The dangers that face children on a daily basis while logged into MySpace.com are startling. With over 50 million users and virtually no monitoring of the site, it has become a sex offender’s paradise….and a parent’s worst nightmare!
MySpace.com is a flurry of activity for teenagers…they can share pics, talk about school, sports, other kids, you name it. It would be very naive to think that a sexual offender or a pedophile would not show up on a site such as this.
According MySpace.com’s TOS it is against the rules to have an account if you are under the age of 14…but kids are kids…and they have found a way around being under the specified age. Due to the fact that the ratio between users and monitors is way out of proportion, there really is no verification of age being done.
MySpace officials have stated that they have every available staff member staffing the site…but it’s still not enough. It opens the door up for deceit and lies, just what a sex offender thrives on.
Teens have this sense of security that tends to shield them from the real world happenings.
Although per MySpace.com’s TOS it is forbidden to do so, teens will often post personal information like their phone or cell numbers, addresses, and even their real names, without thinking of the repercussions of such information leaking out to a potentially dangerous person.
The moderators of MySpace really cannot stop it…again due to that ratio of monitors to users.
A sex offender will often pose as a teen themselves to gain the trust of another teen. The conversations start out innocent enough simply talking about sports, school, and peer pressure.
But gradually the discussions turn to a more personal nature and sexual solicitation begins once the trust of the child is gained.
After all they believe that they are talking to someone of their own age..whom they think understands and empathizes with them. From there the conversations could lead to potential face to face meetings.
The best defense a parent has to prevent a child from becoming a sexual offender online is to educate them. Teach them about the potential problems lurking on the internet…let them know what to look for and how to avoid it….BEFORE it happens.
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