are required to be 14 or older, according to the Web site.

 

[Double Down]

I'm sort of unclear what the DA in this case is going to charge this guy with. Hanging out with an underage girl? She said she was 18, the cop said she could probably pass for 18, and they were just driving in a car, not bumping uglies.

I still don't get the obsession with myspace. When did a whole generation of kids become convinced that the world was so fascinated by their boring-ass lives?

 

[Ace]

I'm sort of unclear what the DA in this case is going to charge this guy with. Hanging out with an underage girl? She said she was 18, the cop said she could probably pass for 18, and they were just driving in a car, not bumping uglies.

I still don't get the obsession with myspace. When did a whole generation of kids become convinced that the world was so fascinated by their boring-ass lives?

Yeah, I'm not sure this is a pedophile case. Though if I were trolling for chicks on MySpace, I would probably mentally add about four years to every girl who says she is 22 or under.

 

[Idaho]

Our house has one internet-capable computer and it's in the master bedroom. The kids don't play online unless we are in the room with them and they are not, and will not be, allowed to have a chat room username. There are three convicted pedophiles (according to the national registry) living within a half mile of our house, one directly across the street of the shortest walking path to her school.

I know pedophiles existed back when I was a kid, but being a dad now scares the crap out of me sometimes. And I think the internet is giving some pedophile wannabes the 'safety net' they need that allows them to explore their feelings, repressed or otherwise. They possibly feel like they can play around and not hurt anyone. But, IMO, that playing around does, in fact, foster those feelings and desires and allows them to grow. For some, not all, it leads to dire consequences.

I'd love to see an internet pedophile of the day as a regular feature on television stations and in newspapers.

I think it's only a matter of time before the parents of a molested child successfully sue MySpace and it's shut down.