Warning for parents: MySpace.com

[Kimberly]

First of all, I don't believe it is wrong for a child to be learning about sex at that age. The more they know, the better as it will give them the knowledge to make wise decisions. What bothers me though is that most don't realize the dangers of websites like that, and just how many predators there are out there that use websites like that to meet them!

I finally deleted my myspace account after I had many people I didn't even know trying to add me and sending me annoying emails like "you're hot, wanna meet up?". There now is apparently a way to keep your profile private to just your friends, but I still don't entirely trust it.

 

[MICKEY88]

I think the upset is the same. The only way her dd could be on that site is to register as an older age. She's too young to register as her own age.

My son is turning 13 and we still strive to monitor ALL of his internet access. The computers are right next to the kitchen and we disconnect the cable when he is going to be home alone. To my knowledge he hasn't done any kind of message board activities. His group of friends don't even e-mail. We did catch him doing some interesting surfing once though and hopefully have squelched that for a while.

I know it's impossible to monitor every moment, but you can sure try!

it is possible to monitor every moment on your home PC...I use this software and it's great...


CYBERSITTER

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

I dealt with tons of office referrals last year from people posting things on Xanga saying to kill a certain student or where she lives and to go egg her house, etc. Once other people post specific info like that and say to harm others then the police have to get involved - some of it even became gang related. It happened a lot last year!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

it is possible to monitor every moment on your home PC...I use this software and it's great...

and if it is like NetNanny, it has a backdoor password that the teens all pass around to each other.


I'm telling you -- they are pretty clever.

 

[MICKEY88]

and if it is like NetNanny, it has a backdoor password that the teens all pass around to each other.


I'm telling you -- they are pretty clever.

it isn't even visible on the pc except for the system administrator

 

[True North]

Dont know why anyone with children would even want to defend such a thing.

When you only look at it the bad, it looks like a monster. However, the site allows you to have only your friends look at your profile, and is a place you can leave messages for each other and keep in touch. Your child must be able to understand not to allow others that are not their friends onto their list.

I know a site that leads thousands of children to the dirtiest of porn sites, and the most hatefull things I have ever seen in my life. It is even easier then MySpace to click the wrong iteam if you don't know better. This site is named Google. Even though it has such horrible things, I would allow children to use it.

If kids/teens are properly tought how to use the internet and has a parent watching what they do, you should be fine with either MySpace or Google.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

it isn't even visible on the pc except for the system administrator

That doesn't matter. Windows XP itself has plenty of backdoor capability itself that will give a teen "in the know" access to any System Admin function.

just type in a Google Query and you can see how easy it is to find out how to get around parental controls

just an example:

Andrew shares the following tips for disabling CYBERsitter 2000.

This procedure disables CS2000 on a session-by-session basis (e.g. until you reset the computer or change users) ...
1) click start~run and type regedit, then press enter. this will open the registry editor.
2) navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders.
3) delete the key 'net98'.
you are now filter-free. (note: this must be done every time you start windows or change users.)

 

[oobidoo]

Yes, parents should teach there kids what to do and what not to do when on the internet...fine. But it seems to me that just on this thread alone there have been quite a few postings regarding children pretending to be something that they are not. It is very dangerous to think that kids do everything we tell them to do (or not to do) just because we say so. If you believe that, I am afraid you are being fooled.

As for kids being educated about sex at this age, not a problem there. But being "educated" about anal sex, oral sex, orgies, etc. by some strange teenager from another state (if that is really even who it is) at the age of 11 or 12, I think not. I dont understand why some are so eager to rush there child's innocence away. You only get that once in your life, and I for one will protect the innocence of my child to the bitter end. If kids are going to this site, I promise you that they are learning about some very adult subject matter that they are not prepared for.

 

[Nancy]

The sad thing is is that Myspace is only one of many, many other sites that the kids can use. My girls don't have myspace or xanga...I know becuase I check regularly. But all you have to do is type in a wrong word in a search engine and some of the most disgusting things show up. PLUS for those worried about profiles, check out some of their friends profiles on AOL or MSN. My kids were not allowed to have any info in their profile when they were younger and my 13 year old still can't.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I also monitor my 14 DD Myspace account. I don't like some of things the kids say to each other. It seems they all put stuff on there that's phony.

 

[MICKEY88]

That doesn't matter. Windows XP itself has plenty of backdoor capability itself that will give a teen "in the know" access to any System Admin function.

just type in a Google Query and you can see how easy it is to find out how to get around parental controls

just an example:

the key being a teen in the know, sure there are teens out there that can hack into the Pentagons computer, but not the average teen...

and althought these teens may think that is a good way around cybersitter, I'm alerted any time my reg keys are altered

 

[True North]

the key being a teen in the know, sure there are teens out there that can hack into the Pentagons computer, but not the average teen...

and althought these teens may think that is a good way around cybersitter, I'm alerted any time my reg keys are altered

I don't know anything about your program, so I can't comment Cybersitter. I can say to others that when I took my course on teaching the internet (2 years ago, so very out of date now) it was amazing just how easy it is to see inapropriate stuff even with parental control programs on. It doesn't take a computer geek to figure it out also. Kids can pass on the information to each other very easy.

One of the more impresive tricks I found was a student installed a diffrent web browser on the computer. (There are many to choose from: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera) He then removed the program from the start menu, and installed it in a funny location. (In a folder called "Temp43" or something, deep inside the Windows directory.) This way he could use this program, erase the history, cashe, and cookies, and no one would notice. If anyone found the program it would look like it was never used. We tended to always figure out what was going on, but then the kids would find a new way to trick the system.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

and althought these teens may think that is a good way around cybersitter, I'm alerted any time my reg keys are altered

The reg edit is just one way around Cybersitter. In a 2 minute search, I found others. I can now also tell you how to modify your registry to use the trial version forever without ever having to pay.

All I'm saying is that parental controls are like a door locks. Door locks can be opened by those who weren't meant to open them. I use Net Nanny myself (DS15 calls it "The Hag"), but as my son progressed in his computer skills, I learned that it is really just a "reminder" to him of what his parents do and don't want him to do. It sure as heck isn't a way to watch all of his computer use because we haven't even gotten into the question of what he does when he is at his friend's house. If he decides he doesn't want to follow those guidelines, believe me no $60 piece of software is going to stop him.

 

[MICKEY88]

I don't know anything about your program, so I can't comment Cybersitter. I can say to others that when I took my course on teaching the internet (2 years ago, so very out of date now) it was amazing just how easy it is to see inapropriate stuff even with parental control programs on. It doesn't take a computer geek to figure it out also. Kids can pass on the information to each other very easy.

One of the more impresive tricks I found was a student installed a diffrent web browser on the computer. (There are many to choose from: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera) He then removed the program from the start menu, and installed it in a funny location. (In a folder called "Temp43" or something, deep inside the Windows directory.) This way he could use this program, erase the history, cashe, and cookies, and no one would notice. If anyone found the program it would look like it was never used. We tended to always figure out what was going on, but then the kids would find a new way to trick the system.

nice thing about windows xp only those with administrator rights can install on the system,

and although kids can clean out their history and temp files, there is software that will still retrieve those files

 

[MICKEY88]

The reg edit is just one way around Cybersitter. In a 2 minute search, I found others. I can now also tell you how to modify your registry to use the trial version forever without ever having to pay.

All I'm saying is that parental controls are like a door locks. Door locks can be opened by those who weren't meant to open them. I use Net Nanny myself (DS15 calls it "The Hag"), but as my son progressed in his computer skills, I learned that it is really just a "reminder" to him of what his parents do and don't want him to do. It sure as heck isn't a way to watch all of his computer use because we haven't even gotten into the question of what he does when he is at his friend's house. If he decides he doesn't want to follow those guidelines, believe me no $60 piece of software is going to stop him.

again, if my registry is modified I am alerted ,

and I guess I'm a real mean parent, my kids were told up front what was and wasn't acceptable on the net, they were told if they violated our net policy they would lose pc privileges for a set period of time, and on a second offense they would lose all net privileges period, and that would include not going to friends houses where they would have access to a pc..

I realize nothing is fool proof, if kids want to do drugs they will find a way, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do everything in my power toi prevent it..

 

[mark&sue]

I am too frightened to even check this site out in case my DD12 checks it out on history and then finds it!!!!


Scared Mom

 

[Sparx]

I've got one.
myspace
and yeah, you can't see it. I've got it to where only my friends can see me. Theres nothing too personal on there, yeah I've got pictures, but there's also picture up here, and if I'm not mistaken, you need to be one of my friends to see those too. My display pic (one that everyone sees) is of my hands. My hometown is listed as Middle of Nowhere, USA.
Yes, there are some weirdos on there, but thats true for everywhere.

 

[Divamomto3]

we had myspace issues here....real name, fake age, real location, foul language, 13 year old friends in his class with inappropriate pictures. I'm sure their parents have NO IDEA. Most of my friends barely know how to check their email, never mind figure out what their kids are doing online. I think myspace is filled with the youngest of teens pretending to be what they're not and 40 year olds looking to find them.

Anyone watch Primetime Live last night?

 

[TheBellhop]

Us silly teens! Always being clever!

 

[Slacking]

I am too frightened to even check this site out in case my DD12 checks it out on history and then finds it!!!!


Scared Mom

You can always clear the history once you're done with it.