"And the next thing you know your son is playing for money in a pinch-back suit!"
They haven't got a prayer of stopping this. Ban it on school computers? They are accessing it at school with their own lap-tops and Wi-fi connections.
The Arizona Daily Star
Published: 12.03.2005
Parents warned of popular Web site
Schools call MySpace.com questionable, even 'terrible'
By Kevin Smith
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
If you're the parent of a teenager, there is a good chance your youngster is on MySpace.com. If so, you might want to do a search at MySpace for his or her Web page, as superintendent Calvin Baker of the Vail School District urged in a recent letter to district parents. "We know kids are doing terrible stuff on there," Baker said. It's not just in Vail. Officials at the Tucson Unified and Catalina Foothills school districts also reported concerns with the site.
"We're becoming a MySpace nation," said Cienega High School senior Bobbi Giddens, 17. Giddens said she's a member of MySpace and her mom and dad have no idea. "I know my parents, when it comes to the computer, they don't even know how to turn it on and off," she said. MySpace.com is an online networking and socializing tool with about 40 million members that lets users create a profile of themselves, network with friends, browse a seemingly endless library of other profiles, leave comments and write blogs, among other things. "We blocked it because of inappropriate content, sex, violence, hatred, racism, hacking," said Rachel Parmeter, technical coordinator for Catalina Foothills School District.
Students are not supposed to be able to access MySpace in the Vail, Catalina Foothills and Tucson Unified school districts due to Internet security features. Students are mainly using the site outside of school, most likely on computers and Internet connections afforded by their parents, Baker said. In his letter to parents, Baker said Web pages created by district students point to "convincing evidence that parental supervision is severely lacking." Along with students making disparaging comments about classmates, teachers and authority figures, Baker said teenagers were using the Web site to "discredit, bully and intimidate each other," and that a Vail student had posted a video of a recent fight between himself and another student that "graphically showed his knock-out kick to the head that ended the fight."
Students in Tucson are also posting photos of themselves on the Web site doing what appear to be drugs and drinking what looks like alcohol, and writing about having sex in terms usually reserved for vulgar comedians. MySpace is the most prominent in a growing plethora of online networking Web sites that teens are flocking to, including LiveJournal.com, Xanga.com, Facebook.com and Tagged.com. "It's a bigger deal than people realize," said Holly Colonna of TUSD's counseling department. Colonna said there have been no complaints this school year about MySpace, but it's possible parents just don't know about it yet. Arizona Department of Education spokeswoman Amy Rezzonico said she knew about MySpace only from what younger family members had told her. "I don't think it's come up in any formal discussion at the state level," she said.
According to BusinessWeek .com, 87 percent of 12-to-17-year-olds use the Internet, compared with two-thirds of adults, citing statistics from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. All it takes to become a member of MySpace is some basic information such as a working e-mail address, a password and a date of birth. You can become a member in less than a minute. There is also no way of verifying the age of a user. As Baker pointed out in his letter, an 11-year-old can pose as an 18-year-old and receive the same access to pictures and networking. MySpace.com has a page of safety tips for users and parents, including advising about the possibility of being betrayed by another user posing as something he or she is not. When used properly, students say,
MySpace is a great tool for communication and keeping in touch with friends. "It's the new way to hang out," said Cienega senior Jennifer Henderson, 17. Vail School District parent Diane Seelow, 36, said she has forbidden her daughter, Empire High School freshman Christa Manning, 14, to use the Web site since she found out people use it to post inappropriate material. Vail parent Mitch Platt, 38, said he did not blame school districts for the Web site's popularity. "I expect more out of parents to know what their kids are doing," he said. Tips for parents Page A11 |
