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The Dangerous Side of Social Networking Sites
At a recent family gathering, I met with cousins whom I have not seen in a while. During the visit, my cousin's oldest son asked me if I wanted to see his website. He is just 13 years old -- "what type of website does he have?" I wondered. I imagined all sorts of possible topics -- sports, hobbies...even something school-related. He sat down at his grandmother's computer and typed in his URL. Expecting to see something totally different, you could imagine my surprise when I discovered that he did not have a "website." What he did have, was an account on MySpace.
MySpace is one of the largest social networking websites that exists today. According to MySpace, their "social networking service allows their members to create unique personal profiles online in order to find and communicate with old and new friends." Members can create an online journal, keep in touch with friends, post personal information and photos. They allow anyone over the age of 14 to create an account and post anything personal. Hmmm...over the age of 14. So why is my cousin's son a member?
While I stood over and watched him appear so proud of his creation, I could not believe that my cousin would allow her eldest teenage boy to open an account on a site such as this. I was worried for him. I asked him if his account was private, to which he first replied, "No." He eventually said he made a mistake, and then replied, "Yes." So of course, I began my speech about how unsafe the Internet is, and why this type of site is not safe for children. He must have thought I was crazy...maybe it was the smile he thought he hid from me while he viewed all the new friends he had. Maybe it was the reply he had given me, that I so often hear from children -- "All my friends have one."
I wondered if his parents knew about his Internet postings. He told me they did. So of course I had to confirm the fact that his parents knew about it, and why they would allow him to put all his personal information, including pictures of him, his family, and his girlfriend, on an Internet website for all to see...at an age that MySpace does not allow. "Oh, we know about it," his mother told me. "But it's private -- no one else can see his information except for those people he allows." She and her husband did not look too bothered by the fact that their young son first told me that his account was not private...that he was sharing all his personal information with strangers around the world. "Oh, we'll have to check that out," she told me. What? If he was my son, he would not have any website where he could post any personal information, private or not. Nor would he be allowed to post any pictures. I'm sure they weren't aware that their son could also run searches for other people on there as well. They are naive to think that their child is safe from dangerous individuals. I mean, everyone on the Internet is who they say they are, aren't they? [insert sarcasm here] After about fifteen minutes, discussions were still headed nowhere, so I decided to leave well enough alone. They were his parents, not me. I tried. But all I could do was give my opinion, and try to share some of the knowledge of Internet safety I had tucked away. I ended the discussion, and as I walked away, I wondered if their son had an Internet connection in his bedroom. "I'd better not go there," I thought.
There have been news stories that have tried to explain to parents why it is not safe for children to access the Internet in their bedrooms. There have also been many incidents where these social networking websites have been breeding grounds for those who want to harm children. Just this past August, a 15-year-old Washington girl was lured away by a man she met on MySpace. She has since been found. Before that, a 16-year-old Newark girl was believed to have also run off with a man she met, but her whereabouts at this time are not known. As of this time, MySpace plans to put in new restrictions on how adults may contact underage users, but I wonder how they will prevent adults from pretending to be children.
According to the NCMEC, "Recent incidents involving Internet crimes against children have been prominent in the media. In some incidents, the crimes have involved suspects and victims who met each other on social networking or blogging sites such as MySpace, Friendster, Xanga, and Facebook." We have included their safety tips below, to try and help parents keep their children safe while online. We'll start by providing our first tip: Keep the Internet out of your children's bedrooms, and be sure to monitor your children's Internet usage. This includes who they email with, chat with, and all the websites they visit.
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