Dec 05 2006
Teens Are Being Safer on MySpace
A report published this week claims that most teen are being safe on MySpace:
“Our research shows problems with MySpace aren’t as widespread as people assume,” said Dr. Justin Patchin, assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. “The media and parents have demonized MySpace, but we found an overwhelming majority of adolescents use the site responsibly.”
Researchers found only a small percentage of adolescents include identifying information in profiles…
That’s good and bad news. When you have well over 100 million users, a small percentage is still a big number. How do kids and parents know what should or should not go on a kid’s MySpace profile? Logic would say, avoid identifying information like your first and last name, but in creating an account, you are asked for all that information. MySpace has a safety tips page, but The Rolling Ize doesn’t think much of it:
The safety tips page on myspace interests me. If you run across racism or inappropriate postings, report to myspace or the authorities. If you’re a pedophile, you’re in deep trouble - myspace will delete your user profile! (Same goes if you’re in fifth grade and have a myspace).
Maybe I’m being too negative - I guess it’s kind of important that they’d have a page like this, but they do kinda hide it along the bottom row of “about” and “faq” links that nobody ever dares to go to…
What is a parent or responsible teen to do? You want to use the site, but are concerned about making a mistake in setting-up an account or in the way you use the site. SadlyNormal.org has a good post called Myspace and general Internet safety rules for kids and teens that has some great tips including their first one:
1. Remember your profile is on a public forum- do not post any private information you wouldn’t want other people getting ahold of, such as your address, phone number, last name, or anything specific that may give away where you are located.
You can also find additional web resources to help keep your kids safe online.
Of course, there are many books on the subject including MySpace Safety: 51 Tips for Teens and Parents. Amazon.com has this to say about the book:
The authors provide specific methods to minimize the risk that comes with having a MySpace.com account. Each element of personal information requested by MySpace is analyzed to determine how the data is used.
The most common themes here are these:
1. Avoid identifying information like your full name, address, phone number, etc.
2. Set-up a “throw-away” email address to use for your account
3. Keep your profile private
4. Remember strangers on the Internet are like strangers in public; avoid them
Others blogging on this topic:
- Parenting the MySpace generation
- Parenting Kids on Myspace
- Where predators lurk (The Rockingham News)
- Couldn’t say it better myself
- Keeping Kids Safe On Myspace
- How Safe is Myspace?
December 5th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
In August 2006, Cable in the Classroom commissioned research on parents views of the safe and responsible use of the internet by their children. That research and accompanying fact sheets can be found online at: http://www.ciconline.org/parenting.
I would also encourage readers to listen to the original 1/2 hour podcast of the presentation delivered at the National PTA Back-to-School Media Briefing: http://kidscablelearning.blogspot.com/2006/08/parenting-myspace-generation.html.