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I would like to thank you for your On-line article about kids and the Internet. Having a teenager means never not worrying. I have previously seen "My Space" and was saddened. My teenaged daughter and many of her friends use it, unfortunately. These kids have no idea what kind of information they are sending out to the world. We continually try to limit technology usage in our home to no avail.
We try to keep our kids safe so that they can enjoy their young years but it seems to be getting harder to do all the time.
Is it me or do kids leave their childhood behind earlier than in my generation?
Thanks.
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In response to your article about MySpace, I went on the other day looking for my son's name. I could not believe my eyes. I was so upset by what I saw that I called other parents to let them know and discuss what should be done. To my dismay, one parent stated that they felt it was not that bad. This upset me more. I was totally disgusted by what I saw. We are the parents. These kids are experiencing to much from the internet. Not only was I upset by my sons picture on the site, but there were also pictures of my house and kids hanging in my yard. Every parent needs to go online and find out for themselves what their children are doing. I've seen these kids around and never would have known what they were up to, until they posted in on MySpace. Thanks again... I hope this helps parents to be more aware of what their children are doing and experiencing.
Signed - Couldn't believe my eyes
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Thank you to SBOL. I have to say that was a great column about Myspace. I found myself entering the world of MySpace last September. I noticed my 13 year old son pulling up pictures of different kids. One night, after my son had left his MySpace open I went on. I was shocked to see how much personal info he had put up there. He changed his age but his middle school name was there. His town, his sports teams, and even his younger siblings names and ages were there. I had to keep my heart from dropping down to my feet. If any predator wanted to track my children down my own child provided more than enough information. Thankfully there were no pictures of them or of our home. I immediately made him remove all of the personal information from his profile. I still monitor his MySpace and I continue to be shocked at some of the spaces of many of these young kids. Thankfully his space and his friends have nothing that alarms me. However, once I go deeper into their friends, friends, friends I see many shocking things. When I asked him who these other kids are he stated that they are just kids that schoolmates talk to online. I see exactly what you are talking about. Open drinking, provocative poses. My son doesn't like that I monitor his MySpace and he thinks my checking other kids spaces is weird. Do I care that this bothers him? Absolutely not ! I am his mother, not his friend. I tell him all the time if I neglected my job as a parent, I would only be hurting him.
I hate the fact that our children are not safe, but to ignore that fact would be an even worse crime. I do find myself the only parent saying no from time to time. That is OK. I can live with my child hating me for the moment. I really wish more parents would stop thinking what it was like when we were kids and instead focus on the reality. I am lucky though. My son's closest friends have parents who are just as focused as my husband and myself. All we really want is our children to be happy and safe. Our children just don't get that yet. They will some day and it is my job to make sure they get to the point where they can reflect back and say Mom was right. I live in Quincy now but grew up in South Boston and my father gives me the paper each week. I love your articles . Thank You for that link to wired safety, which is now in my favorite places. My son calls me his Cyber Snoop. My answer to him was Thank you, dear.
Keep up the great work keeping us informed of all dangers out there.
Thank You
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Thanks for your article this week. I thought I was alone in my concerns
with MySpace. I have two teenagers who have MySpace. The, younger of the
two is extremely, open to letting me look at his site. Lets say I look at
my 17 year olds, but not with her blessings.This has caused her to be
cautious on what she puts on there .Not her friends though, They just keep
on supplying the info. I have been checking this site for some time. I
am disgusted with some of the info I am seeing. I need some advise.
Maybe you can help. What should I do with this info I have about my
childrens friends. I am aware of the drinking and smoking pot that is going
on with some of these kids. I am not in denial about my own child. I
know whats going on and have taken action but feel as though these parents
should know. I would want someone to tell me! Maybe they do know and
have chosen not to talk either.My child begs me not to call them. I just
hope they have read your article and will wake up to MySpace.
Thanks SBOL
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MySpace: Good or bad?
Mike Neff
In response to the writings of Brianne R. Fitzgerald concerning MySpace, I believe she is correct and incorrect at the same time. Her article was very informative and was perhaps something that needed to be done to wake up parents to the situation with the web based friend service. However, I feel the article gave off a bad vibe and gave MySpace.com a bad name.
MySpace is undoubtedly a breeding ground for sexual predators. You hear of many stories on the news concerning MySpace related problems. There recently was stories of vandalism being displayed in pictures and young girls being hunted down by grown men for sexual reasons. I agree that this part of MySpace is not be the best part. I commend Ms. Fitzgerald for her efforts to stop crimes like this from happening by creating awareness. Another point addressed was concerning drug and underage alcohol use, which I also feel is a good point to address. All of these problems which plague our communities should be stopped and if it is by having MySpace checked by parents, then that is what needs to happen.
However, I feel one major point was missed or not stated clearly. NOT ALL MYSPACES ARE BAD. Parents need to understand that many kids in the community have a MySpace page to interact with their friends, to get homework they forgot, to make new friends from school, to bring back memories of fun nights, to joke around with friends, but most importantly, to have a social life. I feel that this is key to a kid growing up in today’s world of advancing technology. Not every MySpace depicts girls in provocative positions or underage kids drunk or teens spray painting and ruining public property. It is also important to note that many people, myself included, have provided some element of fake information to throw off sexual predators. I have 215 friends on my list, all of whom I know and have met before, and I’d say maybe about 5%,or 11 of those web pages have something unlawful or inappropriate on them.
Simply, to the teens, if you don’t want your parents or other people to know something, perhaps you shouldn’t list it on your MySpace. The internet is a huge place and anything put on it can be viewed by anybody. There are ways to block your MySpace and prevent others from viewing it which may be a good idea. The feeling of invasion by parents to a place where you interact with your friends creates an anti-parent sentiment which may cause unrest and argument over the fact that you have a MySpace. If you show your parents your MySpace and prove to them there is nothing bad on it, then it may be accepted by them.
I do encourage parents to check their own children’s MySpaces to ensure nothing bad is on it… but to go through their friend’s pages and look up everything and then go spread the gossip about what somebody did is ridiculous. Keep your own kids in check and we won’t have any problems with the service that is helping teens and older people alike make friends and have fun on www.myspace.com.
Mike Neff
9th Grader
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