admin @ Mon, 2006-03-06 09:00
Teenagers such as Ashley Warner, 16, say it's addictive to learn about the people around you: What they like, what they think about and what they do. Ashley uses the site sporadically and talks with classmates, a cousin in Florida and a friend who recently moved to the East Coast. She also uses it for homework help. Her own site is open to friends only, and she doesn't mind if her parents regularly check it out.
A recent search of MySpace.com for current students at Troy Athens High School resulted in 584 hits. Some of the students openly talked about sexuality and drug and alcohol use. Others posted their places of employment while some talked about their after-school activities.
Her name, hometown, high school and after-school job were posted on the Internet, for anyone to see. Finding her would be easy for her friends, and a potential predator could also catch up with the high school junior.
MySpace and other sites like it - including Xanga and Facebook - have spread like wildfire among teenagers. Young people liken it to a virtual community, where they can hang out, chat and find like-minded friends. And while many believe it's harmless, although some have taken measures to make their sites private, experts say the dangers are very real and parents should closely monitor their child's postings.
"Children don't understand that people they meet on the Internet aren't always who they seem to be," Bouchard said. "The real dangers need to be explained."
One of four children using the Internet will be approached by a predator, Bouchard said. According to statistics from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more than 2,600 incidents were reported last year of adults using the Internet to entice children.
Chelsea Warner said she's seen such pages with racy or explicit content but tries to keep her page pretty anonymous and private. She and her siblings say they don't understand why some people post racy pictures or comments. They work hard to keep their sites off-limits to outsiders and have been schooled by their dad, Shaun Warner, about the importance of not talking to strangers.
Bouchard said that just because someone with a MySpace.com Êaccount says they don't want to meet strangers doesn't mean that strangers won't try to meet up anyway. And when teenagers post their schedules and workplaces - and even their addresses and phone numbers - that makes it easier for those with less-than-honorable intentions to get to teenagers.
"Once it's posted, it's public," he said. "Teenagers may think that it's private or that no one but a friend is watching, but that's simply not true."
Detective Lt. Jim Wolf of the Michigan State Police said the site is like a diary - except it's posted for all the world to see. His own daughter, 14, had a page on the site that he made her take down. While she didn't have anything bad on her page, Wolf said he was uncomfortable with her having a spot in cyberspace.
And the predators, in some parts of the country, have been preying on MySpace users. While there have been no incidents involving the site in Oakland County, experts say it's just a matter of time.
As many as seven teenage girls in Connecticut were sexually assaulted by men in their 20s whom they met on the site. The men were apparently pretending to be teenagers.
And earlier this year, a 14-year-old girl, Judy Cajuste, was found strangled and naked in a New Jersey garbage bin. Police seized a computer from her bedroom after friends said she told them of a man in his 20s she met on MySpace. Her death remains unsolved.
Wolf said that recently, in the Kalamazoo area, a 15-year-old girl ran off with a man she met on MySpace. She was found safely in Kentucky, he said.
In addition to becoming potential victims of bullies or pedophiles, children might not realize that the content they post today could come back to haunt them in the future. Tales of wild sex or drinking binges could turn off a future employer or college recruiter. And school officials say that a student seen drinking in pictures on the Internet could be kicked off a sportsteam.
"We haven't had a huge issue with it here, but we were shocked at how many kids were using the site," said Clarkston school district spokeswoman Anita Banach.
She said the issue of students getting caught using drugs or alcohol through Internet postings hasn't come up yet, but she said students could face sanctions. The district blocks students from using MySpace and similar sites at school, she said.
A group of teenagers in Troy - already in trouble for underage drinking - landed in even more hot water after posting pictures of partying and profanity-laced taunts directed at an Oakland County district judge. Earlier this year, Troy District Judge Michael Martone found the Web site. Martone had sentenced several Troy Athens High School students for underage drinking last spring.
The students, now in college, had posted the pictures and taunts on a personal Web site. Some of the students, who had violated their previous sentences, were given jail time.
"We've heard a lot of complaints by parents about MySpace and other sites," said Ann Comiskey, executive director of the Troy Community Coalition. "A lot of people are concerned. It seems very unsafe. We're looking at ways to help the community out with this, because it's growing and there are a lot of issues."
MySpace is just the latest Internet site to draw fire and ire from parents, teachers and police. A few years ago, chat rooms were all over the news, and tales of teenagers talking to anonymous people on the Web surfaced in the media. In fact, Warner said, his children are still prohibited from visiting chat rooms, and he said he's more worried about chat rooms than MySpace because anyone can troll a room looking for someone with a youngsounding screen name. And, Warner said, he's seen children bully each other in chat rooms.
In recent months, Bouchard and other officials have been speaking out on the issue of Internet safety, specifically about MySpace. He's held several forums for parents and will offer more in the future. Education, officials say, is the key to preventing a tragedy.
Officials from MySpace could not be reached for comment. But on the site, the company lists numerous safety tips, including a ban on users under age 14. The site said if it discovers that users are under age 14, it will delete the user's profile. It also warns against posting identifiable information, like a real name, address or phone number.
The site also warns that online friends should never replace real-life friends. "No matter how often you have chatted with someone or how much you think you know about them, you never really know who you are chatting with online. That cute 21-year-old guy may not be cute, may not be 21 and may not be a guy!"
Another warning MySpace users need to heed is that being online doesn't make you anonymous. People can use the Internet to uncover the personal information of people who might believe they are using the Web anonymously.
Wolf said parents are the first line of defense. In addition to monitoring their child's Internet activities, Wolf said parents need to teach their children that they don't live in a sterile bubble and that there are people out there who will try to hurt them. Teens have long thought they were invincible, he said.
"They're in their own house on their own computer," he said. "They think they are protected. We raise our kids to not talk to strangers, but online they do anyway. And they chat a little while and they don't think that person is a stranger anymore.
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