While MySpace is great for making new friends and promoting oneself, there are several drawbacks in allowing your children to roam freely online within the MySpace framework.

First and foremost, MySpace profiles are public. Anything posted on a public profile can be read by other members, and anybody in the outside world can get to a MySpace profile. Children often disclose too much personal information (i.e. – name and addresses, school names, classmates, teachers, birthdates, favorite hobbies) on profiles, which attract child predators lurking on the site. These predators seize upon details left in blogs, comments, and personal profiles to take advantage of these kids when parents aren’t home, or when kids are at school.

Secondly, teens love to gossip. The same problems that torment kids at school are magnified tenfold on MySpace. Gossip, malicious rumors, bullying and racial slurs are posted on a public forum to an audience of millions. This can seriously lead to problems in the future where there is a possibility that a college denies admission or an employer looks elsewhere in recruitment. Saying anything now can hurt later on.

Thirdly, people aren’t who they say they are. A valid e-mail is the only requirement for membership on MySpace and any other identifying information can be faked. There are no controls in place within the MySpace system to actively check the validity of current members. The only time somebody is caught is when MySpace explicitly catches someone violating its policies. Thus, child predators can masquerade as teens, gain their trust, and use it to their advantage. Likewise, teens lie about their ages and get access to materials otherwise denied to them.

The lack of parental controls and the relatively easy access to inappropriate materials have prompted some parents and schools to entirely remove access to the site from home and school computers.

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