MySpace deal to protect Hoosier kids, deter sex predators

After two years of discussions, the social networking Web site MySpace.com has agreed with Indiana and 45 other states to new measures to combat sexual predators and other misuse, officials said Monday.

[i wonder]

Would this allow kids to shield their sites from their parents? I think that all of this crap would be unnecessary if parents would just monitor their kids activity on the internet.

[Erik]

I think that parenting needs to start...with the parents. No company or law can substitute for a parent...and trying to do so is a failing proposal.

[Fishers resident]

To all the parents who tell their kids they cannot have a MySpace, you need to know they just go to friends' homes and use it there. Parents need to get their own MySpace and moniter what they see; talk about what they see. My now college-age daughters used to say I was just nosy and I would agree, but tell them it is my job to know what is going on. I knew the pulse of their high school. Years ago, I created a blank MySpace with no friends added and never created my page. It just enabled me to surf around. I learned a great deal about what goes on with teens in our community and it was a great tool for me as a parent. That was about 4 or more years ago when MySpace was only about a year old, and very few parents in the Indy area had even heard of it. It spread like wildfire with the kids. Once it hit the newspapers, many kids made their pages private so only their approved friends could see their page. However, I am sure they friended many people they didn't personally know (not a good thing).

That which we cannot control as parents, we must do our best to monitor. I happened to have one daughter's Facebook password, but she didn't know. While that is an invasion of privacy, especially for an older teen, in today's fast paced world, a parent has to do what a parent has to do.

My kids used to laugh in high school when they would hear of parents who said they refused to let their kids have a MySpace, because they knew the kids would find a way to have one behind their backs.

I have a Facebook now and it is a wonderful way to share photo albums with friends and family. And yes, that includes a number of my kids' friends who sent me a friend request. People who think MySpace and Facebook are vile, have not educated themselves. When used appropriately, it is a wonderful tool for communication.

I commend MySpace for their security efforts. There is only so much they can do. The rest lies with parents doing their best to monitor their children and criminals to be prosecuted.

[Agree]

The previous three posters say it clearly. If parents are not engaged in their children's lives,they need to be. It's not an invasion of privacy. If you found crack cocaine under you kids bed in a box marked private would you just put it back and pretend you didn't see it? They're children, not little adults. They need to learn boundaries and rules and if that means parents need to learn how to use myspace then get a friend to show you. My mom has a confident that she teams up with to monitor their kids space and friends.

[Reader]

People, especially young people, easily fall into the trap of wanting to be accepted by everyone and are ignorant about the risks of the internet. Myspace is not an insular bubble world - what you put on there EVERYONE can see if your profile is set to public or if you befriend everyone. This could be employers, friends, and criminals. Take some basic precautions - don't list full names and specific locations.

Some of the profiles I have seen on there are a criminal's dream (by criminal, I don't just mean predators - ID theft, robbery, etc)- They give a full name and specific location information such as city and state. That is enough for someone to find you.

It is up to parents to educate their children about these risks - the same as driving a car or many other things in life. Taking precautions to protect your identity today is an unfortunate but necessary part of life and children should be taught how to do it.

[vashanee]

if u change the settings on myspace kids would not be able to talk that much and they will lose people on the site because most people donthang with people their age some peoplethat are 16 hang with people that are 19 and you might lose users

[WTR]

vashanee wrote:

if u change the settings on myspace kids would not be able to talk that much and they will lose people on the site because most people donthang with people their age some peoplethat are 16 hang with people that are 19 and you might lose users

Exactly! Sixteen year olds don't need to "hang" with 19 year olds. Nineteen year old males can go to jail for "hanging" with sixteen year old females.
I echo the first three posters and welcome my responsibilities as a parent.
My daughter has a myspace page, and so do I. Facebook also. The myspace page I have set up is for family and genealogy. I saw it as an opportunity to tell a family history story, complete with pictures.
I am sure, with my daughter knowing that I can monitor, that if she wishes to circumvent me she could. I have tried to develop a relationship with my child that does not require her to go behind my back. Where I do not try to be her friend, I certainly am a mentor. Her friends who are all local children that I am familiar with outside of myspace pages also enjoy the idea that I am there. I think it gives them a security blanket that they don't feel they get from their own parents.
Now, am I going to be pursued by the authorities because I'm a 51 year old male with several females under the age of 18 listed as friends? Since I am just a concerned parent with a clean site, I sure hope not.
These new security measures can be good, and they can be bad. It's all up to the authorities as to how they implement and enforce these new measures.

[Lezli]

It's a great idea. I really hope it works. There is a solution to every problem, so it's the solution's we must continually look for. The problems will always be there. I don't care how much we watch our children, or talk to them - there is always an influence somewhere. It's vicious cycle. We just have to try and be the smarter ones. Thanks to everyone that has their child's best interest.

[ScareMonger]

This is a worthless "feel good" law.

If lawmakers are serious about wanting to protect children, they should stop being misled by "stranger danger" myths and instead focus on the much larger threat inside the home.

The vast majority of crimes against children are committed by the victim's own family, church clergy, and family friends.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, "based on what we know about those who harm children, the danger to children is greater from someone they or their family knows than from a stranger."

[Gman]

What happened to the day of the Parents raising and protecting thier children? When I was a kid my mother knew where I was and what I was doing all the time.
Now days seems like the parents expect the government to raise and protect thier kids.

[George]

WTR wrote:

<quoted text>
Exactly! Sixteen year olds don't need to "hang" with 19 year olds. Nineteen year old males can go to jail for "hanging" with sixteen year old females.
I echo the first three posters and welcome my responsibilities as a parent.
My daughter has a myspace page, and so do I. Facebook also. The myspace page I have set up is for family and genealogy. I saw it as an opportunity to tell a family history story, complete with pictures.
I am sure, with my daughter knowing that I can monitor, that if she wishes to circumvent me she could. I have tried to develop a relationship with my child that does not require her to go behind my back. Where I do not try to be her friend, I certainly am a mentor. Her friends who are all local children that I am familiar with outside of myspace pages also enjoy the idea that I am there. I think it gives them a security blanket that they don't feel they get from their own parents.
Now, am I going to be pursued by the authorities because I'm a 51 year old male with several females under the age of 18 listed as friends? Since I am just a concerned parent with a clean site, I sure hope not.
These new security measures can be good, and they can be bad. It's all up to the authorities as to how they implement and enforce these new measures.

I agree with the 19 year old should not be going out with a 16 year old. I think the law in Indiana was changed that a 14 year old or older can have consenual sex without being against the law. Now I heard this on a TV show and did not actually see the law but you might want to google that.

[Hamilton County]

Just more government control. They call this a democracy? I cal it a facist State.

I dont want them talking to my kids but I also dont think we good people should be "monitored" by anyone.

Soon enough it will be agaisnt the law to take a shit if you live in an apartment complex, the smell might offend the nieghbors

[WTR]

George wrote:

<quoted text>
I agree with the 19 year old should not be going out with a 16 year old. I think the law in Indiana was changed that a 14 year old or older can have consenual sex without being against the law. Now I heard this on a TV show and did not actually see the law but you might want to google that.

Call me old fashioned but I wasn't even talking about dating or sex, just "hanging out". Unless there are older siblings involved the sixteen year olds have no place hanging out with nineteen year olds. My seventeen year old will soon be eighteen. She will leave the high school aged kids and fall into the "older" group. She should leave that age group behind her and look at it as a maturity thing. If, in her sophmore year of college, I notice that she is still hanging out with high school aged kids, I should be concerned. Girls are rarely held accountable like the boys are. I can see myself holding my child to a standard that says you hang out with people your own age. I will make exceptions if exceptions are warranted.
And yes, I think I would be responding differently if my child had been a boy. I have been blessed with with a gorgeous girl and I will do my best to give her a good opportunity in life.
So, in closing, I would say that the safeguards that are proposed, if implemented and enforced correctly can help our children's web experience be a safe one.

[Phred]

George wrote:

<quoted text>
I think the law in Indiana was changed that a 14 year old or older can have consenual sex without being against the law.

Serious question: What happens when two 13-year-olds have consensual sex? In strictly legal terms, neither one is old enough to "consent." So are both parties "victims" of a sexual assault? Or is one party a "victim" and the other a "predator"? If that's the case, which is which?

[George]

Phred wrote:

<quoted text>
Serious question: What happens when two 13-year-olds have consensual sex? In strictly legal terms, neither one is old enough to "consent." So are both parties "victims" of a sexual assault? Or is one party a "victim" and the other a "predator"? If that's the case, which is which?

I don't know how the law handles that. I glad I got through those years without problems. It's hard being a parent today as you can do all the right things and still have a problem. My last one is now in college so hopefully the main worries are over.. but alas always the parent so I guess worrying never stops.

[shothotbookpinda ncer65]

i personally think that it is great that some greater measures are being taken to protect Indiana's children against predators that could hurt the kids. it is absolutely wonderful that many more kids are being protected from future predators and online dangers. i'm sure that the site would feel absolutely devastated if they had to cancel their site and destroy the many users' accounts because of complaints of online predators on their sites.
thanks for reading what i think on the subject-
shothotbookpindancer65!!!!!!!! !

[Dr Goldfoot]

What's next? The outlawing of parachute pants, rising sun sleeveless t's and Mel Torme LP's. MySpace is so yesterday......just ask your kids.

[commonsense2002]

all the sex offenders have to do is....ready for this...USE A FALSE NAME!!!! there is no way to kick all of them off. i wish there was. would make my job a whole lot easier.