Never Too Safe Online Options

[Im So Vain]

In my recent issue of Teen Vogue there was an article about how, more teens are looking for love online. On sites like match.com, friendster, craigslist. makeoutclub, myspace, etc.

According to a September 2004 Dateline NBC report, one in five teens who chat or date online will be contacted by an online predator. As part of the show's investigation, a reporter and a team of volunteers created a fictional 14 year old Brooklyn girl who e-mailed with men in cyberspace. "She" eventually made plans to meet them for sex, In the course of a single afternoon more than eighteen men showed up at a house where they thought the young girl would be waiting alone for them. (Instead, they were greeted by Dateline reporters.)

QUESTIONS TO GET STARTED:
1.)Should the minimum age to have an online personal be raised?

2.)Should parents have more control over their childs internet access?

*Fell free to add anymore thoughts you have, beyond the two questions.

[artislife90]

The age limit would not need to be raised if kids didn't think "Oh, it will never happen to me" and there for put specifics of their life on a Myspace or Xanga.
Personally, I would never put my phone number, last name, or address on any public online profile, its just stupid.

Also, parents should pay more attention to what is going on with their kids on the internet. Its really careless to just let a kid loose on the web. It could end up being worse than crack.