OT-Do you have problems with your teen and Myspace?

[springandmac]

I'm at my wits end with DD14 and her myspace.....anyone else feeling my pain?

 

[wilderness01]

I have never allowed my space yet for my teenagers, but they have just entered their teen years. I guess I am too afraid of it yet and the headaches they cause.

 

[hsmamato2]

I have no problems as of now,as it's not allowed. Ds can chat with his friends in real time, or with the ones he REALLY knows on IM. I'm sorry you're having problems,to me it's a can of worms I don't want in my household.

 

[tmatthews]

has caused a lot of problems here...kids don't get it that OTHER people read their pages!!! It has caused lots of arguments around my house BELIEVE ME!

 

[LubsPoohBear]

n Myspace here my girls keep asking but no go.... i have late them do stardoll i have there pass words and they can still chat with there friends but theres no pics.not sure its that much better but i think so.

 

[Chkysbak]

Our DD is 14 at the moment going on 32 and has a myspace account. Don't get me wrong I have parental software on the computer as well as a keyboard stroke reorder so I know EVERYTHING that she does on it. I know all her passwords, even if she changes them. I monitor myspace all the time, as well as her activity. She has taken something to far, but all in all it hasn't been that bad. I limit her time on the computer so it hasn't been a big deal. Its more of a deal on what her friends post, or other people are doing than what she has been doing.

 

[GothTink]

My DS14 has a MySpace page. His profile is private, I know all passwords, the computer is in the busiest room of the house (so he's never alone), and we have a strict rule about only chatting/friending people he knows irl.

So far...not one problem.

 

[trivial]

I'm curious to know what problems are being encountered. As I understand it, profiles can be made viewable by friends only, so I can't imagine what Myspace-specific problems there would be.

 

[sl_underwood]

Our dd 14 does myspace too. She knows everyone she chats with and has a private account (no one can view her page or add to friends unless they have specific info) I know her password and I am one of her myspace friends. I actually joined to monitor her. Several of her friends parents also have myspace so they are on her friends lists too. We all help each other monitor myspace and so far so good. She knows the rules and knows if she fails to follow them she wont be allowed the priveledge.

 

[eliza61]

My sons high school is thinking about cancelling senior trips to WDW due to a my space incident.

Short version,
One of the senior girls met a "young man" on my space who said he was a student at the U. of Miami. He convinced her to met him at DTD when they were to go to Disney during senior week. Fortunately the girls friend actually had a brother who attends school there and he said alot of the information this "guy" was posting was not adding up.
Long story short, the best friend told her teacher (thank god) and it turns out this "student" was a 35 year old out of work carpenter. I keep thinking of poor Natalie Hollaway. I know, I know I'm probably overreacting.

Please be careful of any social site.

 

[trivial]

My sons high school is thinking about cancelling senior trips to WDW due to a my space incident.

Honestly, you'd think people -- especially a high school senior -- would know better by now. But I guess it's like wearing seatbelts: no matter how obvious it is, and no matter how many times it gets said, some people just don't ever seem to get it.

I'm trying to figure out why your son's high school would cancel senior trips to WDW because of that incident; talk about an extreme overreaction. That's like burning an orchard because of one bad apple.

 

[raysnkaysmom]

My daughter is going on 13 and keeps begging for a myspace account. She says all her friends at middle school have one... and it can be private. I realize it can be private, and only viewable by those she 'accepts' as friends... but I still dont' think she's ready... nor am I.. LOL
I told her at 15 I'd think about it...since your really supposed to be 15 anyways.

 

[Kimberly Hill]

Both of my sons (17 and 19) have MySpace and Facebook, as do I. I monitor their use and I've been known to contact parents of kids who I feel are in danger... or just plain stupid. I was a manager at AOL for 7 years while my boys were growing up and smart computer use has always been a topic in our household.

Still... they've both been dumb enough to to minimize the screen when I walked into the room. Like that's not a red flag!

 

[springandmac]

I'm curious to know what problems are being encountered. As I understand it, profiles can be made viewable by friends only, so I can't imagine what Myspace-specific problems there would be.

The girls at my daughters school use it as a tool to bully each other. Unfortunatley, my DD got caught up in a IM war of words that nearly led to a physical fight at school, which resulted in the school resource officer calling me. A similar incident happened last year.

 

[kellermomof3]

My son is 14 and has one. He was really into it about a year ago...but now he seems to text more. When he got his I also got one just to keep an eye on him. I know his password and it is set on private. And yes, I do keep an eye on it. I've asked questions and asked about certain friends...so he knows I'm there. I know some parents may disagree about privacy...but it is very dangerous. I would not drop him off in downtown and let him just "chat" with strangers...if that makes sense.

My 10 yr old son wants one and I told him not till he is 12 or 13.

 

[stahshee]

i have one but we will not allow dd 16 to have one..(or use hers that we took away)

I tell you, you want to know what they are up to (and the friends are up to) its great to check out there myspace and there friends...wooh thats why I dont want dd to have one again its the people she be friends.....



my dd is welcome to use mine

 

[DiznEeyore]

No problems w/it here ... we won't allow our 15yo to have access to MySpace. He gripes about it constantly, but oh well. Our house, our rules.

We do allow him to have a private Facebook account/page that is only viewable by students at his small private school. Even there, we still monitor what he's up to.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We also just said no. Just too scary for me. '

This year a 15 year girl at DS school had a myspace page that somehow was not private. I do not know exactly how that happened but she was a great kid with good parents that thought they knew what was going on.
Anyway she gave away too much info. She was chatting about her vollyball games,friends etc, and got the attenion on an older man. He figured out where she went to school and CAME to the school looking for her and told the staff she was his niece and he had come to pick her up. Smart staff acted quickly and all was ok but so SCARY. I know you have to educate and you can not protect from everything but we just decided not to go there.

 

[springandmac]

Alot of DD's friends have been told not to have a myspace but they snuck and have one anyway.

I think I'd rather have DD have an account that I know about and can check than for her to be sneaky and me to be naive.

 

[katiee511]

Just a word of warning to those parents who don't allow a myspace account. It is not difficult to get one (no permission needed) I also did not "allow" my DS to have one at 13........ however, reading his e-mail acct one day I found a welcome msg from myspace for his new acct
I chose not to mention it to him and requested a password email sent (which I permanently deleted after getting so he wouldn't know) I told my DH and we decided to monitor it for a while to see what he was doing on it while he thought it was such a big secret.
Very luckily for us, he barely even used it. Guess he just wanted one to be like everyone else A few months later when he did start to use it more I finally told him I knew he had one and wanted to know how that happened since I monitor our home computer. He said a friend set it up for him, digital pics and all when he spent the night over his house. Also luckily for us at 14 DS still hasn't learned the fine art of deception!
It kept him occupied for several months, mostly short msgs with his friends and a bunch of dumb ads that get mass mailed thru friends. Now that he has a new cell phone with unlimited text he barely get on his myspace.
I have been able to sign on his acct and click on his friends and go thru their page and click on THEIR friends and so on and so on. Suprisingly there are MANY kids who do not make their pages private and you can find out a lot of info about them and in turn your own kid even if they are private.
It's a fact of life in these times and I would rather "know" about his page and be able to get into it when I want than to not "allow" one and learn it existed in secret. But that's just our experience and in no way is a comment to anyone who chooses not to let their kids have one.