It is obvious that the MySpace website is really great for making new friends connecting with old friends no matter whats you age and also promoting oneself whether you are a recording artist graphic designer, model or actor. But there are several very dangerous drawbacks in letting your children to surf freely online within the MySpace network of millions of users worldwide. Which heightens the risk of being approached by predators.



First of all you need to understand that all MySpace profiles are public despite being able to make profiles private and block certain users, your children are susceptible to view others pages and in return letting their guard down. As other members, and anybody in the outside world can read anything that is posted on a public profile can get to a MySpace profile.

As some children with out the proper supervision often disclose too much personal information about them selves (i.e. name and addresses, school names, classmates, teachers, birthdates, favorite hobbies) on these profiles, which attract will attract hordes of child predators that are lurking on the website for hours on end. These predators will seize upon details left in blogs, comments, and personal profiles to take advantage of these kids when parents are not home, or when kids are at school, even to the point of showing up in these places.

Second of all, please understand that teens do love to gossip. As the same problems that torment kids at school are multiplied ten times on the MySpace website. Where you have gossip, vicious rumors, bullying, racial slurs and all possible derogatory comments are posted on a public display to an audience of millions. This can seriously lead to huge problems in your childs future where there is a possibility that a college denies admission or an employer looks else where when hiring, just from googling for that persons MySpace page. Where saying anything now, possibly can hurt later on.

Thirdly, please remember that people are not who they say they are on there, even some will go as far as posting up fake pictures of another person to have think that was them. Where a valid e-mail is the only requirement for membership on MySpace and any other identifying information can be faked. As there are no controls in place within the MySpace security system to actively check the validity of current members. The only time somebody is caught is when some one is reported or MySpace catches someone violating its policies of use. Where these child predators can pretend to be teens, gain their trust, and use it to their advantage.

The lack of parental controls and the relatively easy access to inappropriate materials have prompted some parents and schools to entirely remove access to the site from home and school computers. But understanding the present dangers of the website is actually the first step in prevention of such dangers.