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

[sk!mom]

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.

That's funny- I told my DD a similar thing. "Even the administrators know that 11 or 12 year olds don't belong on there." Followed by, "We are an honest family, who don't lie about our ages." Followed by, "We'll talk when you're 15."

My DD is an almost 12 year old 6th grader and many of her friends have had spaces since 5th grade.

 

[gower525]

My soon to be ex husband had a facebook and myspace account. That is how I found out about his affair with a 20 year old!

 

[annie1995]

I have not encountered that with my kids yet. My soon to be 13 year has not even mentioned it. Now my step daughter who lives in our house full time was told no, she could not have one. She is too sneaky and her friends are not the best. She snuck and created one anyway. I'm just curious as to how many of the kids who have been told no, went behind their parents backs and made up one anyways? Seems to me it would make more sense to say yes, but with certain restrictions. Restrict to much they will sneak it and you might never know what they are up to

 

[powellrj]

Many of my kids parents think they don't have accounts but because I monitor my kids accounts I know that they do have them. Because they are free and so easy to set-up, I think many more kids have them than parents realize.

I know that my kids church groups all use myspace to communicate. Even the youth minister has a myspace page that all the kids access. I have an account just so I can TRY to keep an eye on things.

 

[jenrein]

My 12 year old had begged me for one for quite a bit of time. We moved from NY to FL almost a year ago and a lot of her new friends in FL had it. We came to the agreement that she could have it as long as I have her password. We agreed I can sign on under her name as I wish and poke around as much as I would like to.

She has had it for about 4 months or so- now her friends from NY are really getting into it too. She behaves and it appears that her friends do too. So far so good.... I know she's only 12 though and my so far so good could come to a crashing halt but I am preparing myself!

 

[grlpwrd]

Many of my kids parents think they don't have accounts but because I monitor my kids accounts I know that they do have them. Because they are free and so easy to set-up, I think many more kids have them than parents realize.

I know that my kids church groups all use myspace to communicate. Even the youth minister has a myspace page that all the kids access. I have an account just so I can TRY to keep an eye on things.

That's so true. Kids can and do sneak.

My 16yo has an account, but my 13yo is going to wait until she turns 14. I think within reason this can be a learning opportunity to teach them about online safety. When they go away for college or just leave the nest, then how will they know how to deal with this kind of stuff?

I rather teach them now. So far so good.

 

[joepic]

Teens will realize that Myspace gets quite useless as they move on with their lives. They'll have other priorities. Facebook is a lot safer, and useful.

 

[DisneyFed]

Just a word of warning out there to parents (which you probably already know anyway), but in my 15 years of Law Enforcement, I have worked my fair share of My Space, FaceBook....incidents....


My son is only a few months old, so Lord knows what it will be when he gets that age, but the fact of the matter is, even if your kid is great--the person on the other end of the line, if they mean harm, is going to be a problem--

And they (the bad guys) CAN go around the Parental Blocks, Privacy settings, whatever.....I've had one guy tell me he spent a year figuring out how to "break the code"...and he did..if it had not been for one VERY ALERT parent, the situation would've been disastrous....

 

[K and K's Mommy]

My oldest is third grade, but I have been following this thread because I know it will all be coming soon enough. At Easter I had a conversation about it with my 17 year old cousin. I figured she would have one because it seems like it would fit her personality. She does not because in her words "creepy old men are on My Space." She and her friends use Facebook. She even said I could search for her using her name. I think she is pretty mature and knows that "creepy, old men" could be on Facebook too, but for some reason she thinks that it is safer.

 

[Stacerita]

DD12 asked last week if she could get on myspace. I told her when she was 13 we would talk about it and see.

 

[danx2plus3more]

no, i have no problems with my teen and my space..because, i dont allow my teen to have a my space account. why would he need one..he has a cell phone to talk to his friends..i do not like my space.

 

[RMulieri]

Not at that point yet since dd4 is only 4.But I happened to be on and found my nieces myspace page with some pretty "interesting" photos.I called my BiL and SiL.They have had nothing but trouble with her being on and she is only 12.

 

[gabriellyn]

My 12yo wanted an account and we told her no - so she DID go behind our backs and create one at a friend's house during a sleepover. Of course we found out and she was restricted from computer use for doing it and for lying to us when we asked her about it. We specifically said she is not able to create an account because she does not meet the minimum age requirement. I have access to her email accounts and keep her passwords handy and DH checks her usage regularly. You cannot be too safe nowadays. We will revisit when she turns 14, but I have to say I am not looking forward to it.

 

[CampbellScot]

somehow I managed to make friends and avoid being a social outcast WITHOUT a myspace account!

If I was having arguments over something on my teens myspace page, I'd win b/c the myspace page would be GONE. Period.

As parents we have to set the limits. Yes your child can have a myspace page behind your back, but you control who gets into YOUR house via the internet. Children won't die if they aren't allowed a myspace page.

Luckily my step daughter is only 8...but she's already nuts with the Webkinz chat. She's limited to ONE HOUR of Webkinz play for the week...that's about 15 minutes a day give or take. Then we make her read a book or go outside and play!

Aren't we MEAN?!

 

[jenrein]

somehow I managed to make friends and avoid being a social outcast WITHOUT a myspace account!

If I was having arguments over something on my teens myspace page, I'd win b/c the myspace page would be GONE. Period.

As parents we have to set the limits. Yes your child can have a myspace page behind your back, but you control who gets into YOUR house via the internet. Children won't die if they aren't allowed a myspace page.

Luckily my step daughter is only 8...but she's already nuts with the Webkinz chat. She's limited to ONE HOUR of Webkinz play for the week...that's about 15 minutes a day give or take. Then we make her read a book or go outside and play!

Aren't we MEAN?!

 

[Irishgrl6975]

My DD14 does not have a myspace account, or IM, or cell phone. She complains all the time about this. I don't believe many of her friends have myspace, but they all seem to have cell phones and IM. I have a myspace page that is private, but i know the kind of garbage that you can find on there. I have explained to my daughter that I had none of these things growing up and I funtion just fine in the world. We have one computer in the living room, no phones or tv's in the bedrooms either. She gabs on the regular phone a lot as it is! I hear people at work talking about how their children run up the cell phone bills as well, I have to chuckle and ask, who is the parent here making the decisions! I told my daughter that when she is eighteen and can sign a contract and pay for it, she can have a cell phone, a myspace account, etc. DD also asks why we eat dinner at the table every night together, since she only knows one other family who does this. I tell her (with a big hug and a kiss and a smile) that it's because I am a mean mom who doesn't want her to have any fun...LOL