If you need to, pull the plug
No more cruisin’ or hanging out at the local hamburger joint – a cushy swivel chair is where it’s at. An article on MSN got me curious about a Web site. As I typed the first two letters, it came up in the address window: MySpace.com; someone in my house had been there.
About 2,000 kids from the four Valley high schools have profiles on MySpace. The site began as a place for independent musicians to market their music but has gone on to become a teen’s personal greeting card to cyberspace. A profile is a techno-charged page filled with photos and personal information.
The site is mostly visited by people ages 14 to 30, but the site does not require confirmation. In order to post certain things, a user has to be 18, proving that many do indeed lie about their ages. Web site operators do not screen content, so it is a place where anything can be said or shown.
From the research that I have done, it is apparent that the site is not a public service (although it is free) but a way of making money off the users by advertising cola and cell phones and dating services. Media titan Rupert Murdoch said, “it’s sticky, it’s fun, it’s informative, and it is poised to be very profitable.”
When I interviewed parents, teachers and teenage users, almost everyone chose to be anonymous. One parent said, “My son would be very unhappy if our names were used.” One 14-year-old, whose parents don’t know he has a profile, said, “Parents are oblivious to it because they don’t ask.”
For many kids, it is the first thing they do when they get home, and many agree that it’s addictive. It is just the next evolution of social interaction, and the race to collect hundreds, if not thousands, of “friends” is the new popularity contest.
MySpace is reshaping school culture, with exchanges at night influencing what happens the next day in school, making an educator’s job more difficult. A local school administrator was notified of the problem when two female students brought printouts from the site into the administrator’s office, saying the material was obscene and offensive.
“It’s covert harassment,” the administrator said. “It’s below adult radar. Parents really need to pay attention.” The administrator handled the case just like any other harassment accusation, but gained a new appreciation of the role MySpace plays in students lives
The site is a global stage on which kids can embarrass themselves and abuse their peers. One parent stated, “It keeps the kids entertained. Parents who are tired or busy don’t have to interact with them.” Another parent made her child delete his profile. “The information passed and the conversations that take place there are hugely inappropriate. It’s also dangerous.”
In September, a 16-year-old girl was abducted and molested after a man she met on MySpace tracked her down because she had listed her workplace on her online profile. No doubt the man hadn’t used his real age or name.
While there are many downsides to MySpace, many teens support the site. They say things like “It keeps me busy,” “I meet new people,” and “I can keep in touch with old friends.”
A CV freshman said, “Everyone lies, and it causes a lot of drama.” A CV junior said, “People probably lie on MySpace because they are either embarrassed by who they are or they’re trying to make themselves look better or more appealing to others…or they’re looking to harm or abduct kids…but there are privacy settings…we need to be careful.”
Yes we need to be careful, and being aware is the first step. Know what your kids are doing online. Ask now, and ask to see it. They won’t like it but they need your guidance, and if they argue and refuse to show you, there must be a reason why so, pull the plug, they’ll live. We did.
My son voluntarily deleted his profile. When he did, the company asked him to give a reason why. He typed: Brain tumor waitin’ to happen…