What do you think of these websites? Do you believe that there are problems caused by these social networks? Should parents become involved? Should they work on creating a better way to assure the safety of young teenagers?
MySpace is a fun and unique way to find old classmates, relatives, or even old friends and chat about what you have done since school or since you have saw them last. On the other hand, child predators can even find their victims on such sites. Kids as young as 9, nowadays, are making MySpace pages. Do you think kids that young should be able to have a MySpace? Do you think that if they do, they should have parental advisory?
http://www.polksheriff.org/NewsRoom/News%20Releases/Pages/StambaughMiddleSchoolTeacherArrested.aspx
-Tiffany Wommack
Should there be age restrictions on popular website such as Myspace.com and Facebook.com, and others similar to these?
I believe that there should be age restrictions on these websites. There should be an age limit of 18 and older placed on these social networks because they have become a place for communication for underage sex scandals. Randall, age 20, met a 15year old girl on Myspace, and they later met and had sexual relations (Link 1). In another case, a local middle school teacher had sex with former students with who she communicated with through Myspace.com (Link 2). Parents should be concerned about their children’s safety while online, and they should be aware of what their children are posting on these social networks. The government needs to step in and find a way to secure the safety of underage children on these networks. How do you feel about the issues that these websites are causing? What should be done about it?
1) http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=600564
2) http://www.theledger.com/article/20080606/NEWS/806060439/0/SPORTS09
-JR Robbins
With social network sites growing every day, I think there should be some kind of restriction on what people can and cannot do in their profiles. There must be a way that we can stop adults from interacting with young teenagers in these networks. I would like to say that what MySpace is doing to try to prevent this from happening will work, but I’m afraid it won’t (article on website bellow). I don’t think we could ever stop these things from happening because people will always be able to lie about their age, and the site will never know. They need to come up with some kind of system that requires something, which I do not know what it is, to be done so they can assure the safety of young teenagers. Parents around the U.S. should be concerned about this situation, and they should help find a solution.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/21/tech/main1736549.shtml
-Rafael Valim
Many believe that MySpace is a place to have fun, meet new people and keep in touch with people you already know such as friends and relatives. That’s only one side of a two-way street. Others believe that MySpace is not a place for people under the age of 18. Some argue that it is a perfect place for child predators to find their victims.
Is it going too far for some children sometimes as young as 8 to create a MySpace page? Should there be rules and regulations on an age limit and some kind of way to screen out the young users? If an age limit is needed, what should it be? 16? 18? Many questions arise when the age of MySpace users is in the spotlight. What are your views on some of these issues?
-Chris Rice
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22 comments:
This is an issue that sort of runs across the gamut regarding new technology, along with privacy and "trust" issues. Since the advent of the internet, anonymnity is actually possible. We can wear mulitple masks, have different identities -- we can also vanish in the blink of an eye, leaving only an unreliable IP address as a potential mark of our existence.
Children are certainly naive and succeptible to "trusting" too quickly, easily and irrationally. They have yet to fully develop socially -- They're still growing into their own identities. Because they are CHILDREN, parents should certainly be much more aware of what their children are involved in when it comes to their social development. That includes monitoring their online activities.
In essence, I don't think Myspace or Facebook should be responsible for providing more security measures to prevent children from putting up profiles. I think what they've done already is adequate enough. Instead, parents -- if they are to be considered RESPONSIBLE -- ought to find the extra time to educate their children of potential dangers that online exposure can inflict...either that or keep some sorts of restrictions on internet usage at home.
I think it is not the job of these sites to protect children, but the parents'. It has always been the responsibility of parents to teach their children how to be safe and good decision making only now instead of teaching them not to walk along railroad tracks or not to talk to strangers (real, physical dangers) they need to teach about how to stay safe online.
I do think that to some extent schools need to address these dangers and teach students how to be safe instead of just simply limiting the access and assuming it's okay.
Children should only have limited access to computers anyway, these social networks do not in any way make up for the benefits of having real physical interactions with other people. Perhaps this lack of personalization has contributed to this new generation of much ruder people.
I don't think there is anything wrong with these sites. The problem lies when children get online and lie about their age, and sexual predators find them and then have sexual relations. In my opinion the problem begins at home. Parents should monitor their children while they're online. If they're under age, they should have websites like these blocked from their child's computer, keeping them from getting onto those sites and sexual predators away. Therefore, i don't think myspace or facebook should be responsible for the things that parents allow their children to put on myspace.
What do you think of these websites? I believe that these websites can be fun for many people and they are, however I don't believe that these websites should rule our world as in many cases. I know that the first thing my sister does when she gets home, she has to check myspace.
Do you believe that there are problems caused by these social networks? I know that these social networks cause problems, like the case about the one girl getting all beat up by many other girls. Also I get myspace friend invites, so I check them out before I befriend them and find out that they are just sexually explicit ads so I mark it as spam and move on. However many young children that recieve that would react differently to that and may even cause them unwanted problems.
Should parents become involved? Yes, because there are many violent resourceful people out there with horrible things on their mind and they are out to prey on unsuspecting children and parents would be their safety net and help them keep from getting trapped.
Should they work on creating a better way to assure the safety of young teenagers? There is no better way unless you take it away forever. So, no they don't need to work on a better way because there will always be away to bypass security unless the thing being protected is no longer there.
Do you think kids that young should be able to have a MySpace? No because they don't understand the consquences that certain actions can have, and they wouldn't be able to hanndle something dangerous anyway.
Do you think that if they do, they should have parental advisory? Of course, the parents are the only ones that can stop them from putting "bait" out there where all the predetors can prey on innocent children.
The responsibility of keeping your children safe falls on the parent. The social networks should not have to keep watch over a child that is playing on the site. I beleive it is however the responsibility of the network to post a warning if a predetor is found on a site. This comes back to using a computer as the baby sitter instead of taking the time to socialize your children with other children. Todays society is rushed with having the children grow up, and when they do something wrong it is always some one elses fault. This really comes down to parents having to do a better job with knowing their child. I mean really knowing them not just the surface, but what is underneath. Getting back to the subject, social computer networks can be useful to keep in touch or try to meet someone with similar intrests. It really doesnt matter if you meet over a chat room or in person. People always try to make them selves appear in a better light. You as an indivisual need to not be naive in judging another person.
The responsibility of security on myspace and facebook as well as other like sites, should lie upon the adults to monitor their childs activity on the internet. My initial interpretation of myspace was that it was a waste of time. I found people that i knew were creating pages exploiting their newborn children and "showing love to the haters". Now it's tnings like that, that made me skeptical of myspace at first. In saying that i mean that its not the kids fault. If i was 8 and 9 and saw my parents or someone that i looked up to on myspace, im sure i would be intrigued too.
I dont think there is a problem with kids having a myspace or facebook at all just have some limits like if your under 18 then have the standard blocks u would have for websites on the internet.
I dont see a problem with kids having myspace or any of these types of accounts. There are measures in place to prevent them from contacting older people and people who just request you and say they are your friends even though they only know as much about you as your myspace will tell them. Although I have no issue with childen having such accounts, I do feel that the content that the children put on their site is appalling. Parents should be able to check their childrens accounts such as a master password.
On Myspace, there is an age requirement. You have to type in your birthday, and if you are younger than (I think) fifteen, your page is automatically set to private, and people must know your last name or email in order to friend request you. However, how easy is it for the little ten year old child to type in a false birthyear? Though the age factor is there to screen out young children from getting out there where predators can easily find them, the responsibility card is played. My parents in fact did not allow me to have a myspace until I was seventeen, even though I sure as heck had one before then. I made sure it was kept private and there wasn't any identifcation as to my location or address on it whatsoever. That's just me, however, and some parents could do more to watch what their children look at online, by perhaps monitoring the cookies of the browser, or in fact blocking certain pages such as Myspace or Facebook.
I think with any type of social network kids should definately be monitored. My mom was well aware that I had a myspace and definately monitored what was on my profile. Parents need to be aware of what their kids are up to.
I think that when it comes to Myspace and Facebook that they should be restricted like crazy. When the young kids get onto these types of sites they might think that it would be "cool" to talk to an older person through the site. These websites ask for all kinds of information that is not required to be put on the page, but the young kids that do make their own pages put it up anyways because they are too stupid to realize the kinds of things that they are letting the whole world see. For instance, my younger brother made a myspace page, and when he started to fill in the "about me" section of his page, he was putting where we lived, how old he was, when he was at the house, when everyone else was gone, and other stuff like that. I think that there should be some kind of word filters that should be put onto sites like those. I know it can be done, its just the fact of "Tom" not being lazy and making one for the site. "Tom" is the devil. Just kidding.
I do not feel that there is anything wrong with these sites. But i do feel that these sites make it very easy for children under the required age to put up a profile anyway. When Myspace asks for a birth date you can put any year in that you please. I think that these sites have tried to be responsible by placing age restrictions on these sites, which leaves the parents. Too many parents just allow their children to browse the internet and do as they please. I feel that parents should always closely monitor ALL online activities of children.
I agree with most of the comments because I feel that it is the parents responsibilty to watch their kids. I feel that myspace is not to blame but I do think that it can be dangerous for smaller children. Myspace used to have a security thing that wouldn't allow you to have a myspace if you are 15 or younger but they have done away with that. I think parents just need to monitor their kids and teach them how to safely use the internet.
I bilieve that there should be an age limit. Children as young as 8 years should not be on such a site to start with and then the parents should not allow such a thing.
Myspace!!! Facebook!!!! OMG. Where to start? Well I personally only have a Myspace and not a Facebook so I will talk about Myspace.
The website can in fact be a problem. Instead of most people catching up with old friends and making new ones. Usually, it's the exact opposite. Myspace causes so much drama in relationships and in overall society. Myspace is also a great place for a predator to find his/her prey. Even though this is not right for men to stalk boys and girls on the internet, I think that some of the myspace users are just all around STUPID to talk to someone they don't know in the first place! If you don't know em', deny em'. If people wouldn't be setting themselves up for this kind of trouble then we won't have a problem as big as it is. Myspace does has plenty of restrictions on display. And Tom does say to not give away information that you don't want everyone to know. And there is also that option of setting your page to PRIVATE. So even though, there is a HUGE problem, some of the issues inside of the problem could be avoided if Myspace gets used the correct way instead of the obscene way.
And as far as the thing about young children ages 9 and under and even some 10,11,12,13 year olds. WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY NEED WITH A MYSPACE ACCOUNT??? They should be worried about trying to pass the FCAT rather than make friends (a lot older than them) on Myspace. So, of course NOT. Myspace is not a place for young children. I mean...they shouldn't even know how to navigate throughout the pages. Thats ridiculous.
I believe that some kind of regulation does need to be put onto these social networking sites, but honestly I don't know what restrictions or rules could be put on to alleviate the problems at hand.
What is obvious is the true anonymnity that people have on these sites, and consequently the social norms for behavior are dropped with their real identity. The dilemma could be mitigated by parents communicating with their kids certain "Internet Ethics". Just like we tell kinds it is rude to stare or rude to play with their food, we must tell kids that it is rude to type, post, or cite debasing things.
This and coming generations must learn a new code of ethics on top of already basic social morals.
I feel that these websites have both positives and negatives. On the positive side, they provide friends and relatives a way to stay in touch and is an easier way to update them on your life. On the negative side, some children do not always make the best decisions on who or what information they give out, which opens a whole other door of bad things. I feel that parents should be involved in making sure their child is using these networking sites appropriately.
I agree with most of the comments from my fellow classmates when it comes to parental supervision. Of course parents should put blocks and monitor there kids but it goes way deeper than just that. Parents should teach their children to respect themselves and treat their bodies with respect as well. Also to know how not to be so naive when it comes to things of the sexual nature. With that being taught, the nine and ten year olds who decide to create a myspace page will not post half naked pictures of themselves and once a preditor tries to hook them, they will know better. Everything starts with home training because their will be plenty of times when a child is not under their parents supervision and will have access to a computer and with the proper raising that parent will know that they can trust their kid to make the right choices.
I do think 8 is young to have a myspace. Before I got a myspace maybe I wouldn't have thought so but now I do. There should be a age restriction, maybe 16.
Things that have to do with myspace have become the problem not myspace itself. The comments you can leave can be a little racy, most of the music is unedited, and people's picture are just becoming obscene.
I agree with Ms. Jennings one-hundred percent on the the matter of parents being head liable for their children on the matter of such websites. Also, I agree with Amanda, as she states "I do think that to some extent schools need to address these dangers and teach students how to be safe instead of just simply limiting the access and assuming it's okay." I also believe schools should make it a priority to adress such issues. Other than that, I believe these sites are harmless and just essence of a technologically evolving society.
Good point, Daniel -- Amanda's suggestion was certainly food for thought regarding schools being held somewhat accountable as well. What do you all think of having a high school (or middle school) required course in computer literacy, one that would, no doubt, include how-to modes in keeping yourself protected online?
I personally dont have a myspace or a facebook. I dont have a problem with these sites but as many of you guys say, i do think that it is the responsibility of the parent to monitor what the child is doing, for his or her safety.
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