should schools tell students to log off popular teen web sites for fear of internet predators?
99560
I don't think schools have the right to do that but they should educate students about internet predators.
319940
My space is 1 part voyeurism, 1 part popularity contest, and 1 part pedophile hangout. My space and all personal information websites should be banned from any educational institution. 14 year old kids are not responsible adults.
134237
I think that it is absolutely disguisting!!! As a matter of fact, I have a personal experience because of myspace involving my mom's friend's daughter, who is now 13. She met some guy off of there, thinking that he was a 15 year old little boy, and was sexually assaulted and raped because of it... That's sad, yes... We just finished court with that and he is now serving 2 life sentences for 2 different rapes and 200+ counts of child pornography, but I agree with some of the other people here... \n\nIt is definitely the parents' responsibility to watch and monitor their child's actions on the computer, but if they choose not to, they need to filter and put parental controls to ensure that their child does not have access to places that are not "age appropriate" for them. If a 13 year old can go to myspace and lie and say that she is 16, then someone is definitely not doing their job...\n\nPlease... please... PLEASE... don't let this happen to your children...
1131112
everything online is unsafe for all ages.  you are exposing yourself to a variety of preditors.  You have to be smart, and you have to be cautions.  for children they can easily be fooled by a sexual predator pretending to be a kid also and since kids tend to want to fit in and can be more pressured to doing things they are more preditors for kids online.  if you are going to put you child on a page like myspace as long as you explain all the rules and montor what they are doing a child should be safe.
613080
as well as the list above, Xanga, Facebook but that requires you school to be listed so if your school is listed then it is much safer than MySpace and more both those three are the most popular.
1048510
Absolutely.  I saw a news story today regarding changes with several websites.. I believe myspace was one of them.  They are working on some form of age verification system and other tools to assist in keeping adults from contacting juveniles.\n\nThere is a great website with tons of information regarding cyber crimes and other information.  \n\nwww.cybercrime.gov
239633
i talk to my son about the dangers of the Internet and predators we also have a content filter that i can use to block things that i dont want him to go into like chat rooms and porn i also have a log of all sights visited on my computer that i can check periodically the Internet can be a very useful tool for many things and is a integrated part of our culture but i want my son to know there are risks and encourage him to use the net for things other than chatting and he does. good question good luck god bless
859543
You'll still get caught. Do you think your School is that DUMB?\n\nAll you kids trying to get on myspace from school are the actual dummies.\n\nCase in point. Your School's IT department monitors ALL PC usage. What that means is that they see everything you type, click on or do on that computer at every moment of the day. Then at the end of the day or week, whatever the protocol is, they print out this handy little list of security violations. The exact time and Computer and person who was using it is known and the person responsible for violating School security policies will be in serious trouble.\n\nSo go ahead and try and find out.\n\nIs it worth getting on your precious little myspace page to see what this or that person said about this or that person??
1043062
I think that people are over-reacting. I know there are a lot of sickos out there, but I'd say 98% of the people using the Internet nowadays are normal, everyday people who don't want to hurt anyone. And I wish people would just let up on MySpace - I've reconnected with people I haven't talked to in years because of MySpace and have been able to keep in better touch with others.\n\nIf parents would teach their kids to be responsible and smart there would be fewer problems with kids being hunted and successfully trapped. Monitoring what they are doing on the Internet could do wonders as well.
347008
Absoultely nothing. If parents are afraid their children are being exposed to something questionable, then the parents should make a point of supervising their children whenever possible. It might not be a perfect plan, but it's better than censorship.
606445
i dont think everyone who is associated with myspace should be punished because of the basic stupidity or immorality of others. myspace should be treated as a simple website where people meet new friends and reminisce with old ones but instead it is used by perverts and young people who want to explore things they know they shouldnt. for me myspace is the only way i can communicate with most of my out-of-state friends since im an army brat who moves around alot so i need it. people just need to teach their children how to stay safe. we also need to find and keep perverts off the streets.
726155
content blockers are there for a reason, you may think there are no consequences from trying to circumvent the security of a network but believe me there are - being expelled from a school or job is just one.\n\nand you WILL be caught, do you think the IT admins of the network are so stupid they haven't already considered that people with nothing better to do will try and violate the computer policies of the company/school rather than use them within the rules?\n\nthey're bigger and cleverer than you are, and they don't even have to look out for you because they've monitoring software to flag your activities to them - all they have to do then is pass those logs over to the person with the power to put you in a world of trouble.\n\nwhy you think the rules that apply to everyone else don't apply to you i've no idea but if anyone here has sense they'll save you from yourself by ignoring you.
819928
Well my friend, the teenage look for easy market, not down town or in the comfort of their zone, yes, through the Internet; a "spidey" web churned by the brilliancy of the mind of man. What you are seeing and experiencing are the consequences of the self destructive innovation of man himself. I think bad days are here and guys like us(good guys)should find ways and means to counteract such disturbing and unhealthy practices.
912701
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.
257225
There are many predators all over the internet.  MySpace puts many of the people commonly targeted by predators in one location, therefore you will find many predators on MySpace.
1072305
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.
304591
Their IT administrator has probly set up the system to not allow that site along with (probly) and million sites. It is done to ensure that students are not looking at inappropriate/irrelevent information online.