Dear Editor,
Regarding the
”
My Space
”
issue, my teenage daughter had her own
”
My Space
”
. With the help of a friend, she created it in their home. I was
not thrilled from the beginning that she was
”
putting herself out there
”
like that.
Dear Editor,
Regarding the “My Space” issue, my teenage daughter had her own “My Space”. With the help of a friend, she created it in their home. I was not thrilled from the beginning that she was “putting herself out there” like that. But she assured me that it was “safe”. Still doubtful, I went over and over the rules about not saying too much about where you live and what kind of “hints” you can leave by accident. She showed me her pictures and some things, but unbeknownst to me, not the “blog page”. I didn’t even know what a “blog” was.
She became obsessed with this thing and I started becoming concerned because she would be very upset if I didn’t allow her time on line. I knew something was very wrong about this if she was so emotional about it. I decided to start looking at her Web site to see what was on it. She was resistant, but I pointed out that if it was as innocent as she says, it should not be a secret from me. Anyone can else can read it, why can’t I? She couldn’t argue this fact.
I was appalled by the filthy language by her friends and the amount of information THEY were leaving that would enable a stranger to ring my doorbell. I read the blogs aloud to her (while she squirmed) and pointed out all sorts of things that could be dangerous. I told her that I had the freedom to do this because she was making it public and anyone else in the world who may have stumbled across or hacked into her page could read it also.
I asked her if she understood that some perverted pedophile could be looking at her picture and thinking about what he would want to do to her? I explained that some creepo who has been looking at her life could not only find her, but know ALL about her because of what her friends were saying. How creepy is that? She was very careful about the information she profiled about herself, but that just wasn’t enough. She was disappointed when I terminated the Web page. She’ll get over it.
I would suggest to any parents who have children with “My Space” web sites to insist on reading these very public blogs. Maybe your kids are doing all the right things, but their friends aren’t.
Lydia Eden-Irwin, Gilroy
