do you think that the website sweeping the nation is safe enough for todays teens?
214451
its up to you really, you decide what you put on your site and you decide who can see your profile, i have myspace and had it for quite some time and honestly i put information on there like where i work, go to school, went to school, etc. and i havent had any problems yet...try it, i bet you'll like it!
253530
It's a haven because parents don't pay enough attention to what their kids are doing.  Myspace is a haven for all types of criminals looking for cohorts.  I searched through the pages of several people from my step-son's high school after I found him chatting with a guy who was trying to build a bomb.  Some of the girls (ages 14-16) had pictures of themselves posted that were anything but appropriate and they all claimed to be adults.  The dialogs being carried on contained sexual content, drug references, planned assaults on other students, planned explosive "demonstrations", and other inappropriate references.  \n\nMyspace.com requires all its members to be at least 16 but it doesn't check anybody.  I had to remove my step-son twice and it took two weeks each time.  I practically had to get a signed statement from him in order to have him removed but he had unrestrained access to the site simply by signing up online.  They clearly have failed to live up to their responsibility to monitor their own product.\n\nNone of this is intended to diminish the culpability of offenders that use myspace to look for victims.  They are fully responsible for their own actions.  The only upside of myspace is that it also provides law enforcement officers with a place to look for preditors, the downside still outweighs that singular benefit though.
607148
I think that myspace is no more dangerous than any other website. People who meet people off the internet know the dangers and they do it anyway. When joining myspace kids lie and say they  are 18 so maybe parents should limit there childrens access to the net or be parents and know where there kids are and what they are doing.
665955
I have noticed there are several young and too young on this site.  To the point, I second guess myself on what to reply to and not.  I too hope this site is being monitored in fear of the Innocent ones on here, just looking for answers to questions their parents may not feel they need to answer.\nI should hope everyone takes age into consideration when answering.  \nI guess if it is being monitored, they will get caught.
56639
Please be very careful posting your info on the internet.  Make sure it's OK with your parents and BE SAFE, OK?
57008
The unfortunate thing is that the government hopes to learn anything from google.  I have had the opprotunity to view the web stats for several different websites and unless a website is optimized specifically for google they engine isn't very good at finding links.  I hate to say it but the best search engine out there is MSN, even though I can't stand them.\n\nHowever seeing what people are typing in on specific searches looking for "kiddy porn" it might help them gain insight into the underworld of child molestors.  Think of it this way a drug addict can usually pick another drug addict out of the crowd because there are mannerisms that people exude without realizing it.  So from this perspective knowing they enemy better can help them see where the trouble is, hopefully before bad things happen.
500294
Yes, I think such websites should be more specific. There is a world of difference between an adult molesting a child and a teenager having a relationship with someone who is a couple of years younger but happens to still be a minor.
275938
yep\ni used smiley central for ages so ye it is safe.
285284
Absolutely not. It's the first step down a slippery slope to a total government nanny state. Obviously you are better off wearing your seatbelt. You are better off not drinking or smoking, exercising 5 times a week, eating a balanced diet, chewing 15 times before swallowing your food, looking both ways before crossing the street, and not running with scissors.\n\nThank God we haven't reached a point in this country where EVERYTHING that you SHOULD do you MUST under penalty of law. This is a free country, right?
384538
I believe that some one (well, specifically a newspaper journalist) has done some checking and found (from court records, one assumes) that child murder has stayed more or less constant (and very low) over the past 50 years or so. That statistic implies that children are as safe now as ever they were, but the public  _perception_,  due to a few high profile cases, and publicised heavily by the media,   is that every child is in danger from every adult male - which is a gross insult to 99.9 percent of men.  Such a view has resulted in a lost and bewildered child in a shopping mall being ignored by males in case they are accused of molestation; in fewer men going in for primary school teaching (hence male role models are reduced); and a fall off in men and (women for that matter)  taking leadership positions in youth organisations, from cadets to scouts, guides etc., for fear of being accused of misconduct.\nIt comes to something when an adult of the 'tribe' can not comfort a small member of the tribe who has, for example,  fallen over, or is  in distress for some reason.  I recall as small boy walking into a bus stop post,  badly cutting my head.  A man came over to help, put his handkerchief on my bleeding scalp, held my hand and walked me home.  My mother was so grateful that some one had cared enough to help her son.  Today, that man no doubt would have left me alone  in case he was viewed as a paedophile.   What a sorry state our society has entered.
41856
I think that the government has made some mistakes, but is doing the best they can under the circumstances, and under the time limit they have to make the desicions. I'm 13, by the way.
86131
No .. I think parents should be able to offer a butt whoopen if they are stupid enough to do something like that. But parents should be making their children more aware of sexual preditors on the internet.
126883
I wish the government would do something about this web site.  It is a breeding ground for sexual predictors upon young boys and girls.  If anyone has a niece, nephew, daughter, cousin, or whatever that is posting pictures and info on this web site they should warn them about how dangerous this site is.  I don't have it, and not many people know the dangers that lurk there.  Recently parents were asked to look on the web site in my area, and they were shocked!  Provocative poses from teens, location info, and many other things ready and available for any predator to lure a young girl or boy away from home.  There are reports every where about this site.  Use your search engine.  We need to take a stand and protect the future of this country... our children.  By the way I am not old, I am under 30, but I have a nephew, god son, and brother in law that are teens, and I am concerned about them!
333226
Yes- by all means.  It is just a hosting site and it is completely safe.
163253
I can't imagine that a school would ever put up a site like this or that government regulations would allow it. Although your intentions seem harmless enough, you can understand how this might violate students' privacy and put them in potential danger.
39729
news of the weird is a good site.  check it out for yourself though before sending your son.  Though it's not an offensive site, not everything may be appropriate for young people.
163206
I'm not particularly concerned about it. The internet is not a major risk to children, in reality. All this is just an overreaction caused by media hype. I've had unrestricted internet access since the age of eleven, and if anything, it's only helped me to grow up, with more understanding and knowledge of the world around me.\n\nPornography and violent media are rather easily access outside of the internet, and have been since before the internet became popular. I really wouldn't worry too much. As long as the child is mature enough and is taught the right values, nothing as mundane as internet access will corrupt them.