Myspace.com is a
blog site (short for Web-log), an Internet site where people can
post information and others may have an opportunity to respond.
Myspace.com is a
password-protected site where visitors may add comments to
individual webpages only if they are "invited" by the page author.
Unfortunately, this security feature creates a false sense of
safety. While it is true that "strangers" cannot access the complete
blog, they can access an author's profile—the mini biography that
may include their screen name, real name, school affiliation,
hometown, or even a photograph. Sometimes even the most innocent
information can be used by predators to find or figure out who a
young person is. Teams, clubs, employment, schedules and other
personal information can be used to narrow down who and where a
student is. This along with a photo make students easy targets for
illegal or unsafe activity.
Recent concerns
over Myspace focus on the ability to access those profiles. Just a
click of a mouse on the "search" link at Myspace.com enables the
user to search the profiles listing by school or by name. In cases
across the nation, naive bloggers have unknowingly provided Internet
predators with addresses and photos via the profiles.
The Schalmont
School District has blocked access to the website on school
computers. At home, parents must determine for themselves what may
or may not be appropriate for their children.
To learn more
about Myspace, simply search the Internet for Myspace. New articles
appear daily. A sampling of those articles include:
Myspace.com on their Web site safety - a January 2006 email
response by Myspace.com to NBC television's Dateline.
School
Resource Officer Information
