OT:Myspace pages

[ChrisAlli]

Do your kids have myspace pages??? I ask because I recently have seen my 18 year old nephews page and I was a little taken back.

Do you monitor their site?

 

[kmccain]

There was an altercation at school that DD was involved in. The Assistant Principal called to let us know what happened and that in involved myspace. He said "there is nothing good about it" so we got rid of it.

It was set up with DD email address that came into outlook. I went on her user name and said I forgot my password. They emailed it to outlook and I was able to go in and delete the account. They recommend that you delete the account. It was just easier that we did it than make her do it. There is a email confirmation asking if you are sure you want to delete the account that you have to reply to before it is totally gone.

We are a lot more comfortable and she doesn't miss it at all. I think she see all the trouble it causes at school.

Good Luck!

 

[SLDL]

My kids aren't old enough for that either but we have family friends whose teenagers have myspace accts & I have seen some of the stuff on there. I have seen some stuff I was pretty shocked at too. But what really bothers me was seeing someone's page (and I didn't even know this person) & they said "I live on Lake Road in X Town" I can't imagine why people would do that--it seems dangerous to me!

 

[shelly3girls]

My kids are not old enough but my niece has a myspace account. Her mother has the password and monitors it every day. She is giving me the password to monitor it also since I am on the computer all of the time. So far everything has been innocent but I have to say it really worries me.

 

[KMZOB]

DS isn't old enough, but I have a myspace page. I have made it private so only people I approve of can access it and it really has no real personal information about me on it...I use it purely to keep in touch with some old friends from HS.

I do have a co-worker whose daughter has one and she does monitor it. It is important to keep your kids safe. But myspace isn't the only thing you have to worry about today...another co-worker's DS(14) was IMd by someone who was asking personal and sexual question. This was not on myspace, this was just a regular MSN account. They don't know how this person got his IM or who the person was. They did contact the police and the police have said they know who it is, that it was a minor, and they will be dealing with it.

 

[badblackpug]

I have MSN and use the parental controls. On MSN you set the parental controls based on the users age group. We do not allow MySpace or any message boards, for that matter. We do not allow IM. I am too worried about predators out there contacting kids through these things. With MSN if a child attempts to access a website that is not specifically allowed, the website is blocked and a notice appears on the computer that says "This website has not been approved, do you want to ask a parent to approve it now or do you want to send an email to your parent asking them to approve it later?" (or something like that) MSN also sends me a scheduled update of all the website the kids have visited, the time and date they visited, and the amount of time spent on the site. Each child has his/her own account. E-mail is also restricted. They may only send/receive e-mails from approved contacts.

 

[jenrein]

My take on myspace- being a parent who actually has one. My sisters are both younger so I have a page to visit them on theirs. I also use it to check on kids who apply to work for me. Its amazing what someones myspace page says about them. And thats the key. Your kids make their page to reflect who they think they are. They think they are playboy bunny hoochies and gang star rappers. They will think this online, in school, at their part time job, into college and anywhere they feel. Taking away their myspace page is only taking away their ability to announce themselves to the world and letting them be a little creative. It is not going to change your slutty little school girl into a ministers daughter. She will still be a little slut if thats who she wants to be- it takes more than a myspace page to keep her privates private. Researching a lot of kids sites when they apply to work for me- I can see a clear difference in good and bad parenting. Some kids have pages that look like they are great normal kids and they arent all sexed up and drugged up. I hire them. Then theres the kids that have all the crap that makes you cringe- and I dont hire them.

 

[ChrisAlli]

I never thought about the job thing. My nephew is about to enter college in the fall and he is 18, but if a potential employer were to see his page, I think they'd pass.

I would like to think his parents are clueless as to his page, it's not what I expected. I don't think it's my place to say anything to them, but my sister-in-law may.

I also have younger tween nephews who use neopets sites to talk to friends and at first I thought that was cute, but a person posing as a young person could be on there as well.

My kids are young, but I'm really starting to realize that you need to watch what they have access to as far as computers go.

 

[tmarquez]

My 2 stepsons have them, they are 17 and 21 now and have had them for a long time. I check them out on occasion, nothing shocking. But I've also viewed some of their friends (local kids) pages and was shocked at some of it...especially the girls! It really makes you think differently about what you thought was a nice kid when you see how they put themsleves out there like they do.

A previous poster mentioned employers looking at the pages (and they do!) and not wanting to hire these kids, I can see it happening with some of DS's friends.

When DD(4) is old enough for things like this I will definately be monitoring.

 

[beattyfamily]

No, and I don't ever want them to have a Myspace page. Right now they are 7 and 11 but I've already told my 11 year old it will never happen. My DH agrees. Of course, once they are adults, they can but I'll be sure to warn them on not revealing too much info, which I already do with what access they do have on the Internt now.

They have Webkinz, Disney Channel.com and Club Penguin and email to family and that's it for now and that's plenty for their age.
They'll also be no IMing.
No cell phones till maybe age 13 -16. We'll decide when the time is right.

Yes, we monitor their Internet access and time online.