Safety for Internet Meeting Places

MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Xanga, Eyeballchat.  Do any of these websites sound familiar to you?  If they don’t, talk to your child and maybe do some investigating on your computer.  If your child is using one of these sites you will want to check into what your young person is posting on the Internet.

The first three sites mentioned are very popular with the majority of our High School and Middle School students as well as students across the nation.  I recently spoke to several classrooms, and over 90% were familiar with MySpace.

These sites are designed as “meeting places” for people 15 to 25 years old.  Students can design their own elaborate webpage that can include pictures, videos, songs and personal information.  Once logged on, the students can “search” locally or nationally for people with similar interests.  When they find someone that sounds or looks interesting they can click on that persons picture and visit their Webpage to find out more about them.  They can also leave messages/information on that persons message board, or they can check out that persons list of friends and visit those webpages.

To create a webpage all you have to do is register.  This can be done using real or bogus information.  The “Terms of Agreement” state that all information must be true.  However, I recently attended an Internet safety seminar put on by the WI Dept. of Criminal Investigation and the WI Chapter of Missing and Exploited Children.  They estimate that at any given time 15 to 25% of the people in chat rooms or on these types of sites are not who they say they are.

I visited some webpages on MySpace and I was shocked at some of the pictures students were posting.  I was also amazed at all the personal information they listed.  Almost every site had full names, dates of birth, school attended, family members etc.  Any savvy Internet user can use this information for identity theft or for more sinister plans such as locating your residence or your child’s school.

When I told a class that I had visited MySpace some were embarrassed and never thought about “other people” such as parents, police, colleges and future employers visiting their WebPages, not to mention someone looking to cause them harm.  Remember, everything on the Internet is fair game, and you can never be sure whom you are talking to.

The easiest way to enjoy the Internet safely is to limit the amount of information that you are supplying.  Most of these sites have a privacy option that allows only invited friends access to their webpage.  It is also a good idea to keep the computer in a central location at home.  According to WI DCI, 99.9% of teens that get into trouble on the Internet had a computer in their own room or their activities went unchecked. 

For more tips and information go to Cybertipline.com.

Submitted by School Resource Officer Brian Micolichek