Studies Say MySpace Safe For Kids, But Don't Expect Politicians To Care
from the don't-let-the-facts-get-in-the-way dept
It's no secret that MySpace has become a favorite target of politicians looking to demonize the latest threat to children. Since there have been a few instances of MySpace-borne sexual assault, it's not hard to see why politicians latched on to the site. But, apart from a few cherry-picked examples, it's not clear that MySpace actually poses any meaningful danger to children. The EFF points to a pair of recent studies that dispute the notion that MySpace represents dangerous territory for children. According to one of them, unwanted online solicitations are actually down since 1999, which would contradict the idea that the rise of sites like MySpace, has been a boon for those that would prey on children. The other study, which looked directly at MySpace found that the vast majority of users have never been the subject of unwelcome advances, and that those who have received them are quite capable of simply ignoring them. Of course, political witch hunts are rarely the result of anything rational, so it's unlikely that these pesky facts will do much to deter politicians.
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Whether that is positive or negative depends on your point of view.
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Re:
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Ugh.
With that said, MySpace needs to take steps to make it easier to report inappropriate content, as well as define a clear "constitution" for what exactly is and isn't allowed on someone's MySpace. As it is, MySpace support completely sucks, and hardly responds quickly. I won't even get into the security nightmares involving user-placed content on webpages..
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Crisis of the Hour
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Re: Crisis of the Hour
Dungeons and Dragons (3.5e) is still corrupting the youth. Huzzah! :-)
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But perhaps the more pressing issue, is that its all happening so fast, perhaps "yellow journalism" against myspace and the like is a good thing, b/c it spurs action in parents. Or atleast I would like to think it does.
But we are correct, there is a clear probelm with overt sexuality in younger and younger kids, and we need to do something about it. I don't know what, but I think death to child molesters is a good start.
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Overused and abused
Myspace itself isn't dangerous, just stupidity. The media (and politicians) should really lay off it since they are much worse about certain unsolicited advances. *cough*political campaigns*cough*
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Each kid was looking at a myspace page.
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Re: by Gunnar
Each kid was looking at a myspace page."
So it's bad because it's popular? I'm confused. What worries me more about that situation is that the kids are at the library looking at it rather then at home. This tells me 1 of 3 things is happening. First, maybe they just browsed it while doing research for a paper, that's not a bad thing. Second possibility, they do not have computers at home, this worries me since it should be a priority to get everyone educated and using computers. Third possibility is the most frightening to me, maybe the parents won't let them look at it at home so they are at the library. The kids operating on reason 3 are the ones that will have a much higher chance of running into trouble. Their parents are not functioning in a guardian role, since out of sight is out of mind, and the kids are uneducated to the threats and unsupervised.
What it boils down to is that social sites are no different then a club activity. Kids are at risk everywhere, but removing them from the scene all together does nothing to "protect" them. Parents need to keep track of their kids, or not have any if they can't manage that, and they need to make sure their current on the new trends.
I have a my space profile, should I worry about being raped? Some how I'm not losing any sleep over it. Am I worried about younger relatives or teenagers that I know? Not really, they all have common sense, beaten into them from parents who are in touch with reality.
Parents should have explained to their children that there are bad people and they are looking to hurt you. A lot of those kids who are so sheltered that their parents do not tell them this are the ones that get taken advantage of by dates when they get to collage or get loured into a car with candy. This idea that the solution to all the problems in the world is to remove the kids from anything that might be hazardous is insane and obviously ineffectual.
People need to pull their heads out of the sand and BE PARENTS.
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Re: Re: by Gunnar
It's not 1, every station was a high school kid looking at myspace. 30+ kids in a public library with 30+ screens looking at their friends garrish personal pages.
It's not 3, cause a kid would just wait till the parent wasn't around to go to myspace. And, kids with computers generally know there's more to the internet than myspace.
I use myspace to keep track of band's tour dates and new music. I also have friends on it that I can contact if I happen to lose their phone numbers or email addresses.
I work at a school where most kids don't have computers at home. The only thing these kids want to use computers for is Myspace, which is its real danger. These kids at the library are from the inner city (where the library is) and probably don't have computers at home.
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Educating Kids...
Sounds like advice from people with no kids. Or, at least not kids of a certain age. Try hard to remember back 5 or 10 years to when you were a teenager. Did YOU follow everything your parents told you?
It is no problem for kids to hear repeatedly that online social sites, where anonymous people can easily pretend to be what they are not, can pose dangers. Hell, THAT is part of the ATTRACTION.
Not that I think politicians or pointless laws can do anything to help the problem. But awareness (not fear-mongering) and education are reasonable approaches to keeping kids safe. I am also pretty certain that lots of kids need to hear it more than once before it sinks in too!
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implementation of an "Age Verification" system isn't meant to be 100% compliant. no system is 100% compliant.
putting up road blocks to check for drunk driving isn't 100% compliant, some slip by, or aren't checked at all. however, i still want the checks for those drivers that it does catch.
everybody who doesn't want to go through the effort/check of an Age Verification system screams that it's not 100% accurate. that's not the arguement. the real issue is does it manage to get some kids off the sites, or direct them to sites where they might be more at ease...
peace...
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Re:
yes, the system is implemented SOLELY to be compliant, and it is 100% compliant with regulations.
whether or not it is even remotely effective is beyond the scope of either party.
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MySpace web design (or lack of it)
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myspace
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wat tunnels are not blocked
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hi
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Re: hi
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myspace
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ur a but
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yo
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wow
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pimp
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i came accross this page because i was looking for an article or blog to help me convince her that myspace is safe.
i think some of these comments will help persuade her.
and yes i aggree that there are plenty of ways to keep away from predators. if you dont a person who adds you... dont add them! it all makes perfect sense.
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My space Not a space for kids
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fjhdfjd
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