Is myspace safe and appropriate for people of all ages? This is a good question! First of all, parents need to be cautious of all activities they allow their children to engage in online. However, it's important to realize that kids are people too, and that they need online experience of some kind in order to mesh with the real world by the time they are adults.
So on one hand, you should not shelter your kids from sites like myspace, because they need to get used to social networking and being online. The internet is clearly here to stay and is one of the biggest parts of the real world now.
On the other hand, myspace is in fact a public arena. Therefore, just as you wouldn't allow your kids of a certain age to walk to a far away park or to the mall alone, you should not allow them to go online to sites like myspace alone. You should be supervising and limiting their activities.
Some children choose to set their age to 18 or some other grown up age so that they will be able to take part in all of the things myspace has to offer. Please do not allow your children to do this. You may think that they should have privacy of their age, and you are right. This is why myspace restricts certain age groups profiles from being viewed. They are set to private by default. This means that the child has to add the person as a friend before they can even view their profile. Myspace also has a setting so that no one can request friendship unless they know your email address or last name. DO NOT have your kids put their last name in their screen name! Use first names or nicknames only!
Myspace can be a great way for anyone, whether a child or adult, to keep in touch with their real world friends and family. It's much more fun, personable and interactive than, say, email. If you allow your kids to use myspace in this simple and innocent way, they can be very safe.
Myspace administrators are very aware of the dangers that can be involved for people of all ages, particularly minors, while using their site. For this reason, they have mechanisms in place that allow people to monitor and report any instances of abuse or otherwise. If someone is rude or abusive to your child on myspace, there is button right in the mail message dialog to report it. Make sure you do so. It is confidential, and the abusers can have their accounts terminated once myspace investigates the issue.
However, do not report anyone if you are simply a little annoyed. For one thing, think of yourself in their shoes. Secondly, if you falsely accuse someone of something, you yourself are then accountable and can have your account deleted.
Myspace and other social networking sites are great for people of all ages. But parents should simply keep a keen eye on it. One suggestion, though: if you are going to keep your child's password and log in to check on them, let the child know that they do not have privacy online. Imagine yourself as a kid, wanting to have your privacy respected! Be very clear with your kids with instructions on what is and is not allowed while online, particularly regarding chatting, web surfing, and myspace!
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