The amplifier., December 01, 2006, Page 5, Image 5

1
2006
Forum
HySpace.com causes student debate
MySpace is too
dangerous for teens
L ogan K elly
Sports Editor
Have you ever tangled with
your parents about MySpace.com?
Maybe they believe that they are
protecting you or even that they
just don't want you to waste your
time. Sound familiar?
Well ponder this:
On Oct. 16, a registered sex
offender was caught prowling for
underage boys. Andrew Lubrano,
38, was arrested for his fourth sex
crime. The New York City Police
Department still believes that many
offenders are out there and will be
very hard to catch.
"Proactively scouring MySpace
pages is futile: The smarter sexual
predators stick to private messages,
and diligently prime their public
comment boards of any posts from
young friends that hint at what's
happening behind the scenes,"
Frank Giardina, detective, said.
Your first thought, I know almost
for certain, is about safeguards
and private accounts. Then I
must ask you, do you know all
of your friends? One automated
search revealed that there are
744 registered sex offenders with
accounts. According to the United
States Sex Offender Registry, there
are over 40,000 registered sex
offenders in the country and on
MySpace.com it is estimated that
there are 124 million users.
Only 744 users seems a little low
to me. Most criminals guilty of sex
crimes never recover and some of
them are probably smart. Smarter
than you and smarter than the
Executive Branch. Smart enough to
assume a fake identity and get you
to add them to your friends’ list.
After’they pass the first hurdle,
they would gain access to all of the
information on your page, where
you live, possibly your school and
even your friends. How bad would
it be if your intuition told you to
block him or report him, but your
friend did not. I know I would feel
terrible, I hope you would too.
When I first opened my MySpace
account, I loved it. I could leave
comments on almost all of my
friends pages, but after a while it
got old. I had searched all of the
bands I wanted, and then some,
joined the groups, played the
games and met the people that had
similar interests to me. With over
1.4 million bands and 50,000 groups
MySpace keeps many people busy;
it attracts more men than ESPN,
com.
Instead of doing homework,
playing soccer in my yard or
going for a run, I was sitting on
my computer. These days, that
is a common situation, but what
our generation really needs to ask
themselves is, "Why?" Do we really
need to be connected to someone
we have never met that is halfway
around the world? Is instant
messaging not enough? All that
we are doing by having an account
is exposing ourselves to forces we
have no need to be exposed
to. As my mother says,
"It's not you who I
don't trust, it's other
people."
As if getting molested
is not enough, businesses
are now known to look at
applicant's pages
looking for anything
the might ruin their
chances. The potential
employees who have posted
pictures of drinking,
smoking, and other
explicit activities
have been known to
be out done by their
lesser counterparts.
Think deleting your
account is enough?
Well think again. There are,
currently, sites where a
user can pull up a
web site from many
years ago that has
since changed. Services
like that could come
back to haunt you
possibly even 20 years now.
To protect
ourselves the best,
we should all
just stop using the
service. If, in your
case, quitting is
unacceptable, take
these precautions:
According to
Angie Hammond,
Information
Technology Specialist, kids
put too much information
on their pages. With
the information
predators can
befriend you and act
like they are interested
in what you do. Then
they will try to gain your trust and
after that, only God knows
what could happen. "Putting
information on MySpace
is like putting it on a giant
billboard and standing in front
of a mall. You just wouldn't do
that."
According to the government
funded project, iSAFE, a
predator only needs three pieces of
information: date of birth, gender
and your zip code. With that
information predators can track you
down with very much ease.
In the world of comments and
friend lists, you are only as strong
as your weakest link. Talking about
where you are going and who you
are going to meet is a huge mistake.
A predator could easily track down
and take advantage of your whole
group.
Take the advice of your elders
and keep your MySpace clean and
make an effort to spread the word
to your friends. Most of all, listen
to your intuition and use common
sense. Surely everyone does stupid
things but, on MySpace, your
emotional and physical well being
are always at stake.
MySpace helps teen
communication
R oya
euzeh
co-Editor-in-Chief
With more than 124 million
profiles posted, the website
MySpace.com has become a
phenomenon mostly among
the teenagers. Teenagers
communicate via profiles with
other teens from around the
world. With this relatively new
networking system, many parents
and school administers have
been worried about the use of
MySpace and the effects it's
having on their sons, daughters
and students.
MySpace, launched two and a
half years ago, was created as a way
to communicate with others. Beating
out older competitors such as Xanga.
com and Bolt.com, MySpace has
grown into a bigger corporation
that most did not expect.
¡¡I| l With a new $900 million
advertisement deal with
Google Incorporated, the website
used by so many teenagers
doesn't appear to be going
anywhere fast. So why is their
such a major controversy with
one of the most successful
websites to date?
Most would agree that the
site does have a potential to be used
incorrectly. We have all seen the
"Dateline" episodes in which
they track sexual predators in the
midst strolling through a house
hoping to meet the "minor" they
were talking to online. Incidents
like this have happened through the
MySpace website. I believe that most
teenagers know of the dangers
of the internet and, if not, we
should be educating our youth
early about what happens when
personal information gets into the
wrong hands.
With this information, I believe
that the mishaps on the website
are not the responsibility of
MySpace.com. If it wasn't
through MySpace, it would be
through some other website
which makes it unfair just to blame
the most popular one.
Teenagers need to use discretion
when using a website. By not posting
personal information, revealing
photographs, and not adding anyone
you don't know as a "friend" will
most likely guarantee you a free of
stalker fun time on MySpace. There
is also a feature that allows you to
make your profile private, meaning
that no one will be able to see the
information you decide to post
without your consent first.
Although these steps are basic and
common sense, many teenagers don't
follow them and find themselves in
terrible dangers. If a teen feels that
he or she is being stalked over the
internet, or that someone is making
you feel uncomfortable, they should
share what is happening with an
adult.
MySpace.com has become both a
blessing and a curse to me. Having
been on the site for about a year, I
constantly feel the need to check it
on a day-to-day basis in hopes of
finding a new comment. On the other
hand, I've been able to find friends
from the previous places in which I
have lived. I recently got in contact
with my childhood best friend in
Las Vegas. Without the help of this
predominantly teen driven website,
we would have never been able to
catch up and see how the other is
doing. MySpace is also a great place
to check out new music. With more
and more bands added each day,
it's a great way to find music from
up arid coming music artists and to
access their touring schedules.
With all the potential dangers
associated with the internet and
MySpace.com, I feel that teenagers
should be responsible with this
powerful tool. Although we
cannot control those who take our
information, we can choose to make
good decisions about what goes on
our MySpace pages. In this way, we
can all be safe from the dangers of
cyberspace.
Attention students:
The Amplifier is giving you
your very own soapbox!
Send your opinion articles to the Amplifier
and let the student body know your stance
on important issues.
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torial, e-mail it to:
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